Summer time for kids is about staying up late, sleeping in and daily (almost daily) dips in the pool. The kid with a backyard pool is the bound to be the popular kid on the block. Kids and water can be a precarious combination as highlighted in what does water and candy have in common? The simple answer is that kids love them both!

Here are some poolside pointers to keep kids safe this summer.

1. Learn to swim yourself or at least having an adult that can swim close by when taking kids to the pool.

2. Don’t let them off your sight (the kids). I had a near drowning incident myself as a six-year-old when I slipped back into the pool without my floats. My six-year-old brain told me I was an excellent swimmer who had no need for those annoying floats my dad insisted I kept on.

3. If you lose sight of your child, before running off to far long places, check the water first!

4. Learn CPR, your child’s life could depend on it.

5. Absolutely no diving at the shallow end of the pool. There have been countless spinal cord injuries from doing just that.’

6. Have your cell phone close by. Don’t use the phone except absolutely necessary and keep those conversations ultra short. We all get distracted while chatting on the phone. Drowning can happen in a split second.

7. If you have a backyard pool, have it fenced and make sure the gate is latched. Install an alarm to alert you when the pool door is opened.

8. If you own a backyard pool and you host other kids in your pool, insist of having an adult with the kids at all time. Preferably a CPR certified swimmer.

9. When done swimming, clear the pool of pool toys to prevent a child from going back in to retrieve the toys.

A friend of mine said “a teaspoon of water is all it takes to drown a little kid”. Keep that in mind as you and the kids spend refreshing times at the pool.

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