Arm's reach of the water
Stay within arm's reach of the water. That is the policy, even when it feels over the top.
Water safety, on Raising Children, means you stay with them and you watch, even after they can swim. See them. Be able to grab them.
Beach, pool, river, dam, lake, bath, spa. Hold a hand in waves or in a river current. What it does not mean is a glance between emails, a view from the kitchen window, or an older child told to watch the little one.
Older children are not lifeguards. Your phone is not a lifeguard.
The numbers are why the rule is rude. Drowning is one of the major causes of death for children under 5. For every child who dies, about 7 are hospitalised from a near-drowning.
Some of those children have severe brain damage. Babies and toddlers are top heavy. Tip into shallow water and they cannot always get their face back out.
It happens fast and quietly. No splashy movie scene. You look up and it is already late.
Where. Pools. Baths and spas.
Creeks and rivers. The sea. Dams, lagoons, lakes.
Also the places you do not call swimming. Nappy buckets. Tanks.
Water features. Fish ponds. The dog's bowl.
A few centimetres is enough. Most deaths are a child who fell or wandered in, very often a backyard pool. Fencing is part of pool law and pool sense.
A fence you prop open for the mower is not a fence.
At home tonight you can empty the bath, tip the bucket, put the pet water outside the play space or up where they cannot reach yet, and shut the door to the bathroom. Then you still stay in arm's reach next time the bath runs. A seat in the bath changes nothing about leaving.
If you find a child in water and they are not breathing or not responding, call 000 and start CPR. The page points to illustrated CPR guides for babies under 12 months and for older children. Print one and put it where you will see it.
Better, learn it before a birthday party at a house with a pool. A lesson in swimming is worth doing. Many children can learn by about 4 or 5.
The lesson does not authorise you to read on a towel.
You can be the dull man at the barbecue who will not drink and watch the pool. Be that man. Someone has to be the adult whose only job is the water.
Source: Raising Children Network