Water Safety

Being an Arizona baby, where seemingly 97% of homes come complete with a pool in the backyard, Baer has been in the water since he was eight weeks old — this is not an exaggeration; I have the time-stamped photos to prove it! He’s been taking swim lessons this entire time, first in Scottsdale and now in Shorewood. That said, he’s only three and still not a perfect swimmer. He doesn’t go in the water without someone next to him, ready to grab him if something happened. Being safe in the water is very close to my number one safety concern.  

This weekend, we spent time up at my Father-In-Law’s “up north” house. It’s a lovely cabin-style home on a lake in northern Wisconsin, and when I say it’s on a lake, I mean it’s on a lake. There’s about 200 feet from the front door to the boat dock. So, you can imagine that I keep a very close eye on Baer when he’s out on the lawn. While I was watching my little monkey rough house with his buddies, I put pen to paper and found some statistics to show why water safety is so important (and thus, why swim lessons are necessary!):

•   Drowning is the second leading cause of death for kids aged 1 to 4 in the United States. 

•   Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for kids aged 1 to 14 in the United States.  

•   There are an estimated 11 drowning deaths per day in the United States.

•   For every kid that dies from drowning, eight more receive ED care for non-fatal drowning.

•   More than 40% of nonfatal drownings treated in the ED require further in-patient care.

(Source: Drowning Facts | Drowning Prevention | CDC)

With all those scary stats staring us down, what’s a parent to do? Here’s some advice from the experts:

•   Never leave your child alone in the water. Never leave your child alone by the water. Keep eyes on your child when near a body of water.

•   Talk to your child about water safety, start the conversation young.

•   Make sure you know how to swim.

•   Make sure your child knows how to swim. Once they do, assign them a “swim buddy.”

•   Learn CPR.

•   If possible, put a gate with a lock up.

(Source: Tips to Prevent Drowning (massgeneral.org))

Have fun, and stay safe!