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in Blog on May 2, 2022 by Jennifer Carroll

Five Tips for Water Safety This Summer

Whether you’re planning to get a membership at a local pool, take a family beach vacation or spend your days at the lake, chances are your kids will encounter a new swimming opportunity at some point this summer. 

As moms, we look forward to these adventures, but they can also be stressful. Making sure everyone is safe is a top priority. Not to mention the endless supply of sunscreen, snacks, and swimsuits these activities require.

But, it’s all worth it. Looking back at my own childhood, I have so many great memories of 4th of July pool parties, family reunions at the lake, and waterskiing at sleepaway camp.

Whatever adventures you have planned, here are my tips for a safe summer.

Trip Planning With Water Safety In Mind

When you are deciding where to stay on vacation, a pool or hot tub is a major consideration. A hotel with an indoor pool is the perfect way to burn off energy on a road trip.

By law, hotel pools will have a fence with a self-closing gate. However, an Airbnb or similar rental may not have the same protection. 

Tip #1: If you don’t have confident swimmers, look for TWO barriers between your family and the water. 

For example, your hotel room has a door and the pool is enclosed with a fence. 

Gates, hot tub covers, and fences are even more important than door chimes or similar alert systems. A door can be left open, a curious toddler can figure out how to unlock a door and a chime can go undetected in the chaos of family life. 

Kids are naturally curious and often eager to explore a new environment. Swimming lessons are important, but no swimming program is capable of “drown-proofing” a child of any age. It is essential to block access to pools or other sources of water during non-swim times.

Two physical barriers will give you peace of mind and offer better protection for your family.

Tip #2: Put Your Lifejacket On Before You Get to the Swimming Area

Your lifejacket only works if you are wearing it. Have kids put their life jackets on before they step on the dock, enter the pool area or head down to the water.

It’s easy for an excited kiddo to jump into the pool before you are ready or to fall in as you set your things down. Plus, if your child is wearing their life jacket, that’s one less thing for you to carry!

Having the right life jacket is key. Check out the infographic below for some general guidelines.

Make Your Child’s Jacket As Comfortable As Possible

We’ve found that a long-sleeve rash guard prevents chafing under the arms on days at the lake when we are wearing our life jackets for long periods of time. When we are on the boat, my daughter wears a rash guard with separate bottoms so we don’t need to unbuckle her life jacket for a potty break. Most jackets for small children come with a strap that goes between their legs. It’s tempting to skip it, but that additional strap is especially important to keep the life jacket secure.  

Tip #3: Communicate Hand Offs

For the past two summers, my twins have teetered on the edge of being able to swim independently. When I was solo in the water with them, I would have them wear their life jackets because it was too much to manage on my own. But, when my husband or another adult was in the water with us, I wanted them to practice swimming without their life jackets. 

So, we developed a dorky but effective system to hand off responsibility. When one of the twins would swim away I would say:

“You have Harper.” My husband would repeat back, “I have Harper” to confirm that she was now his responsibility. 

Maybe this is a twin thing? All I know is that this really helped with multiple kids in the water.

Whenever inexperienced swimmers are in or around water, an adult – ideally one who knows how to swim and perform CPR – should be within arm’s length, providing “touch supervision.”

Tip #4: Use a Buddy System

This applies to older kids and grown-ups. Don’t swim alone. If tweens and teens want to explore the water park while you read a book, that’s great. Send them off in pairs.

Even with adult supervision or a lifeguard, the buddy system is a great idea, especially in large areas like the lake or ocean. 

Good parents can lose sight of their kids. I lost my daughter at an Easter Egg hunt in someone’s backyard surrounded by other moms. If someone goes missing, always check the pool first. (Thankfully, my daughter was inside the house hiding in a play tent.)  

Tip #5: Everyone is watching…no one is paying attention.

At pool parties, BBQs and family gatherings there are often a number of adults around. This can give us a false sense of security. 

Everyone is sitting around the pool, but often, no one is actively paying attention. It’s easy to be distracted checking on food or visiting with friends.     

If you are the host, consider hiring a lifeguard. If that’s not an option, designate a water watcher. This person sits close enough to the pool to see the bottom, does not chat with other adults and is not under the influence of alcohol. Rotate adults every 20 mins so no one gets complacent and everyone has a chance to enjoy the gathering. 

A swimmer in distress is not likely to call for help. They are most often vertical in the water, with their head tilted back. Their arms and legs look as if they are climbing an invisible ladder. 

I hope these tips help you and your family enjoy time in the water this summer. Watching your child learn to swim and enjoy all kinds of water activities is a rewarding experience. 

