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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Not to let my dcs go on inflatable floats in sea?

69 replies

fabuLou · 22/08/2015 16:04

So not to drip feed, pil took dcs to seaside and allowed them to do this. I am not happy. UR? Over protective?

OP posts:

Original poster

fabuLou · 22/08/2015 21:22

Thanks for replys. Dcs wont be going away with them again anyway

OP posts:

Rosa · 22/08/2015 21:25

Where we are the sea is so calm and shallow we have no red and yellow flags basically it is fine to swim all along the coast. My dds have a lilo and a few other things and they play safely near the edge . ( if i say you have to walk out 20m before the water is even above your knees at low tide). It also helps that the ligeguards are in a tower right next to where we are on the beach so its another 2 sets of eys on them.
However off the coast of Cornwall then NO way.

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 22/08/2015 22:25

The biggest YNBU. I have ever given anyone.
What were your pils thinking ! Not surprised you're angry.
So many things can go wrong with the sea.
Oh the poster who said. About being angry if they were 4 but not if they were 14. Your words. If they were 14. I'd just leave them to get on with it. Take off your little kid blinkers off please. 4 or 14 is no match against the sea if it turns

BarbarianMum · 22/08/2015 22:28

I think a lot does depend on which sea, which beach and a lot of other variables. My kids have had a lot of (closely supervised) fun with a dingy in Wales this year without it being remotely dangerous.

ButterflyUpSoHigh · 22/08/2015 22:29

A neighbour of ours died doing this she was only 7. Her sister tried to save her and couldn't. It has affected the family for the rest of our lives.

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 22/08/2015 22:32

Butterfly that is so so tragic. X

trixymalixy · 22/08/2015 22:39

Yanbu. There's a huge difference between using inflatables in a pool and in the sea.

We used to use an inflatable dinghy when we went to the seaside with my grandparents, but there was a rope attached and held by my grandpa at all times.

almapudden · 22/08/2015 22:39

Yanbu. When I was 13 I was on holiday in Norfolk with my 11 year old brother and his best friend. We had three rubber rings of varying sizes, which we were playing on. We suddenly realised that we'd drifted really far out - you could clearly see the line where the colour of the sea changed and the currents kicked in.

My brother's friend then fell off his medium-sized ring; it floated towards the drop-off and was instantly whisked away at speed. The three of us had to frantically paddle back to shore with only one big and one small ring between us. It was very frightening and I had nightmares for a while afterwards.

bettyberry · 22/08/2015 22:46

No. I wouldn't. I live in a coastal town and the last thing you do here is use bloody inflatables in the sea because of the rip tides. So so easy to drag you out. So so dangerous and incredibly irresponsible. They are banned from being sold on a couple of beaches near me because of that reason. People still bring them down to the beach though and its a nightmare. No one has any common sense.

maybe its because I've lived by the sea for so long where RNLI talks about sea safety are the norm here.

I'm probably going to be seen as seriously over protective but whenever I take the DS any where near the sea we do go prepared. crabbing at the side of the harbour he was wearing a life vest because he is clumsy, cannot swim and has no sense of risk. I've used it on some beaches too (there's one locally where the depth of the water is sudden not gradual) In the autumn- spring on walks along the beach I put a hi-vis vest over the top of his coat. It makes it easier to spot him and If he ever went in (It has happened only once) it makes him that teeny bit easier to see. not that you are easy to see when in the water :(

scarlets · 22/08/2015 22:54

I wouldn't use one of these and I'm an adult and a very good swimmer. They should be banned from beaches unless they have ropes IMO.

Your PiLs have been rather foolish but I suspect they know this now. Lesson learned.

HarrietSchulenberg · 22/08/2015 22:55

I've never been in an inflatable or allowed my children to use one, but I used to be very at the gangs of happy kids playing in them at seasides in the 70s.
Probably a stupid question but are they are safe to use when the tide is coming in?

littledrummergirl · 22/08/2015 23:08

Yadnbu. The sea needs to be treated with respect.

swimmerforlife · 22/08/2015 23:42

YANBU.

I am a former lifeguard in NZ & Aus and so many people did this, often a lot of them needed rescuing. It is such a dangerous thing to do and it beggars belief how some people think it's okay. I have seen so many near misses it's been terrifying. This was drummed into me from a young age and I don't think it's ever occurred to me to do so. Do not mess with the ocean, it is such an unpredictable environment.

Lakes are fine so long as there is no howling gale, I grew up using lilos by sunbathing on them etc on the lake near my grandparents.

OP, I wouldn't let your PIL take your DC to the beach again as they have proved they do not know water safety. But I also think this is a good lesson for your children on water safety and that using inflatables is NOT okay on a beach.

bringthenoise · 23/08/2015 02:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LilyTucker · 23/08/2015 08:09

Yanbu

We leave near the sea. The kids at the school I work at had a talk from the RNLI, not taking inflatables to the beach was at the top.

That said pil might not know. They were more common in the past and many seaside shops sell them literally on the beach. I've had to get quite strident with dp over it. Show them something online and make them promise not to do it again.

ProcrastinatorGeneral · 23/08/2015 08:30

The only way a dinghy is acceptable on the beach is if you get the minions to fill it with water so the toddler can 'paddle' without you needing to trek down to the waterline with them. Never in the sea it self. Ever. Your father in law sounds like a dick.

BestIsWest · 23/08/2015 08:38

YANBU. Never take an inflatable into the sea. Whatever your age.

MsJuniper · 23/08/2015 10:12

YANBU at all.

Actually this thread has been very useful in reminding me of the dangers - my most frequented seaside resort had a shallow area that had been cordoned off for children to use so I don't think I ever fully appreciated what open water could be like.

Is there, or should there be, a universal arm/hand signal for when someone is in trouble? You hear so many of the not waving but drowning type stories.

ShadowLine · 23/08/2015 10:29

YANBU.

They're not safe to use in the sea. Even an adult who's a strong swimmer could get swept out far enough to drown on an inflatable, never mind a small child.

Like pp system, you don't mess with the sea. It's stronger than any of us.

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