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.

I was staying at a large resort in Greece recently with a marina, many pools and poolside restaurants. The resort is very family friendly and there were many toddlers about as it’s not school holiday time and small child places are free. Quite a bit of cocktail drinking, scooter riding and generally having a lovely time. People seemed incredibly relaxed and I was terrified even though my toddler days are long gone.

I was in the kids' pool on holiday with my toddler which was about rib height on me. It was crowded. I just happened to look to my right and saw a little boy about 3 under the water with his eyes open, but he was just 'sat' there under the water, not coming up. At that point, I saw what must have been his dad, realise and jump up from his sun lounger, but he was a good few metres away. I dipped my hands under the water and lifted the boy up to the surface. Luckily he was ok, but it really doesn't take much for it all to go wrong.

Lol my autistic son had a total melt down when he was young for same reason wanted to jump in Thames! Glad it’s not just us, he had to be restrained to stop him jumping

Obviously you need to keep an eye on them at all times, goes without saying really. But children aren't dying and falling in the deep end and being plucked out immediately thankfully. You don't have a long time to get them out before brain damage or they die, but you've usually got a couple of minutes, much longer for an adult.

The problem is once you've taken your eye off the child, and then see that they're missing, the clock's already running, and you've often got no idea where to start looking, even if it turns out your child is a metre form you, or you can't see them because they're under the water and they're wearing blue.

Anyone could be distracted in a moment. You accidentally get splashed or kicked by another child, someone called your name, loud unexpected noise, whatever, and for a split second you look away. It's a bit pedantic, but the issue isn't that kids are drowning in seconds, but that you can lose them in seconds, but it may take minutes or longer to find them. So make then as visible as you can in water.

Ensuring they have bright (non blue) swimwear and being in the water with the child rather than supervising from the sides. It's probably the most important thing. When they are old enough to swim without you in the water, buddying up with other kids can also be helpful. You can also get high visibility wristbands for them to wear.

Everyone thinks it could never happen to them, until it does. Tragedies happen to responsible parents too.

I agree! It's gut wrenching!!

I agree.

I think all parents have at some point had their child in a situation or place where an accident could have occurred but were just lucky. Most of us probably don’t even know or realise when that was.

Sometimes it is down to negligence but most of the time it’s just awful awful luck.

We always used to tag each other on and off duty on beaches (spot the NHS staff!) and always dressed our 3 DC in the same brightly coloured football tops so they were easy to spot.

My heart goes out to these parents.

It's a tragedy and why as a single parent I didn't feel comfortable taking mine on overseas holiday until they were 8 & 10. Even now they are older and swim like fish and dd2 spends a ridiculous amount of time upside down and under the water I never fully relax although I do let them in on their own if I can see them.

It can happen in an instant though - dd1 was nearly face down in hot tub in a lodge when she was 2 because as we arrived with the luggage she toddled outside and reached down to look under the cover - terrifying.

Mine are much older but we still all look out for each other in water. When hubby goes out to sea, I still spot for him. It can happan to adults who are good swimmers let alone children. But im not passing judgement. We dont know the circumstances and regardless our thoughts go out to them.

I was once in the pool at center parcs and saw the tips of a child’s fingers above the water. She came up slowly, then went back under. I grabbed her and slung her upwards, onto the side, where water gushed from her mouth. She had been upright, and the pool was really busy. I think people tend to think of drowning as a body floating face down, or splashing a lot, but this was silent, and the only thing immediately visible were her fingers. It was terrifying how easy it would’ve been to miss her.

Just terrible.

Whatever the circumstances around this incident, the parents are now starting a life sentence. I can’t even begin to imagine.

It often seems to be occasions where there is a group or party and that becomes much more dangerous because people assume there is safety in numbers and it’s the opposite.

But.. like others I have seen some people be incredibly lax re pools on holiday.

That's devastating.

I 'saved' two toddlers on a recent holiday. The first one was right by her mum on steps, the toddler's older sibling got hurt and took their mum's attention for a few seconds and the toddler went down the steps and under. I fished her out.

The second toddler was left in the pool on her own on a lilo. She went to get off on the edge and fell in the pool. I was in the pool and fished her out and put her on the edge. She ran off and I couldn't see any parents watching her or nearby.