Active supervision, swimming lessons, fences, and lifejackets are the most important tools we have as parents to help keep our children safe in and around the water. 

More About The Author

In addition to her work as a freelance writer (and contributor to The Mom Hour!), Jennifer Carroll loves to spend time in the water with family and friends. She got her start as a lifeguard and has continued to teach swimming lessons for the past 20 summers.

Jennifer met her husband on Oklahoma State’s wakeboarding team and was a boat driver, waterskiing, and wakeboarding instructor at sleep-away camps in New York and Texas.

Jennifer has earned her:

  • American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification
  • American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor Certification
  • Open Water Rescue Certification  
  • American Heart Association Basic Life Support Certification 
  • Aquatic Exercise Instructor Certification

Recommended Resources

  • American Academy of Pediatrics 
  • New Coast Guard Label Symbols
  • American Red Cross: Would You Know What To Do?
  • Swimming Lessons: When To Start & What You Should Know 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: preschoolers, summer, toddlers

About Jennifer Carroll

Jennifer is a mom to four-year-old twins and a very large Weimaraner. Before kids, she worked in television and advertising. She paused her career to be a stay-at-home mom only to discover she loved freelance writing. You’ll find her family camping, chasing cows or at the lake on weekends. Follow their adventures at @twinningtheweekend.

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Comments

  1. Muhammad Waseem says

    June 9, 2022 at 9:15 pm

    Thank you for taking the time to write and share this insightful and useful article. You have shared an excellent and unique post with us. I completely agree with every point that you have mentioned here. Visitors will feel enjoy finding important things in your content. I am happy for myself and visitors for sharing this article.
    Great blog! I love the tips they make sense!

    Reply

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Did you know...? We publish fewer More Than Mom ep Did you know...? We publish fewer More Than Mom episodes in the summertime, and then ramp back up in the fall. Do you have a fun, fluffy topic you'd like to hear Meagan and Sarah tackle in a MTM this fall? Drop a comment below! ⬇️ ⬇️
New episode! When to get kids their first cell ph New episode!

When to get kids their first cell phone brings up all kinds of questions: How do you know when your child is ready? How to talk to kids about safety? How to help kids develop a healthy relationship with their phone? Social Media? Phone etiquette? (The list goes on!) In today's episode, Sarah welcomes back her friend Dr. Catherine Pearlman to talk about kids and technology--specifically the learning that happens when kids start to navigate their own personal devices, like phones. Today Catherine (@thefamilycoachsays) helps us navigate the new and murky waters of personal devices for our kids and answers some of your burning questions about first phones. Plus, stick around for a short conversation Sarah had with her own 9- and 12-year-olds about what THEY think about this topic!

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
We're talking college on the podcast this week! No We're talking college on the podcast this week! Not necessarily the brass tacks of sending a kid for college, but more the role the very IDEA of it plays in our family culture.

Dressing tiny humans in university garb is for sure a little parenting joy - I had lots of fun doing it when my kids were small. Looking back at these photos makes me (Sarah) smile - and wonder what team colors are being flown in our listeners' homes!

Do you have little Longhorns or tiny Tigers or wee Wildcats? Do your kids know your college fight song? Are you a house divided by college sports rivalry? Is any of this this even a thing in your house? I'm here for it all. 💜 -S 

PS - Look for this image at the link in our bio to listen to the episode. It's as much for moms of littles as it is for those who have college on the horizon - and we tell some fun stories!
Listener Mail! 📬 Thanks so much for the travel Listener Mail! 📬 Thanks so much for the travel tip, Audrey! (Shared with permission.)

"I enjoyed your travel-related topics this summer and even though we had traveled quite a bit with our kids pre-pandemic, I found a bunch of the tips incredibly helpful as we have restarted our family travels again. One tip I would like to offer, is to put the kids in almost obnoxiously bright clothing on the day of travel. I make my two rambunctious boys wear neon-colored shirts when we are in airports for flight travel or crowded rest areas or restaurants on road trips. This allows my eyes to quickly spot them if ever they should lag behind or get ahead. It makes me feel more relaxed to think they would be a little easier to locate myself or for someone else should something happen, or if I’m overwhelmed trying to navigate new places and my attention is elsewhere." 

Don't forget that ALL our travel-related content is collected at http://themomhour.com/travel22! You'll find podcast episodes, packing lists, blog posts, Disney tips, and more. Click this image at the link in our bio to find the Travel Hub.

#travelwithkids #roadtriptips #familytravelhack #familytravel #familytraveltip #flyingwithkids #roadtripswithkids
New episode! College decision-making is influence New episode!

