728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › General Safety Issues › The First Big Splash!

The First Big Splash!

Playing It Safe With Super-sized Backyard Pools and Babies

By Laura Cone

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  

Before buying a pool, check your local codes. "Not all municipalities require fencing around pools, but many do," Mays says. "When those codes are enforced, they usually require fences to go around pools that are more than 36 inches deep. The industry standard for an above-ground swimming pool is for 36-inch-deep pools and above. A pool that is 27 inches deep, which many of these things are, would not require a fence according to some codes."

He points out that some municipalities have codes that require fences for anything above 24 inches. Other municipalities have no codes at all that require fencing. So how does the municipality enforce the code? "Most of the time a building inspector would never know if someone went out to Wal-Mart that day and bought a pool and set it up in their backyard," Mays says.

Because your neighbors might not be as responsible as you are about fencing in a backyard pool, be careful about not letting your children wander out of the house during the summer.

Infants at the Pool
Robin Wilcox, program director with Safe Kids Worldwide based in Washington, D.C., calls it "active supervision." She says parents of infants should not depend on flotation devices or rely on the infant's older sibling or babysitter during pool time.

"When you are talking about an infant, you really are talking about keeping your hands on them," Wilcox says. "When the child is older, we talk about not taking your eyes off of them. At 1 year, infants can tip over and not be able to get themselves up and can drown in as little as an inch of water. When a parent has an infant in any water, whether it's a bath or a pool, they should have their hands on the child constantly. They should not let go of the child."


Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  

Want to see more?

Comments

There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.