Agreed you have to be so so careful. We went on holiday to a gite with a pool when youngest was 3. At some point she had her armbands off and for whatever reason decided to walk into the pool without them, takes a split second. Obviously we were always watching so I was straight in and grabbed her. Was so quick, if someone hadn't been watching could so easily have been a different story.

My boss has a holiday home in Spain. The rule is the doors are kept locked and only opened if his grandkids have their life vests on. The kids run in and out and jump in the pool and there is no fear as they just float. I saw a kid on holiday with a similar little life vest on next to the hotel pool.

This. I've had a near miss and I WAS in the pool with them.

in a lot of circumstances you have to be really careful with life vests (especially those ones with the arms that just allow small toddlers to effortlessly swim) they can give children such a false sense of security that they can just jump straight into deep water and be able to swim.

Accidents happen to good parents and it's very very important to remember that.

Their was a Mum on here years ago whose child had died in a tragic accident. She said that she'd always walked on the roadside of the pavements with them on the inside and held their hand. She was a good and diligent mother, but she still lost her child in a tragic accident (not a road accident). I have never forgotten her story or her lesson. There but for the Grace of God go I and go ALL of us.

I got scared the shit out of a few years ago on holiday - I was watching the kids who were doing a session in an indoor pool on inflatables. There were 3 kids in the pool so it was almost empty.

I was watching my two from the side, and there was an 'instructor' and a lifeguard. I turned from watching one child to the other, genuinely would've been about 2 seconds, saw the lifeguard behind them taking his shoes off and wondered why. In those 2 seconds, my youngest had slipped off the inflatable and gone in. Luckily he was pulled straight out, no harm done, but it is SO hard to watch constantly.

Edit- that doesn't mean we shouldn't all try, and take active responsibility!

Indeed. We live by the sea and last week, were standing on the prom observing people on the beach. A woman took her toddler (probably aged about 2) on the beach and whilst she was setting down their things, laying a blanket down, etc, the child had charged off towards the sea - he was about 80 away from her before she realised and VERY close to the sea. She set off (not very quickly, I have to say) after him and if he hadn't been distracted by a dog further along/parallel, he'd defintely have been in the sea before she reached him.

I was impressed when we bought one of those blow-up pools for the garden last year (from B&M, I think) and I found it came with an ID card on a lanyard that stated the wearer was the adult officially in charge/on duty of watching the kids. Like PP have mentioned, I believe risk increases when there’s a group thinking there’ll always be someone watching the children. It’s always ‘somebody’ else, oddly enough.

That’s why the doors were locked until the vests were on correctly.

I completely agree with you. My 4 year old doesn't wear armbands anymore as he can 'swim' but I am always in the water with him. If it's a shallow pool, where he can stand, I might be at the end of the pool instead of in the water but I am still watching him like a hawk.

I see far too many children in deep pools with armbands on when the parents are sunning themselves. It's absolutely disgusting!

I don't know what happened here but it's very sad.

I saw a picture once where it showed the colour of swimwear most likely to camouflage a child underwater and the colour moat likely to make them seen.

My kids ended up in florescent orange rash vests because of that poster!

I also saw a video of a young child drowning, they were about 9, it was in Thailand or something. There were hoardes of adults in the pool just a couple of feet away and none of them noticed. Luckily a life guard did and saved them.

I also have experienced it. Went to my sil house, her kid was about 2yo and my eldest was 12. Sil got progressively drunk and didn't care that her 2yo was keeping going into the deep hottub. I was watching him constantly, but eventually needed to pee. Told my sil I was stepping away, and grabbed nephew out the hottub. Next thing I know I'm turning to walk into the house and my DD shouts I turn just in time to see her, fully clothed, jump in and drag nephew off the bottom of the hottub, the second my back was turned hed jumped straight back in. Sil was stood right there, next to it, glass of wine in hand, watching but I guess too drunk to react or realise what she was seeing???

Thank goodness for my daughter, to this day (she's 16 now) I tell her she saved her cousins life that day. My sil, doesn't even remember it happening. I vividly remember him coughing and spluttering. Sil is still a drunk (a whole other thread) but we did persuade her to get rid of the hotub at least.