My kids LOVE the water. My daughter started swimming when she was 2.5. I have always loved the water too. Some of my fondest memories are the hours and days my sisters and I spent in the lake at the cottage or splashing in the waves on vacation in Florida. It is so relaxing and refreshing and free and I want my own water babies to feel this too.
But, this week I have heard of 10 drownings. I have heard of a teen and a toddler drowning in their own backyard pool. I have heard of parents or adults within a few feet as a child drowns. I have heard of heartbreak beyond our wildest imaginings. And, I am afraid.
What I used to believe was an irrational fear, a protective mother’s instinct, now doesn’t seem so out there. I always thought my children were safe as long as someone was supervising. There would certainly be obvious signs of drowning giving an adult or other children a signal that something was amiss. And giving them time to perform a heroic rescue. But what I am learning is that this is not true.
I just read an article called Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning which dispels the myth of the flailing arms and panicked shrieks instead painting a very different picture of subtle cues and silence. And an extremely short window of opportunity to act.
I don’t want to live in fear holding my kids back from the experiences they deserve. However, I don’t want to carelessly or arrogantly overlook a situation without educating and protecting them.
Our friends are getting a pool this summer and we are more than thrilled to have an open invitation that we will definitely be taking advantage of. We have been discussing with them the rules and boundaries they have in place including constant adult supervision (despite the woeful resistant of their teenage daughter!). But along with that is understanding what drowning looks like if it isn’t what we assume. So, in the spirit of arming ourselves with information in order to enable our children to be safe and have fun, here is a list of some surprising signs of drowning to keep an eye out for if you are supervising:
- Head low in the water, mouth at water level
- Head tilted back with mouth open
- Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
- Eyes closed
- Hair over forehead or eyes
- Not using legs – Vertical
- Hyperventilating or gasping
- Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
- Trying to roll over on the back
- Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.
I guess aside from banning our children from pools and lakes and oceans the best we can do is educate them and ourselves, be vigilant and, hardest of all, accept that despite our best efforts, the world is a dangerous place.
Click here for Water Safety Tips from The Red Cross.