Dr. Jen's Tips for Water Play & Safety with Children

Summer time means more water play! One Sassy Doctor wants you to hear loud and clear: Water can be a lot of fun, but safety should be number one! (A rhyme, remember, bear with my goofy sense of humor!)

Here are Dr. Jen’s Tips for Water Play & Safety with Children:

1. Children can drown in even an inch or two of water! Think about:

• Buckets and pails outside with water—your child can fall in face first.
• Toilets (usually not outdoors, but always know where you child is when engaging in outdoor play to avoid accidents inside the house)
• Ice chests—the ice melts and creates a pool of water inside
• Baby swimming pools
• Water tables
• Outdoor wells and ponds

2. Always—always—always be around your baby, toddler, or older child when around water. If you need to leave (even to pee for a minute), take your child with you! 

3. Swimming pools should always have a locked fence. Period. If you are going to someone’s house with a pool, think ahead. If your baby is even commando crawling, an unlocked pool is a hazard. Skip the BBQ, and offer to host!

4. There is no such thing as a toy or care product that keeps a child safe in water unsupervised. This includes: 

• Bath rings
• Bath seats
• Pool floaties
• Pool arm supports

5. One Sassy Doctor recommends learning infant and child CPR. Contact your pediatrician, community center or local hospital for courses you can take. It could be the best decision you ever make.

One Sassy Doctor recommends:

• Scrub-a-Dub Car Wash