To allow my son to do this on holiday?

[HistoryRepeat]

4 years old. Loves the water. But can't swim. We go every week in the kids pool and he's leaning to kick, use a float.

We are on holiday. There is a big slide and it goes into a deep plunge pool. The pool is only as wide as a bath. Very small but v deep.

DH saying DS not allowed to go as deep and he can't swim. I say he should be able to go and I stand at the bottom and catch him. The kids do go under but I would be right there. Its such a small pool, you can touch each side. I know he can't swim but if someone is literally stood there to catch him? He did go down one slide and went under for 2 seconds, he was a bit shocked but again I was right there scooped him up and he wanted to again.

Anyway turned into a big thing as DS is obsessed with going and DH insistingjust paddle pools. DH is safety obsessed imo but he says I'm being ridiculous and that I need to trust him and respect his viewpoint and I'm not presenting a united front.

Kids currently watching screens, DH off in a huff and me wandering why I work all year to afford to take them on holiday.

Would you let your kid who can't swim on the big slides if you were at the bottom? Am I being lax?

Don’t forget carrying your child! If you pick your baby up and have a medical emergency, you could drop them and then fall on them. Hoist transfers from cot to playmat only.

We haven’t even started on bathtime. Sponge baths only until age 18, it’s the only way to be safe.

If it’s a very deep plunge pool, how will you be standing at the bottom, you will be treading water waiting for him to come down, he could land on you and cause you to go under yourself. I wouldn’t have thought that you would be allowed to be at the bottom anyway, they usually wait for clearance before someone shoots down the slide. Too risky, get him swimming lessons.

Yeah no. Safety first.
At least if they knew how not to breath underwater.
But seriously DH is right, and I wish every parent would be this careful around water.

can I ask you a question? If DS comes down the slide and accidentally kicks you either knocking you out or winds you, for that extra moment you are dazed and cannot retrieve him. It only takes 1 breath underwater to drown a child. Is this worth the risk? Could you live with yourself? We are talking about the risk of your child drowning and you winning an argument with your DH because you feel you are right to give in to the will of your DS. I am sorry for being blunt but if you genuinely think this was not an unacceptable risk then I am worried for you

Put a flotation vest on him and crack on and use the holiday to teach him how to swim!

None of my kids had lessons we taught them all

You've only got to have a larger, more confidant child/adult push past dithering child and OP at the bottom gets thoroughly clattered.

When I used to lifeguard few incidents involved actual swimming. Most involved people running, pushing, diving into shallow water, generally doing something daft. It was a rare Saturday that didn't involve first aid treatment and possibly an ambulance at some point.

Hot weather and a holiday atmosphere does cause some people to lose the ability to risk assess.

Good outcome op. The problem is if you let him once he may try it without you and that's the danger too. Kids can't swim properly until they're about 4 anyway, they're not strong enough to keep themselves up for long. Keep at his swimming lessons and in a few years he'll be whizzing down

My youngest had years of experiences with water and swimming, trying to get his confidence , similarly to situations like this , and not going to plan and starting back at square 1 had got his confidence to go on slide he had to wait for me to go down slide and I'd catch him , but he went down before I surfaced and I didn't catch him he was about 5 and did have buoyancy vest on , he was OK but ruined his confidence and we were back to square 1 , also I felt I'd let him down by not catching him. He eventually had extra swimming lessons although he had them at school couldn't get him off arm bands
So moral of the story is don't do it, keep him on smaller slides and pools, and get him swimming lessons

I would not do this either. If something went wrong (and you cant rule that out) he could drown. Its not worth the risk

Use the time to teach him to swim and get used to having his head under water. Reward him at the end if the week with a go on the slide.

I've done this many times with mine, they were on the slides well before they could swim reliably, it was one of the things that motivated them to learn! Yes, they went under, and saw that nothing bad happened which is the idea...

I would have let him, or done it with him on my lap. Mine did all sorts of (speedy) slides at Tower Park once wearing armbands - could you do that? They were also allowed to do the giant floating obstacle course in the deep end at our local pool as long as I swam alongside to retrieve them when they went down the slide at the end - armbands do at least bring them back up when it's deep water.

I would totally allow this. I understand your husband’s concern but would tell him that your son can do it while he is with you and when your son is with him, he can stick to the kiddie pool. People on here are acting like you are allowing him to go down a giant slide that ends in a dark abyss. For Christ’s sake, she is an adult and the child is wearing a flotation device! Not unreasonable to me at all!!

@OhMerseyMe don’t think OP mentioned a flotation device

Oh, my bad! I think that would be a good idea then!!

If one parent is very concerned about safety I think the other parent should be cautious as long as the child is not being held back from doing something important.

Nope a non swimming 4 year old they wouldn't allow to do it in the slide pools where I live, lifeguards would send you straight out. Hubby is totally right!