A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about water safety and how important it is to get kids in swimming lessons.
Today I learned why I should heed my own advice. Today I learned just how easy it must be for children to drown without a sound.
See, in that last post I mentioned that my kids started swimming lessons when they were six months old. That’s only part of the story. My son started lessons as an infant and has continued on, nearly every week, for the past six years.
My daughter, on the other hand, started lessons at six months, but we stopped after just a few weeks. She loved the water but had terrible separation anxiety. Even if I was in the pool with her–even if I was in the pool HOLDING her–she would scream just at the thought of having to go with another person. It got to the point that the instructor couldn’t even give me directions on what to do because my daughter would not ease her death-grip on my shoulders, plus it was hard to hear him over all the screaming.
We decided it was best to take a break for a few months. But a few months turned into more than a year. We have been talking about getting her back into lessons, and I keep meaning to call and see about a schedule that will work with both kids, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Then today something happened that made me realize I need to get my butt in gear.
We went to my son’s swimming lesson, as we do every week. My daughter split her time between me and the pinwheels they have in planters along the wall. There’s a good deal of space between the planters and the pool: A few feet of open space, some tables and chairs, then the planters behind those.
As I was helping my son dry off and get dressed after his lesson, I noticed my daughter wandering farther down the wall than I was comfortable with. I called to her to come back; that she had gone too far. She started back toward me and I watched her, but only out of the corner of my eye.
She was there in my peripheral vision–and then suddenly she wasn’t.
I don’t remember hearing a sound, or if I did it was very quiet. If anything, it was a small plop, not the big splash of a child jumping into a pool. There were a couple ripples of water. But I didn’t see her. She had literally vanished.
It’s amazing how many thoughts can run through your mind in a split second. I thought for sure that she had walked down behind another wall. She hadn’t been anywhere near the pool’s edge when I told her to come back. But I also know that when a child is missing near a pool, that’s the first place you check.
So as I was trying to process what had happened, I was also leaping up and running to the ripple. I didn’t see her until I got right up next to the edge, but there she was, flailing in the water.
An instructor was in the pool, too, and reached her at the same time I did. He was very calm and simply told her, “Put your toes down,” and pushed down on her feet, causing the rest of her body to go up. He kept a hand on her until I could pull her out. (At least I think that’s what happened. I wasn’t quite as calm as he was.)
I got her out and gave her a huge hug. She cried for a long time but was otherwise fine.
Once I settled down I marveled at how she instinctively tried to tread while in the pool and how she didn’t inhale any water even though her head was submerged almost the entire time. (Even after the instructor helped her, she still bobbed up and down a bit.) I took it as further evidence of how young children have natural instincts when it comes to learning how to swim–instincts that need to be carefully honed, of course.
She was scared but a few hours later doesn’t seem traumatized by the ordeal. I can’t say the same for myself. I keep thinking of how things might have been different if my head had been turned just a smidge more to my left, or if there hadn’t been an instructor in the pool. It reinforced for me how quickly and silently tragedy can strike. And it solidified in my mind that as soon as the swim school office opens back up, I will be on the phone scheduling her next lesson.
ZOMG – so glad your DD is okay, and thanks for that eye-opener.
It happens so quick :o( My, then five year old, almost drowned in a apartment complex pool we were living it at the time. I just turned around for a second and put a towel on a chair- the next thing I knew is that he was gone! He had quietly fallen into the pool and went straight to the bottom… of course I jumped after him. I used to be a lifeguard in my younger years and we were always told that 90% of the time you will NOT hear a sound when someone is drowning- ALWAYS have your eyes on the water and the people, do NOT trust your ears. That is why I always shudder at folk sitting by the pool reading and such while their kids play in the water :o(
I’m so glad she was okay.
I agree… children have a natural aptitude for learning what to do in water. It’s important to hone in on it and utilize it as soon as possible.
For Ruthie, that meant suits with built in foam (still carefully supervised) until she had mastered the natural way of swimming…wriggling her body while moving her arms in a modified breast-stroke style way and kicking her legs.
by the time she was 3, I could have her in a regular swimsuit if we were in 4′ of water (none more cause she’d get tired and not always remember to float on her back and call for momma and I wanted to be able to easily spot her), but by 4, she could swim in any depth of water with surprising aptitude.
at 5, we put her in the swim lessons at the pool that are for age 5 and up (below that requires a parent in the pool and I’m sad to say that just wasn’t doable with two other kids and no free childcare at the rec center.
She’s now on the upper end of level 2 just by taking classes each summer… but she’s been allowed in the deep end and off the board since before she took classes… classes at this age are strictly to teach strokes… which I still feel is important… especially for this girl who is already frustrated that she isn’t yet on a swim or diving team.
For preschoolers, drowning is a very close second to motor vehicle crashes as an unintentional (and preventable) cause of fatal injury. According to CDC WISQARS data, the two causes are almost equal in fatalities for 1-4 year olds from 2003-2007. It is definitely not something that just happens to someone else or to “careless” parents. All it takes is a split second and it can happen to the most attentive parent as well. Great blogs, Jennie!
It’s extremely frightening how quickly it can happen. I remember when I was giving the godchildren a bath and was in the bathroom with them while they were playing when suddenly Zain reached for a toy (he was sitting), slipped and went right under the water. I think he was maybe around a year old or just over. It scared the life right out of me and I can’t even imagine the what ifs like if I had just stepped out “for just a second.”
There is no doubt about it: kids need adult superivision at all times when they are around water.
Finally, this is an article about what happened to a woman here, who nearly drowned in her own pool trying to help her son who she thought was in trouble.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2011/05/15/20110515Glendale-adult-drowning-0515abrk.html
She could not swim, yet was supervising her child while he was in the pool. The message here is that EVERYONE needs to be able to be safe in the water.
How scary! This is my worst nightmare…I had a near drowning experience as a child and because of that have always been afraid of the water and never really learned to swim. I don’t want my kids to have that same fear so they are and will take lessons, but we don’t go swimming that often because I am too paranoid to watch both boys (ages 2 and 5) by myself…
That is so scary! Kids around pools terrify me. My 5 year is going back for lessons in two weeks but my 22 mo old obviously cannot swim. I don’t even go to the pool with them both myself since I know I can’t give them both one on one attention. So glad to hear she is Ok–that would definitely traumatize me!