College decision-making is influenced by so many things--parents, peers, teachers, family members, your larger community and more. And as with everything else: all families approach this differently! While some bleed their alma mater colors, others don't see college as the only option for helping launch kids after graduation. In this episode, Meagan and Sarah have an open-ended conversation about the role college played in our own stories, our family-of-origin culture, and the narrative we're shaping for our kids now. We also give you a peek into our educational paths, how we made those decisions and how our eight kids perceive the idea of college today. This is a topic close to home for Meagan as she prepares to send Will off in the next few weeks to start his own journey.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Last week, on our annual extended-family up-north Last week, on our annual extended-family up-north trip, a few things struck me. 

One: this pack of boy cousins - now a mixed bag of older teens and young adults - has been goofing off for the camera pretty much just like this since they were toddlers and preschoolers. 

Two: things are changing almost unbelievably quickly. This year Will brought his car and drove several of his cousins to the meeting spot, a campground with spotty wifi in the middle of a data desert. With their own transportation and unreliable communication, that meant the boys were truly on their own for a good part of the trip.

There was a busy four-year-old boy with us on the trip, the son of my nephew's girlfriend. As the little guy leapt over roots and sprung from rock formations on one of our hikes, his (likely exhausted) mom keeping a wary and watchful eye, I was fielding texts from Will announcing that he and his cousins had decided to go shopping instead and would meet up with us later. I nearly protested, but stifled it with a sigh. 

When I was that wary, watchful mom with my own passel of busy boys, I would have given a lot for an hour's hike, unencumbered. But now that mine are rapidly growing and flying, I find myself wishing sometimes that the who's-in-charge and who-needs-whom dynamics were more cut-and-dried. 

Parenting young adults is a delicate balance between holding them accountable to everything - social expectations, their own commitments, basic politeness - and giving them the autonomy to decide for themselves when to strike out on their own and even what counts as quality family time. It's a tightrope walk between helping them make good decisions about bedtimes and dietary choices and letting them figure out for themselves the consequences of a 3 AM bedtime after a bag of chips and a two-liter of soda. 

It's a constant push-pull, albeit a lot more subtle than gripping a sturdy small hand for a stair-jumping assist, and full of deep breaths of suppressed frustration and small chuckles of appreciation when the moments come - and they do still come - when they momentarily shed those tough, adult exteriors, and ham it up like little kids again. -M
Getting ready for kindergarten? We’ve got you co Getting ready for kindergarten? We’ve got you covered!

We’ve talked about kindergarten over the years. A LOT. With the start of a new school year right around the corner, we've gathered all our kindergarten and kinder-adjacent podcast episodes and blog posts in one handy place to help you prepare for this milestone. 

Click this image at the link in our bio to access our kindergarten roundup of resources.

#kindergarten #firstdayofschool #motherhood #parenting #school #kindergartenreadiness #lunchpacking #choosingtherightschool #schoolvolunteering #tipsforstartingschool
We’ve had some big discussions on the show the l We’ve had some big discussions on the show the last two weeks about moms taking on extra emotional work: to keep morale up, to show up for a struggling kid, to shape our kids’ future identities within a sibling group. Even when we think we’re aware of these dynamics, it’s easy to assign ourselves extra work without even realize we’re doing it. (And often in areas where we really have very little control!)

Where can you give yourself a gentle free pass right now? Finish the sentence “It’s not my job to…” in whatever way rings true for you - and drop a comment if you want to share!

Here are just a few ideas, but please add your own! 🥰

It’s not my job to…
…prove that I’m a good mom
…keep my children constantly entertained
…prevent every disappointment 
…intervene in sibling dynamics
…be the sole keeper of the family schedule
…join my tween in her mood
Happy Birthday, @meaganfrancis! If you listened t Happy Birthday, @meaganfrancis!

If you listened to yesterday's podcast episode, we chatted about how Meagan is celebrating 45 in the UP with her extended family... possibly with a karaoke takeover of the campground bar and grill.

Meagan, this podcast wouldn't exist without you, full stop. It's no exaggeration to say that you've helped bring calmness and common sense to hundreds of thousands of families in your two decades of creating content about motherhood. (And, less notably but thank goodness nonetheless, to ME.)

That's worth raising a glass to, no?

Listeners, if you want some extra Meagan in your ears this week, head over to @motherofreinventionshow and subscribe to the podcast. I (Sarah) will be on with Meagan in her Season 3 finale tomorrow (7/28) talking about kids getting older, midlife, career pivots, and more. 

