Pool Safety

You can never be too cautious when it comes to water and children!

Pool Safety, Beware!

While thinking about Childproofing Grandparents Home, I've always been concerned about our swimming pool safety. When we moved to our new home, it was one of the most beautiful features of our home, but also the most concerning when it came to a fear of someone drowning!

You can never be too cautious when it comes to water and children!

We had a horrible experience when our daughter was only two years old!

We were in the process of building a new home. One evening our family walked out the back of our home to visit our new neighbor who had just completed a new swimming pool, but the fence wasn't built. So it made it easy to visit.

As we were visiting and discussing our neighborhood and how pretty his pool was, our daughter's ball fell in the deep end of the pool and she jumped in to get the ball. Of course, she began to sink to the bottom of the pool immediately! Our neighbor dove in, grabbed her and brought her to the surface before I could even react.

He had been a life guard and knew rescue techniques. Our daughter was fine, but frightened.

Not as much as I had been! We immediately enrolled her in swim classes that summer!

Also, the fence was built before we moved into our home! Although this was a frightening experience, it did teach me a valuable lesson on pool safety!

You can never be too cautious when a child is near water!

So, as we think back on this experience, and then on other pools that we have owned, I will offer you specifics on what we have learned or been told.

You never can have enough security when it involves water and children...thus Pool Safety!

Since in the past,the pools we owned were for older children and we didn't have to be so concerned for pool safety as we are now.

With two inquisitive infants now in the family, we must be more aware of this hazard!

Fencing Discussions

We have read many things and discussed it with pool people, but today was the second time we have had a professional come and measure to give us a bid on an enclosed fence.

By far, this representative from a local pool company gave us excellent advice on the type of pool cover and safety fencing that he suggested. He also mentioned other safety measures that we might consider to ease our worries.

Others in the past, have suggested that we use a standard product referred to as a mesh safety fence that usually has 10 foot sections drilled in ground around the surround of our pool decking. They felt this would be the best choice since then it could be removed later when it wasn't needed.

However, this professional recommended that we consider other choices.

He stated that this type of fencing would be:

1. distraction from inside and outside the house due to the pool location
2. an issue with durability
   
3. a difficult install in our decking since our pool isn't a traditional pool design and has trees and bushes surrounding the edges.

He said we would recommend a safety cover which would cost approximately $5500 to cover our pool and spa. He will write us a up a quote on this product.

He did offer other methods for Pool Safety that were much more cost effective:

We valued his advice and so thankful that he came today to offer suggestions. Before he left, he also was able to fix another issue with our pool! So it was a win, win for both of us!

We have a habit of always locking all doors when coming into the house. Now it is even more important!

So in the future, we will be contacting local fence companies to give us a bid on a wrought iron fence for our pool area before summer swim season begins next year.

Also, before that time, we will recommend to our daughter that our grandsons have swimming lessons!

Pool Safety Rules

Also, here are a few more pool safety rules that we recommend:

• Always supervised! If you are using our pool, a baby or child can't go near the pool without a parent's knowledge and supervision. Therefore, it will always be required that one or both of the parents be outside with their children when using our pool. Children under five should always wear floats or be on other floatation devices while in the pool.
  
• No cell phones usage will be allowed near the water! That includes talking on the phone, games or texting! This is a distraction and eyes should always be on the children when in the water.
• No glass bottles in this area including beer bottles. Only plastic water bottles allowed.
• No running or horseplay allowed!
• Use sunscreen and reapply often!
  
• Always look and listen for anyone in distress! Since we have a diving rock, you need to always be aware of that area.
  
• Also, if you have a pool in your backyard, you may want to consider having the very young children (6-12 months) attend an Infant Self Rescue class.

In conclusion, when Childproofing Grandparents Home, always remember the importance of making the pool area safe for all children.  Teach children from an early age, the importance of safety, the rules that need to be followed and get them into an Infant Self Rescue or swimming classes as soon as possible!

Find more grandparenting ideas online at our Home Page Grandparenting Essentials 

Do you have any suggestions?

Do you have any suggestions that you would like to offer from past experiences with pool safety and children? Do you have a suggestion on the type of fence to use?

If so, please share your story below!

From Pool Safety to Childproofing Grandparents Home