Children drowning on holiday.

[Nextdoormat]

Another week where in the news a poor toddler (2) has drowned on holiday. Devastating for parents. I am not casting blame or being goady, but how can we make it clearer that someone needs to watch a child 100% of the time if near water.
As a single parent I did take my kids on holiday where there were pools but they always had arm bands on when they couldn't swim properly and I never took my eyes off them, so no reading a book, snoozing, chatting and being distracted.
Perhaps it was easier when I had sole responsibility. Once my DS2 at the time aged 4 was just walking by the pool and another kid just pushed him in at the deep end. I jumped in fully clothed with sunglasses on and pulled him out, if I wasn't watching I could have been that parent grieving.
My heart goes out to the parents, what was supposed to be a holiday making memories turned on it's head.

It can happen to anyone obviously just one second of looking away etc but alcohol on holiday plays a massive part in a lot of these incidents. Parents are often drinking from as early as possible, I just watched a TikTok today from a Brit on holiday abroad saying in one breath how her ND three year old was obsessed with the pool and then in the next how she was so chilled out because she had been drinking cocktails all day. Severe lack of common sense because those two things are just a recipe for disaster.

Neon swimwear. Even for adults.

I’m surprised in this day and age that some parents are still unaware that drowning is the biggest cause of death in under 5s 🥲

I even end up watching other people’s kids around the pool on holiday, never switch off, even when I didn’t have my own child!

I've often gained random bored children because their parents are off elsewhere and I look like fun because I'm playing with my DCs

Awkward when it's time to go and I have no idea who's supervising them...

Can I also add to the conversation please? If you have DD’s with long hair their hair and tie it up we had a near miss with one of ours doing a mermaid impression where off duty police officer pointed out to us that if her hair got caught in one of the filters there would be nothing anybody could do to save her.

We recently went on holiday with a family where the mum and dad sat in the bar "watching" the kids. I pointed out the bar was in a building, on a roof garden. To get to the pool in an emergency you would either need to jump off a single storey building or run down a flight of stairs.
I took my drink and sat by the pool. Some parents are weird.

Actually I don’t think many people on this thread are being judgy

Perhaps we need some hard-hitting public information campaigns, like this one from the 1970s.

This is why my husband I have decided to avoid holiday rentals with pools until the kids are much much older. We are renting a house in France and specifically got one without a pool - otherwise I would be spending the entire time having to watch my kids like a hawk which just isn’t feasible. I would rather just have the danger removed completely. Same with hotels with pools - we don’t sit by the pool or anywhere near it. Going to the pool is a planned activity as part of the day where myself and/or my husband take the kids in and play etc and then we leave the pool area altogether and go somewhere else.

This reminds of a holiday a few years ago when three young kids (7 or 8 years old) were playing at the foot of the steps that lead onto the beach when the tide was in. I spotted them whilst walking my dog about 8pm in the evening. I walked along to the top of the steps and shouted down to them that it was dangerous to play there as one large wave would be powerful enough to sweep them into the sea. I asked them to come back up onto safer ground which they did. There were no adults in sight and I couldn't believe their parents had left them to their own devices. Terrifying!

Very good point and I’m sure it’s been said many times but I worry about this influencer-inspired trend/‘aesthetic’ of putting kids in beige everything. The more garishly bright the swimwear the better.

I’m on the fence about whether this thread is in good taste or not but if it reminds us all of the absolute need to be vigilant with children around water then it’s not totally without merit. I found the link to the silent drowning article particularly helpful with its description of what drowning really looks like.

This post has reminded me of a conversation I have had this week about blind cords. Every year there are parents who want to raise awareness of the danger of them as their child has got caught and died. I just wonder why that parent didn't know as it's been years that these awful deaths have happened. I don't know if the cords aren't in a loop anymore but I've just moved into a house with blinds already there and they don't have separate cords. One has snapped and it is frustrating as I can't reach it to open and close them but I'm considering cutting them all just in case I have small visitors.

Several people have found new ways to mitigate the risk for future use. That's a good thing and could avert future incidents occurring.

Like when Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville warned children about dangerous things?

I’ve had some misses with my children and I would consider myself vigilant and sensible around water. It’s so easy to let your guard down, particularly on holiday.

When I was a kid we came home one day and our dog had half hanged himself on the chord of a blind. He survived but the memory has never left me. I wouldn't ever buy blinds that had that sort of chord.

This was narrated by Donald Pleasance, who as far as I know remains a highly respected actor 30 years after his death.

However, I don't see the logic of your comment. Savile fronted the safety campaign to wear seatbelts in your car (before this became compulsory) - does that make the message invalid? If someone in 1978 remembered to put their seatbelt on because of the Savile campaign, and avoided serious injury in an accident as a result, does the choice of actor make the outcome any less successful?

Mine are 8 and 10 and I havnt taken them abroad because I'd just be on pins the entire time, it wouldn't be a very relaxing time constantly on edge watching them in the pool 🤣

🤣

I do think more public safety awareness messages would be a good thing (just not weird and creepy like those 70s ones!)

Even growing up in the 90s and 2000s I remember lots of adverts about safety and danger, we had those little hedgehogs singing about crossing the road. I don’t see anything like that nowadays.

Villas with pools and multiple adults/families staying together are the worst combo.

Not quite clear who is on duty, lots of children running around and in and out, pool probably not fenced, children (and adults) not used to being around the water.

So easy to lose track of a toddler for a few seconds, a door to be left open while someone unloads the car etc.

Lots of these accidents happen when it is not a 'swim' time, it's when parents are busy doing other things.

I know how easily accidents happen and wouldn’t judge anyone unless they were deliberately not watching their child.

When my son was about 1-2 we went abroad, he was sleeping in a travel cot and we used to put him in that with some toys for safety while we got ready to go out. My husband was in the shower and I was drying my hair in the bathroom when I thought I heard the door bang. Ran out and son had escaped cot and wasn’t anywhere in the room. Was a nightmare. Basically he had let himself out of the hotel room and was found along the corridor about to get in the lift (which we did every day), luckily a couple stopped him. The pool was at the bottom of the lift.

The hotel room door didn’t lock from the inside so there was no way to stop him, so basically we hadto Watch him like a hawk. Also many balconies are easy to open which can be stressful too.

I never learned as a child (took adult classes and I can swim a bit now) and it's one of my deepest regrets. The thought of not being able to dive in and save my DC from drowning has always troubled me and made me hyper vigilant around water.

I think parents of children who are good swimmers can be complacent or over estimate their child's ability. I was on holiday in Finland visiting a close friend who lives there with her 8 yo DD who could 'swim like a fish' and learned very early. My DD was not a strong swimmer at all and quite nervous in water so always made sure to remain close to me when we were in a nearby pool and not get out of her depth while my friend was trying to encourage her to go into a deeper part and insisting she would never learn if she stayed in her comfort zone😐

On the last day of our visit my friend's DD got into difficulty after swimming out too far in a lake, luckily her DH dashed into the water and rescued her. I think it was a bit of wake up call for her (my friend).

DD is now in stage 7 and attends lessons at my gym along with DS. She's the oldest in her group by far as she really was a late starter but I've insisted she continues until she completes this stage. I'm hoping she will continue as they have a swim club after stage 7 where children can continue to train for competitions. She has no interest in swimming competitively which is fine but I think the longer she stays regularly active in the water, the better.

If you watch the CCTV though he leans out of the window first and then picks the little girl up and hangs her over. They didn’t believe he didn’t realise the window was open because of that. A really awful case though, that poor little girl.