☀️ Sarah
New episode! What are Meagan and Sarah’s best t New episode!

What are Meagan and Sarah’s best tips for getting kids started with their first phone? And with a new school year right around the corner, a mom asks how to prepare her child for the first day of kindergarten and looks for some fun traditions to help celebrate back to school. The “bigger kids, bigger problems” stage arrives early for one listener’s family, and she looks for strategies for maintaining her mental health and other relationships while they navigate tough times. Lastly, a mom of bickering siblings sets us up for a lively discussion about whether it’s mom’s job to prevent kids developing a complex or identity stemming from their birth order and sibling roles. In addition to our own thoughts, we tap the wisdom of our contributors as we tackle your listener questions in Episode 375.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
We posted this in our Facebook community last week We posted this in our Facebook community last week and the answers were GOLD. Midsummer family dinners are allllll over the place, and we're here to normalize cereal, takeout, leftovers, and all the shrug emojis.

What's for dinner tonight in your house? Real answers only. ⬇️
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Did you know...? We publish fewer More Than Mom ep Did you know...? We publish fewer More Than Mom episodes in the summertime, and then ramp back up in the fall. Do you have a fun, fluffy topic you'd like to hear Meagan and Sarah tackle in a MTM this fall? Drop a comment below! ⬇️ ⬇️
New episode! When to get kids their first cell ph New episode!

When to get kids their first cell phone brings up all kinds of questions: How do you know when your child is ready? How to talk to kids about safety? How to help kids develop a healthy relationship with their phone? Social Media? Phone etiquette? (The list goes on!) In today's episode, Sarah welcomes back her friend Dr. Catherine Pearlman to talk about kids and technology--specifically the learning that happens when kids start to navigate their own personal devices, like phones. Today Catherine (@thefamilycoachsays) helps us navigate the new and murky waters of personal devices for our kids and answers some of your burning questions about first phones. Plus, stick around for a short conversation Sarah had with her own 9- and 12-year-olds about what THEY think about this topic!

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
We're talking college on the podcast this week! No We're talking college on the podcast this week! Not necessarily the brass tacks of sending a kid for college, but more the role the very IDEA of it plays in our family culture.

Dressing tiny humans in university garb is for sure a little parenting joy - I had lots of fun doing it when my kids were small. Looking back at these photos makes me (Sarah) smile - and wonder what team colors are being flown in our listeners' homes!

Do you have little Longhorns or tiny Tigers or wee Wildcats? Do your kids know your college fight song? Are you a house divided by college sports rivalry? Is any of this this even a thing in your house? I'm here for it all. 💜 -S 

PS - Look for this image at the link in our bio to listen to the episode. It's as much for moms of littles as it is for those who have college on the horizon - and we tell some fun stories!
Listener Mail! 📬 Thanks so much for the travel Listener Mail! 📬 Thanks so much for the travel tip, Audrey! (Shared with permission.)

"I enjoyed your travel-related topics this summer and even though we had traveled quite a bit with our kids pre-pandemic, I found a bunch of the tips incredibly helpful as we have restarted our family travels again. One tip I would like to offer, is to put the kids in almost obnoxiously bright clothing on the day of travel. I make my two rambunctious boys wear neon-colored shirts when we are in airports for flight travel or crowded rest areas or restaurants on road trips. This allows my eyes to quickly spot them if ever they should lag behind or get ahead. It makes me feel more relaxed to think they would be a little easier to locate myself or for someone else should something happen, or if I’m overwhelmed trying to navigate new places and my attention is elsewhere." 

Don't forget that ALL our travel-related content is collected at http://themomhour.com/travel22! You'll find podcast episodes, packing lists, blog posts, Disney tips, and more. Click this image at the link in our bio to find the Travel Hub.

#travelwithkids #roadtriptips #familytravelhack #familytravel #familytraveltip #flyingwithkids #roadtripswithkids
New episode! College decision-making is influence New episode!

College decision-making is influenced by so many things--parents, peers, teachers, family members, your larger community and more. And as with everything else: all families approach this differently! While some bleed their alma mater colors, others don't see college as the only option for helping launch kids after graduation. In this episode, Meagan and Sarah have an open-ended conversation about the role college played in our own stories, our family-of-origin culture, and the narrative we're shaping for our kids now. We also give you a peek into our educational paths, how we made those decisions and how our eight kids perceive the idea of college today. This is a topic close to home for Meagan as she prepares to send Will off in the next few weeks to start his own journey.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Last week, on our annual extended-family up-north Last week, on our annual extended-family up-north trip, a few things struck me. 

