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AIBU?

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Original poster

Children Swimming in the Sea in February!

82 replies

Beccatheboo · 17/02/2012 19:42

Today I witnessed a mum and dad letting their two young children (probably about 8 and 10 years old) swim in the North Sea - one clad in a bikini! Yes, it was relatively mild today, but the water was freezing (I tested it with my hand). The parents were wearing thick coats and the mum even had on a woolly hat. They only had one hand towel for the girls and they encouraged them to run around for ages only in their swimming costumes. AIBU to think that's crazy?! I'm all for experiences and 'toughening up' children, but I think that was irresponsible. Children are less able to regulate their body temperature.

OP posts:
muddymooncups · 17/02/2012 20:43

Sorry - coast

It was 9oc here today. 25 miles away. Grin

D0oinMeCleanin · 17/02/2012 20:46

We have the boxing day dip. Oh how we laughed when my Aunt's DP (southerner) declared he would do it and it can't be that cold having obly ever been in the med sea. Of course we all paid him to do it Grin [evil]

Dd1 wanted to do it this year but I was working. She'll do it next year if I am off.

drowninginlaundry · 17/02/2012 20:47

we live near one of the Devon beaches, we see kids in the sea all year round in nothing but swimming costumes - here they are mostly tourists though, ours and all local kids wear wetsuits if they go for a swim. As long as everyone is having a good time what's the problem? They are getting lots of fresh air and enjoying the seaside! It is damn cold though, I have done a couple of New Year's Day swims without a wetsuit and bloody hell it's brutal.

TheAvocado · 17/02/2012 20:56

sorry endoplasmic, should have guessed from your username :o

MateyMooo · 17/02/2012 20:56

yes they go in the sea Boxing Day, New Years Day etc etc.

in fact there's usually at least one mad fecker in there!

flyingspaghettimonster · 17/02/2012 21:08

We used to swim in the sea in sunderland in winter. Kids do weird things. There's no child abuse here though nana insists it is what gave me rheumatoid arthritis

ConstanceChatterley · 17/02/2012 21:15

Constance, that makes sense about the surrounding temp affecting children more than it affect adults.

But surely 8 and 10 yr olds know whether they feel too cold or too hot?

Of course they do, but most of thermoregulation is autonomic and therefore 'knowing' whether you are too hot or cold only helps you to regulate your behaviour (e.g. seeking shade or putting on a jumper). All the other things that help you thermoregulate (i.e. blood vessels in the skin opening and closing) happen automatically and the point is that the body has to work harder (i.e. do more of those type things) to thermoregulate if you are smaller/a child.

How you 'feel' isn't always a brilliant indicator of whether you are actually too hot/cold - often hypothermics start to strip their clothes! (not saying for one moment these children were hypothermic, they were blatantly fine).

Tbh, I'm a bit Shock that they were properly swimming but if they were running around then they would have been keeping themselves sufficiently warm and air temp isn't that bad today. I'd have been more worried if they were sitting shivering on the shoreline.

LizzieMo · 17/02/2012 21:21

Avacado- you beat me too it, but I was going to swank a bit and quote what I remember from geography O level about the sea being warmer than the land in winter. I have never been brave enough to test it but I take my hat off to anyone who does. North Sea in Feb- Respect!!!

wigglybeezer · 17/02/2012 21:28

Ds3 used to do this when he was a toddler, start to strip off and run for the water, once, memorably on the beach at St.Andrews in February. How the wrapped up dog walkers stared! He didn't go in far, or stay in too long and went a beautiful shade of pink. We wrapped him up in a coat, dried him off and took him to a cafe for hot choc, none the worse.
It's a shame he can't remember it now he is 7, and much less keen on skinny dipping.

TheSkiingGardener · 17/02/2012 21:28

If they weren't being forced in with sharp pointy sticks and the parents were around to check they were ok then YABU.

toomuchmonthatendofthemoney · 17/02/2012 21:30

I live in the north east of Scotland and the North Sea can be absolutely freezing (it rolls straight in from the norwegian ffords i swear) but I have memories of playing in the water off Aberdeen beach, great memories, and I'm sure not confined to summer hols!

