The love for water is deeply ingrained in children. Water with its inherent cooling and free-form nature makes for magical fun times for children. From playing in the rain, jumping in water puddles, splashing water, spraying water cannons on their friends, and swimming, children take special pleasure in being playful with water. In all of this fun and frolic, it is important to keep certain water-related safety tips in mind for kids.
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Water Safety Tips for Children
This blog presents certain such safety tips for parents and children to keep in mind while dealing with water.
Not all water is drinkable
Water is the source of a wide range of waterborne diseases. Children should be made aware to be conscious of the purity of the water they drink. Drinking directly from the tap, or any public water source outside may be hazardous to their health and well-being.
Slippery wet surfaces
Wet surfaces pose another danger of slipping and falling for children leading to serious injuries. Parents and schools must ensure floors are dry such that children do not slip and fall. In case of rain, children must wear high-grip footwear that prevents them from slipping and injuring themselves.
Hot and Cold
Children love to stand under a cold shower immediately after sweating it out in the playground. While this sounds fun, it could have adverse effects on health. The sudden change in body temperature can lead to the children catching a cold, resulting in a runny nose, cough and even fever. Post a physical workout, children must be made to cool down before they jump into a shower or the pool.
Water and electricity
Water and electric current is a dangerous combination which kids need to be made aware of. Guard them against handling electric devices with wet hands or feet, or while being in contact with water. Susceptible areas include the kitchen and the washrooms where both water and electrical points are often found to coexist. For example, using a hair drier or a smartphone charger in the bathroom must be a strict no-no while being in contact with water. Any such contact carries the severe risk of electrocution which could be extremely damaging and even life-threatening.
Possible water hazards at home
Keep your kids away from potential water hazards at home. Do not let the small kids alone in the bathtubs to guard against the dangerous and unfortunate event of drowning. Never leave your kids unsupervised near any standing water body such as bathtubs, swimming pools, lakes, ponds, water ditches, etc. in or around the house. Drowning can be quick and silent. Extreme care must be taken with kids around water bodies with depth.
Any home appliance which has depth and accumulated water, such as water tanks, drums, buckets, and even commodes is a potential danger, especially for small kids. Small kids should never be left alone and unsupervised near any such water accumulations. Parents must take care to install childproofing for any such water hazards, bathroom doors, water storages, commodes, etc must be latched for child safety.
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Learn swimming early
As the popular saying goes, prevention is better than cure. The best safety precaution against any drowning-related water hazard is to teach your child to swim at a young age. Children who don’t know swimming are susceptible to drowning in as low as one-inch-deep water. Learning to swim will give them a defence against the danger of drowning. Even learning to swim must be approached with caution. There are frequent incidents of individuals drowning while learning to swim. Qualified instructors must be employed to teach swimming to kids. Kids must be equipped with appropriate safeguards such as tubes while learning to swim. Even while they are grasping the skill of swimming, kids must never be left unsupervised while they are swimming. Children must only swim in smaller pools which are meant for children. Swimming pools meant for adults are much deeper and could be dangerous for even children who know swimming.
Those who know swimming but are ignorant are sometimes more susceptible to drowning as compared to those who can’t. Knowing swimming can make them overconfident and ignore the extreme dangers involved in swimming in difficult conditions. Swimming at night, in a high-tide ocean, going deep in a river, or overstretching their bodies while swimming are such actions of overconfidence that could prove dangerous, especially for those who know swimming. Children must be made aware of such perils involved in water bodies and must be taught to respect the power of nature – in this case, water.
Use Safety precautions near water
Children must wear proper swimming gear while swimming. This swimming safety gear must ideally include lifebuoy rings, caps, ear plugs, eyewear, armbands, inflatable vests, and a swimsuit. Those who have a swimming pool at home or in their residential society need to be doubly careful as access for children is easy. Children might access the pool at odd hours, or even when the parents are not at home. Parents must take care that children are never allowed to swim without the supervision of a lifeguard, or at least an adult who knows swimming well and can rescue them in case of an incident. Access to the swimming pool must be controlled by discerning adults. The pool should have boundaries at least four feet high which children should not be able to climb over in their zeal and excitement to swim.
Water games and adventure sports are other activities children love. When engaging in activities such as boating, water polo, or even swimming children must wear protective gear such as life jackets, water tubes, etc.
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Water Borne Creatures
Water bodies in the outdoors are frequently infested with potentially dangerous creatures such as snakes, sometimes even crocodiles, sharks and alligators. When near such water bodies, special care must be taken to not allow the children into unsafe waters. Stagnant water bodies can also be a source of infectious flies and mosquitoes that cause diseases such as dengue. Children must be made aware to stay away from such dangerous stagnated water bodies.
