A swimming pool provides an excellent place to cool off, have fun, and enjoy time together with family and friends. At the same time, pools can be dangerous if the individuals using them aren’t ready. Since kids are often the most frequent users of backyard pools, it’s often best to let your kids determine when it’s a good time to install a pool. If your kids meet these criteria, there’s no reason not to begin the installation process.
They Can Listen to and Follow Instructions
Adult supervision is one of the most important ingredients for pool safety. Part of this supervision involves the adults giving instructions to the children to keep them safe. If your children can listen to and follow instructions that you give them in other areas of their lives, there’s a good chance that they’ll be able to listen to and follow your instructions when they’re in the pool.
They Can Bathe Themselves
Although fiberglass pools contain far more water than a bathtub, bathtime makes a great practice session for time spent in the pool. Interacting with water safely in the bathtub is a great way for your children to learn how to respect water when they’re swimming. Plus, learning skills, such as what to do with wet hair, how to get water out of eyes, and other skills that your children learn in the bathtub will come in handy when they’re in the much larger “bathtub” in your backyard.
They Have at Least Some Swimming Experience
While you can start swimming lessons with your children when they are quite young, that doesn’t mean that they have true swimming experience. Whether it’s at a friend’s pool, the local swim club, or a recreational lake, there’s no replacement for a hands-on swimming experience. Even if your child doesn’t successfully learn how to swim independently, they can at least learn important techniques that will help keep them safe if they get into a dangerous situation.
They Are Tall Enough for the Shallow End
If you install an in-ground pool, you will have varying depths of water in your pool. To help your children stay safe, it’s important that they’re able to have their heads above water while standing flat-footed on the bottom of the pool in the shallow end. This is important because it gives your children a way to stay safe if they become tired while swimming in the deep end of the pool.
Even when your kids reach an age where they can safely swim in a pool, it’s still important to keep an eye on them at all times. It only takes a few seconds for a child to find themselves in a dangerous situation and only a few seconds longer for serious injuries to occur. Therefore, stay vigilant while your children are in your pool so that everyone can have a fun summer together.