There is actually a very funny sketch by Billy Connolly on this topic. Cant remember it all but The gist of it is the safety announcements on oil rigs about wearing full body wetsuits and still only surviving 2 mins in the water, while 50 miles away on Aberdeen beach, there are mothers shouting at their kids "get in there, ye big jessie! It'll do ye good!"

DS seems to take after me with the love of the chilly dip, got him a wetsuit when he was 4 and he will happily stay in till I have to drag him out with the promise of a bag of hot chips!!

If the girls were running around they will be fine.

cory · 17/02/2012 21:49

I swam in the sea in Sweden on New Year's Day. Wasn't particularly brutal, though obviously I didn't stay in long. None of the Swedes I know seem to own wetsuits, I think of that as a very British thing.

dandelionss · 17/02/2012 22:47

children can regulate their temperatures by 6 months old.
The only thing is it does make you a bit more prone to infection as the body is working hard to warm itself up

StealthPenguin · 18/02/2012 09:06

Haven't read it all, so sorry if someone else has answered in this manner!

Because the sea is such a vast body of water the temperature never fluctuates. It will stay at a constant temperature regardless of whether it's winter or summer. If we take this constant temperature to be 10 degrees, then in the summer the ocean would seem to be very cold indeed, but in the winter when temperatures drop below 10 degrees it would not seem as cold as being out of the water.

AngryBeaver · 18/02/2012 09:16

We have all been in the sea regularly recently...but then we live in NZ!Smile

youarekidding · 18/02/2012 09:29

It really wouldn't bother me. Another here who takes towel, spare clothes and blanket whenever I go near sea, (water!). Grin

My DS had great fun in December scootering down a slope and through puddles when it was 1° and blowing a hoolie down the beach. He went over the handle bars and into it when he hit a stone! He just played until he was cold and I got him into dry clothes and we went for a walk along the seafront.

youareallwrong · 18/02/2012 09:47

It would be irresponsible if the children had been thrown in and forced to go in the sea. But they didn't. Because it was cold but not that cold.

And it would be far more irresponsible to let them go in the sea in clothes and sit in wet clothes for ages after. By taking swimming clothes and towels they can warm up far quicker.

And they were 8 - 10 fgs. Children of that age just wouldn't go in the sea if it was too cold for them.

Remember the days before central heating was normal...

We've gone soft on what is a comfortable temperature. Plenty of people will tell you the health benefits of swimming in cold water.

Ridiculous thing to get all judgy or get the cotton wool out for.

lesley33 · 18/02/2012 09:53

The kids wouldn't have stayed in the water if they were too cold. I have swam when it was very cold in the sea. You get used to it quickly and as long as you don't stay in too long and warm up afterwards,its fine.

lesley33 · 18/02/2012 09:55

And wetsuits are a pretty recent novelty for ordinary swimming. When I used to go in very cold seas 30 years ago, nobody wore wetsuits - it was all swimming costumes and trunks.

SarahStratton · 18/02/2012 10:08

Hmm You'll be needing surgery on those judgeypants OP.

JagrsMullet · 18/02/2012 10:17
Hmm If the kids were cold or unhappy, they would have gotten out...so I can't see the problem really!
ConstanceChatterley · 18/02/2012 11:16

Stealth - sorry but the temperature of the sea does fluctuate, maybe not day-to-day but certainly seasonally. Agree though that your perception of the temperature of the sea can be influenced by air temperature.

ReduceRecycleRegift · 18/02/2012 11:44

The sea around the coast does fluctuate in temperature, warmest being autumn coldest being spring/beginning of summer, takes it a LOONG time to warm or cool which is why when it gets all sunny and warm in April it is NOT the warmest time for a swim, and when it gets chilly in autumn the sea is almost balmy.

But its fine for swimming in all year round

Just that it does fluctuate

ReduceRecycleRegift · 18/02/2012 11:45

And if it didn't fluctuate at all then why would surf shops bother updating the sea temp on their chalk boards every day?

ReduceRecycleRegift · 18/02/2012 11:48

LAKES on the other hand, now they can get dangerously cold (and stay cold after the weather turns warm) and it can put you into shock almost instantly. It is VERY irresponsible for parents to let children swim in a lake they don't know well.

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