One: this pack of boy cousins - now a mixed bag of older teens and young adults - has been goofing off for the camera pretty much just like this since they were toddlers and preschoolers. 

Two: things are changing almost unbelievably quickly. This year Will brought his car and drove several of his cousins to the meeting spot, a campground with spotty wifi in the middle of a data desert. With their own transportation and unreliable communication, that meant the boys were truly on their own for a good part of the trip.

There was a busy four-year-old boy with us on the trip, the son of my nephew's girlfriend. As the little guy leapt over roots and sprung from rock formations on one of our hikes, his (likely exhausted) mom keeping a wary and watchful eye, I was fielding texts from Will announcing that he and his cousins had decided to go shopping instead and would meet up with us later. I nearly protested, but stifled it with a sigh. 

When I was that wary, watchful mom with my own passel of busy boys, I would have given a lot for an hour's hike, unencumbered. But now that mine are rapidly growing and flying, I find myself wishing sometimes that the who's-in-charge and who-needs-whom dynamics were more cut-and-dried. 

Parenting young adults is a delicate balance between holding them accountable to everything - social expectations, their own commitments, basic politeness - and giving them the autonomy to decide for themselves when to strike out on their own and even what counts as quality family time. It's a tightrope walk between helping them make good decisions about bedtimes and dietary choices and letting them figure out for themselves the consequences of a 3 AM bedtime after a bag of chips and a two-liter of soda. 

It's a constant push-pull, albeit a lot more subtle than gripping a sturdy small hand for a stair-jumping assist, and full of deep breaths of suppressed frustration and small chuckles of appreciation when the moments come - and they do still come - when they momentarily shed those tough, adult exteriors, and ham it up like little kids again. -M
Getting ready for kindergarten? We’ve got you co Getting ready for kindergarten? We’ve got you covered!

We’ve talked about kindergarten over the years. A LOT. With the start of a new school year right around the corner, we've gathered all our kindergarten and kinder-adjacent podcast episodes and blog posts in one handy place to help you prepare for this milestone. 

Click this image at the link in our bio to access our kindergarten roundup of resources.

#kindergarten #firstdayofschool #motherhood #parenting #school #kindergartenreadiness #lunchpacking #choosingtherightschool #schoolvolunteering #tipsforstartingschool
We’ve had some big discussions on the show the l We’ve had some big discussions on the show the last two weeks about moms taking on extra emotional work: to keep morale up, to show up for a struggling kid, to shape our kids’ future identities within a sibling group. Even when we think we’re aware of these dynamics, it’s easy to assign ourselves extra work without even realize we’re doing it. (And often in areas where we really have very little control!)

Where can you give yourself a gentle free pass right now? Finish the sentence “It’s not my job to…” in whatever way rings true for you - and drop a comment if you want to share!

Here are just a few ideas, but please add your own! 🥰

It’s not my job to…
…prove that I’m a good mom
…keep my children constantly entertained
…prevent every disappointment 
…intervene in sibling dynamics
…be the sole keeper of the family schedule
…join my tween in her mood
Happy Birthday, @meaganfrancis! If you listened t Happy Birthday, @meaganfrancis!

If you listened to yesterday's podcast episode, we chatted about how Meagan is celebrating 45 in the UP with her extended family... possibly with a karaoke takeover of the campground bar and grill.

Meagan, this podcast wouldn't exist without you, full stop. It's no exaggeration to say that you've helped bring calmness and common sense to hundreds of thousands of families in your two decades of creating content about motherhood. (And, less notably but thank goodness nonetheless, to ME.)

That's worth raising a glass to, no?

Listeners, if you want some extra Meagan in your ears this week, head over to @motherofreinventionshow and subscribe to the podcast. I (Sarah) will be on with Meagan in her Season 3 finale tomorrow (7/28) talking about kids getting older, midlife, career pivots, and more. 

☀️ Sarah
New episode! What are Meagan and Sarah’s best t New episode!

What are Meagan and Sarah’s best tips for getting kids started with their first phone? And with a new school year right around the corner, a mom asks how to prepare her child for the first day of kindergarten and looks for some fun traditions to help celebrate back to school. The “bigger kids, bigger problems” stage arrives early for one listener’s family, and she looks for strategies for maintaining her mental health and other relationships while they navigate tough times. Lastly, a mom of bickering siblings sets us up for a lively discussion about whether it’s mom’s job to prevent kids developing a complex or identity stemming from their birth order and sibling roles. In addition to our own thoughts, we tap the wisdom of our contributors as we tackle your listener questions in Episode 375.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

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