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Riverside County Family Child Care Association>
Share Water Safety Tips With Caregivers
July 31, 2007
while drownings in backyard swimming pools or lakes most
often make the news, an equal danger of drowning can occur
inside the home and in as little as 1-inch of water. That
means parents and child care providers (babysitters,
relatives, or in-home providers alike) need to be on the
same page when it comes to indoor water safety.
Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death for
youngsters, and it is estimated that half of the tragedies
happen indoors. While the most common source is a child
unattended in a bathtub, safety experts warn parents that
young children can also drown in open containers of water
left around the home, such as toilets, mop buckets, filled
sinks, baby bathtubs, and ice chests as well as aquariums
and spas. A child safety feature often overlooked are
toilet-lid locks.
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The safety approach is two-fold: keeping kids from placing
objects into the toilet and to prevent any possible mishap
of drowning. Parents need to be sure to spread the word to
babysitters, grandparents, and any type of child caregiver
about possible water hazards and safety features that
should be utilized to protect kids.
Here are indoor water-safety tips to consider:
Communicate carefully with babysitters, caregivers and even
housekeepers about possible water hazards within the home.
Have a list of safety considerations, show guests how to
unlock and re-lock toilet-seat safety locks, and stress
that there is to be no water left around at any time while
children are present. Reinforce that supervision is a must.
Require that doors to the bathroom be kept closed at all
times. There is so much temptation about a bathroom, and
there have been reports of tots turning on bathtubs and
then getting in the tub (sometimes with scalding water),
with tragic results. Use child-safety door locks when you
have a filled sink with handwashables or any other reason.
Reiterate this practice to caregivers.
Never, ever leave a child in a bathtub alone, including the
baby baths. Infants and toddlers can easily topple over and
drowning doesn't take long. In addition, it's known as a
silent killer, as victims often don't make a sound. Make
sure everything you need is within arm's reach before
placing your child in the bathtub, into a bath ring, or
into a baby bath. Make sure relatives or caregivers follow
the same requirements.
Carefully go through your home for water sources that might
not normally be considered as dangerous, and be sure to
take any necessary safety precautions. For example, open
fish tanks left on coffee tables or even water-based plants
present an unsafe environment for young children.
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