Just like the title of this blog post says, September is officially National Baby Safety Month. Now, our regular readers should know how deeply concerned we are when it comes to children’s safety. The fact is, drowning is a serious danger for young children.
Even though we’re entering the colder months of the year, water safety should always stay top of every parent’s mind. According to our monthly drowning statistics, these tragedies still happens quite frequently across the nation. We should never allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security. After all, drowning can happen to anyone. In fact, we recently wrote about two tragedies that happened to two celebrity families. Both country musician Granger Smith and Olympic skier Bode Miller lost children to terrible drowning incidents.
To help prevent tragedies like these in the future, this Baby Safety Month post will highlight some safety precautions parents and guardians can take to keep their children safe in the water.
If Your Child is Missing, Check the Pool First!
Obviously, no parent wants to consider the possibility that their child might be in drowning danger. However, in the event that a kid goes missing, this should be the very first place your mind goes.
Keep in mind that water is a safety risk even when your child is nowhere near it. If your child is suddenly nowhere to be seen, you should always check the pool before looking anywhere else. In 46 percent of drowning cases with children, the last place the child was seen was in their house. Drowning can happen in a few short minutes, so there’s no time to spare. Yes, even in the winter and fall, you should always check the pool!
To learn more about this topic, check out our dedicated blog post.
Baby Safety Month Question: When Can I Bring My Baby in the Water?
This is a pretty fun topic for Baby Safety Month. Many new parents are excited to let their little ones take a dip in the pool. You may be wondering when your baby can join you in the pool. The answer is… probably much earlier than you think. Thanks to Infant Swimming Resource training, it can actually be a good idea to get them started early. To learn more, take a look at this guide to the basic dos and don’ts for babies and safe swimming!
Beware of Kiddie Pools
If you’re still a bit nervous about bringing your little one into the big people pool, you may find yourself considering a kiddie pool. That’s all well and good, but remember not to let your guard down. Believe it or not, a kiddie pool can be quite dangerous if no one is paying close attention. It only takes a little bit of water to turn a fun dip into a tragedy. Two inches are enough to be deadly. For this reason, parents and caregivers must stay focused at all times when their child is in an inflatable pool, and deflate the pool when it’s not in use.
Here is some further information about safety and kiddie pools.
Don’t Forget the Swim Diapers
What kind of Baby Safety Month would it be without a diaper discussion? Believe it or not, infant swimming diapers should be included in every baby bag during the summer months. If a little one is going to be in the pool or ocean, these diapers are specially designed to be safe for the baby… and everyone else in the pool.
Unlike regular diapers, they won’t immediately become bloated and drag the child under the water with its extra weight. For the rest of us, swim diapers help to delay the spread of bacteria in case the baby has an “accident.” Swim diapers contain the urine or fecal matter long enough for the parent to change the baby. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) even recommends that all public swimming locations require their use.
To learn more about these modern marvels, check out our infant swim diaper blog post.
