Swimming is always a fun activity for the family. It has numerous benefits and that is why a home pool is a worthwhile investment. Nonetheless, there are frightening tales of people drowning and almost losing their lives in home peoples. More often than not, the people in question are unsupervised children who want to experience the joy of swimming. Unlike adults, children do not know how to react while drowning. An adult may shout for help and save energy if they are certain help is on the way. However, a child will panic and waste energy fighting the water. Therefore, it is important to make your new pool kid-friendly and here is how.
Take swimming lessons
The simplest way to eliminate the probability of a child drowning in your home pool is to make sure they can swim. Swimming lessons are available to children from a very tender age. You can enrol your child and make sure they know how to swim before getting into a pool. Reports show that most children who drown could not swim. Learning to swim is easy especially for children since they enjoy the process more than adults. Therefore, before you make your pool child friendly make sure the child is eligible to be around the pool area.
Poolside fencing
A perimeter fence is important when it comes to pool safety. A fence demarcates the pool area and separates it from the rest of the hours. As a result, the child cannot wander into the pool area while playing. Considering children are naturally curious, a fence is certain to keep them away from the pool. Poolside fences should be high enough to prevent a child from getting over it. However, they should not be too high to obstruct the view of the pool. Moreover, the fence should be made from sturdy materials that will not give in to the slightest force. Children will definitely play around the fence and if it cannot stay up it’s worthless.
Poolside gates
Monitoring access to the pool is important in pool safety. Although fences limit access, gates are good for regulating and monitoring access. Poolside gates open away from the pool. This is to prevent any accidents in case someone is on the other side busking or walking around. Moreover, the gates should be self-closing or self-latching to ensure they are closed at all times. You don’t want your child to sneak into the swimming pool while you are away.
Have a shallow end
Instead of having a pool with a uniform depth, you can have your swimming pool designed to have a shallow section that can be isolated from the rest of the pool. The depth in this section should just be enough to reach the shoulder height of an average child. A raised platform can be used to separate the two sections. Such a design is good for a young family with small children and some still on the way. The shallow end section is good for children’s pool parties. Once the children are of age, the section can easily be turned into a lounge section of the pool for adults.
Utilise swimming aids
Swimming floats are good for children, especially if they are in deep waters. There are numerous types of floats for children. Inflatable armbands and rings are good for young children who are yet to master the skill of floating in the water. Kickboards are also good for children to safely practise their swimming.
Always supervise
It is important for all children to be supervised while swimming. There is no age when a child should be left alone inside the pool unsupervised. It is also recommended that adults should be supervised to ensure help is available when the need arises. Therefore, do not let your children swim on their own. Make sure they are monitored any time they are close to the pool, whether in it or around it. Knowing how to swim is not a justification to be left unsupervised.
