Never leave children unattended in the bath
Created: 08/11/2022, 08:00
By: Judith Brown
Children can be accustomed to water from a very young age.
Splashing around in the bathtub can help here.
However, they should never be left unsupervised.
Splashing and playing in the water is the greatest fun for many children.
However, the number of non-swimmers has been increasing for a few years.
This trend was further accelerated by the closure of public swimming pools and the lack of swimming courses during the corona pandemic.
In order to encourage the little ones to enjoy water, parents should take their children to the swimming pool regularly.
However, there are a few things to consider when it comes to bathing and swimming safety for children.
Never leave children unattended in the bath
Splashing around in the bathtub can teach children the joy of water at an early age.
However, this should not be done without supervision.
(Iconic image) © Peter Muller/IMAGO
“In today's world, many activities compete for little free time.
Most children spend a long time in day care and later attend all-day schools.
At an age capable of learning to swim, there is little time for private or family water familiarization and swimming courses," says Michael Dietel, spokesman for Baederland Hamburg, one reason for the increasing number of non-swimmers among children to the educational portal
Eltern Online
.
Many parents would rely on swimming lessons in elementary school.
However, in his opinion, parents should become active earlier and use the weekends for regular swimming, for example.
Because "children should be used to the water as early as possible and without pressure," says Dietel.
Parents can start getting used to the water in a playful way at a very young age.
You don't even have to go to the swimming pool for this, because you get used to it at home in the bathtub.
She can start by dripping water on her head.
Later, the offspring sit independently in the tub and learn to stand up in the water.
Of course, this should always be done with a view.
“Of course, safety always comes first and children should never be left in the water unsupervised.
Not even in the bathtub,” emphasizes the swimming expert.
Finally, there may also be a risk of secondary drowning here.
So that the children later learn to swim more easily, parents should let their children splash around properly during this familiarization phase and should not ban them, even if they flood the bathroom.
This conveys the joy of water to them and at the same time takes away their fear of it, after all, when splashing and splashing, water automatically gets in their eyes or on their heads.
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Supervising children splashing and swimming: what parents should be aware of
Parents are fundamentally responsible for the safety of their children.
This applies all the more to swimming when the little ones are not yet confident swimmers.
"It is important to know that children are only considered safe swimmers after they have completed the bronze badge - not yet with a seahorse," says the Baederland press spokesman.
In this case, one parent should therefore not look after more than two children and, as an accompanying person, should always be able to stand properly in the pool.
In addition, it should ideally be only an arm's length away from the children.
If parents feel overwhelmed, a baby swimming course would also be an opportunity to familiarize the little ones with water.
Swimming instructors can also take away fears and give recommendations.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.