To ask 16yo to take his baby brother swimming? How strict are pools?

[Swimmin]

Hi everyone, baby is only 8 weeks so a while yet but just thinking of the future.

If someone were to take him swimming he needs supervised by a person 16+ how strict are they on that? Do they ask to see ID? Some under 16s look older than their age…

i have 16, 14, 10 and 5 year old also. younger 2 need me

would it be U to give money to my 16 to take him to the baby pool? but i’d say my 16 year old looks younger than his age

I do honestly wonder how we expect to raise our children to be competent and confident adults whilst refusing to give them any responsibility. Young adults benefit from taking on responsibility and feeling useful. Why shouldn't a 16 year participate and help out in family life. There is a vast difference between older siblings helping with younger as part of routine family chores and turning them into young carers.

Why shouldn't a competent 16 year old be able to look after a small child or baby in a environment surrounded by other people with life guards around? It's a local leisure centre baby pool not open water.

But is the OP's 16 year old a qualified lifeguard?

Ok I don't think this is the worst idea if you feel that the 16 year old is responsible. It's not like they'd have their phone in the pool.

You can give children responsibility without risking the life of a newborn baby.

I think it's fine if your child is responsible, pop the baby in a supportive float (one of those chair type ones) and ensure teenager keeps holding of it at all times.

Yes but they’re trained

No, the OP is probably not taking a piss.
There are five or six children, I stopped counting.
Bizarre.

One parent can't go swimming with five kids, one only a few months old and another with suspected ASD, even if one of the kids is 16!

Yes he got in college although he ended up changing his course in october and is happier nkw

i ended up deleting my old mn account due to my threads always being taken over by judgy ppl that would reply on every thread no matter what it was about telling me to have an abortion and would bring up my living situation as if i didn’t already know and it wasnt good for my mental health even tho i was already isolated the rudeness wasn’t worth it

they’ll probably find this thread too and i’ll regret signing back up but hey ho

Don't most pools have ratios, like a limited number of kids per adult?
So even if the 16yr old wants to, and is capable of having some responsibility for an infant in water, OP might have too many kids for one adult to be responsible for at once. Depending on the pools ratio rules.

Aww, that good that he's enjoying it! Sorry for being nosy.

I'd pay money specifically not to have a 16 year old in charge of my newborn baby in a pool.

It isn't the fault of your 16 year old that you have too many kids to take of. Take the baby yourself.

Do these children have a father? Can't be be the other responsible person rather than your child?

You need infant CPR training and a lifeguard certificate to take a baby swimming?

Mumsnet is wild, of course it's ok as long as he's happy and willing to do it.

I wouldn’t.

I’d rather just pay him to babysit at home with no expectation either so fully able to refuse. Then you take the amount of children you can safely as the adult supervise.

All those going but a 16 year old can be a life guard yeah cool but unless ops 16 year old is, it changes nothing.

I don’t even like being responsible for others big children in a pool let alone someone’s 4 month old when I was a teenager.

Please don’t

Bit surprised at some of the responses tbh. My DD is 15 and a brilliant swimmer - much better than me - and a responsible,sensible girl. With me in the adult pool as well I would definitely trust her to take a baby swimming.
It sounds like you mean all of you going together so that you and the 16 year old count as the “adults” so you have the right ratio of adults to children, and you then send the 16 year old off to the baby pool with the baby for a while? But you will be on hand too.
Don’t see why that’s a big issue really

Is this the 16 year old who does nothing but game and vape in his bedroom?

No. Absolutely not.

Me either but if you read back it makes sense. I think the horrified posts are by people thinking she's just sending the son and baby off on their own?

I am curious but did you consult the 16 year old about having the baby, if not why are you dumping parental responsibility on him.

At 16 nearly 17 he most likely will not particularly want to go to the pool with his mother and siblings not to mind say being in the baby pool.

Not fair to put that responsibility on him.

Don’t see why that’s a big issue really

Even if the older son is an expert swimmer the big issue is that still leaves the OP with three children to supervise, one with suspected ASD so might need extra supervision.

Don’t see why that’s a big issue really

Even if the older son is an expert swimmer the big issue is that still leaves the OP with three children to supervise, one with suspected ASD so might need extra supervision.

That’s what I thought from the op.