Top Three Tips on Water Safety and Swim Lessons for Your Preschooler

Little ones are joyfully drawn to the delights of the water, and we parents wish to foster that sense of the water as an endless source of fun and play. 

But of course, fun assumes safe, and a preschooler's carefree day at the beach or pool or lake (or bath) is made possible by a caring and always careful parent. 

Here is a refresher course for the basics on water safety for your little one:

1. Your preschooler should have a grown-up within an arm's reach at all times near the water.  This is what the American Academy of Pediatrics calls "touch supervision" -- voice control doesn't cut it at the pool.  Got twins? That means two grown-ups.  Got friends over?  As many grown-ups as there are kids under 5 (at least), all kept within their watching adult's reach. 
2. The official line from the nation's pediatricians is no swim lessons until age 4.  Classes before age 4 are fun if you are splashing in the class too (touch supervision, after all), and if they are playful, water-acclimatizing group fun.  They shouldn't, though, lead either you or your little one to believe that he's safe in the water.  In fact, the experts say that reducing a little one's fear of the water may lead to a false sense of security for both child and parents.
3. And then after her fourth birthday, your child should indeed learn to swim, our pediatricians tell us.  View it as a life skill, not an enrichment activity.  Schedule it, keep to it, find a great class that teaches kindly and clearly, and turn your little one into a proper fish!  But, gulp, our doctors remind us ominously again:  "Remember, teaching your child how to swim DOES NOT mean your child is safe in water."  Water safety worries evolve, but don't stop.

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