Children Swimmingpool Accidents

[Frank La Rue]

--------on the topic of swimming in another thread I came to think of one occassion when my son was may be 2 years old and played in the pool. I turned away for a while and when I turned back I found him floating on his stomack with his face down into the water, doing - well, nothing.

He did not move, just stayed there like that - it scard the hell out of me and rushed to him, picked him up. As soon as I did he kept on breathing, no crying or expression of discomfort.

The reason I was scared was because, I had turned away for long enough to feel that he has stayed a concerningly long time in the water, face down, without breathing.

I recognized, I have read this somewhere, that small children have not got programmed in their small brains by experience, that if you if you have you had under water and cannot breath, you should do whatever it takes to get you head out of whater.

It went well this time, this was incidentally in Dusit Thani, and it reminded me that small children have to be watched at all times as their brains are not loaded to do what's obvious to adults

[jingjoe]

my 2yo is the same,he loves the water,but if he goes under he just goes still..no reaction....i would recommend swim lessons with mat adcock from swimhuahin and also anyone who has a pool to be responsible and have a pool fence.
Even if you don't have kids of your own,any visiting child will be drawn to the water

[Khundon1975]

Our kid was allowed into the pool with his mum from 4 months old and never had any problems going under water and then bobbing up to the surface again, laughing and giggling.

I think the sooner they start, the easier it is for them to adapt.

Getting him into the shower now at 3.5 years, twice a day, is another matter!

[SunandFun]

Children should not enter the pool until fully toilet trained. For the safety of others. E-coli is a serious thing.
This is a different type of accident than what the OP was speaking of. But it is equally important. Having a big problem in our pool now because of all the Russian babies coming with single Moms.

[Frank La Rue]

Children should not enter the pool until fully toilet trained. For the safety of others. E-coli is a serious thing.
This is a different type of accident than what the OP was speaking of. But it is equally important. Having a big problem in our pool now because of all the Russian babies coming with single Moms.

Good point, I have not thought of that one. I know for sure we had a leakage in the Metawalai Hotel pool in Cha Am once

[Khundon1975]

Children should not enter the pool until fully toilet trained. For the safety of others. E-coli is a serious thing.
This is a different type of accident than what the OP was speaking of. But it is equally important. Having a big problem in our pool now because of all the Russian babies coming with single Moms.

SunandFun

Well, our kid never pooped once, in all the times he used our pool.

And what about the thousands of adults who use public swimming pools, do you really think that they are 100% fecal free, when they jump into the pool at your hotel.

Much more important, is how well the pool water is disinfected and how well the pumps and filters are maintained. If your pool is in Thailand, I would suggest that, in most cases, not very well.

[jingjoe]

Children should not enter the pool until fully toilet trained. For the safety of others. E-coli is a serious thing.
This is a different type of accident than what the OP was speaking of. But it is equally important. Having a big problem in our pool now because of all the Russian babies coming with single Moms.

SunandFun

Well, our kid never pooped once, in all the times he used our pool.

And what about the thousands of adults who use public swimming pools, do you really think that they are 100% fecal free, when they jump into the pool at your hotel.

Much more important, is how well the pool water is disinfected and how well the pumps and filters are maintained. If your pool is in Thailand, I would suggest that, in most cases, not very well.

Our son wears a special swim diaper so doesn't get heavy in the water,its more for show so other parents don't complain,we know when our son is going to do a number 2 because he grimaces and usually takes about 10mins,i think most babies/toddlers let you know well in advance....as for peeing ..well I see a lot of adults drinking lots of beer and swimming without any trips to the hong naam!!

[Dieter78]

Scarey moment. I guess not too many private pools have fences around them like required in Australia.

For those of you with private pools... do you manage your pool yourself or hire someone (clean, chemical balance).

[hhfarang]

Best thing to do is teach your kids to swim while they are very young. I have a friend here whose young kids are as comfortable in water as they are on land. They even jump in and swim underwater like it is no big deal and they are not even school age yet.

I didn't learn to swim until I was 18 and thereafter spent a good portion of my life in/under the water. Teach your kids to swim early. They will be safer and enjoy life more with no fear of the water.

[Dieter78]

Yes thats very important. And children love activities. Learning to swim will be fun and a great peace of mind for parents.

[pdm3547]

You know that chlorine smell you get in swimming pools? The truth is that it's not chlorine, which is an odourless gas.

It's a distinct smell caused the reaction between chlorine and urea, a chemical found in human pee and sweat.

Now do you understand why you shower before you get in the pool?!

[Takiap]

You know that chlorine smell you get in swimming pools? The truth is that it's not chlorine, which is an odourless gas.

It's a distinct smell caused the reaction between chlorine and urea, a chemical found in human pee and sweat.

Now do you understand why you shower before you get in the pool?!

If you have ever opened a new drum of pool chlorine, I can assure you the vapors will literally know your breath away, and it is the same smell you get in the water, only far stronger.


As for learning how to swim, two of my daughters battled for ages and attended a few lessons, and no progress was made. Last weekend a friend of mine was down here with his wife, and in the space of about three hours both daughters had learned how to swim. No obvious teaching involved, only fun and games. They might not be great swimmers, but both are now able to dive in in the deep end and swim about safely. A massive relief for me, and I was truly shocked at just how quick they learned.

[RobinB52]

Sorry to contradict pdm3547 but chlorine is not odourless; as Takiap inferes it has a strong smell - just like household bleach...or swimming pools!!

[Nereus]

Sorry to contradict pdm3547 but chlorine is not odourless; as Takiap inferes it has a strong smell - just like household bleach...or swimming pools!!

Trying not to get off topic, but the wrong mixture can affect kids and adults. The following gives a good explanation:

http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/1844 ... -chlorine/

[Dieter78]

Pool chemicals are dangerous. I remember a politician from australia is blind in one eye after a drop of acid for the pool splashed up and got him.