Keeping toddlers safe around an unfenced villa pool on holiday

[OneProudCrab]

Very excited to be going on our first family holiday to a villa. We have DS1 (3yr) and DS2 (13 months crawler). There will be PIL (but are fairly hands off parenting) and BIL with a baby also.

Ive started to get a bit paranoid about pool safety after hearing some terrible statistic that it is the number one cause of death in 1-3yr olds (think it was the US and haven't fact checked so it may be completely false but nevertheless I'm worried still).

The villa does not have a fence around it and I think the idea was to spend a lot of time in the outdoor shady area that is close but not directly overlooking the pool.

Any advice other than to stay super vigilant on how to keep kids safe and allow us to relax as much as we can whilst they play?

There is absolutely no way I would holidays in a villa with an unfenced pool with non swimming children you won’t be able to relax end of !

I wouldn’t go to that villa. Bit of you must then you must keep doors closed and locked at all times and also have a strict rota for watching the kids/pool - otherwise with several adults there is a high risk that you will assume someone else is watching the kids

Oh my goodness. Who booked the villa? Honestly I wouldn't do it.

Me neither. I wouldn’t go on this holiday in a million years. Relying on other people to keep children who can’t even swim alive!

It’s not even the lack of resting that would be an issue for me, it’s the risk. I would consider it if it was just me and the dc but not with other people in the mix.

You will both have to be vigilant all the time while you are round the pool.

When the dc are napping, can you close any French windows etc so there is no access out to the pool? But you will have to keep an eye on the dc so you know when they wake…

I’m so sorry but I agree

you can go but you won’t be able to relax at all

you will need to sit in the house or away from the pool the whole time

I agree too, sorry. It will be a nightmare.

There is absolutely no way I would go.

I had a pool when my DC were young children and the only way to keep them safe is a safety locked gate and extreme vigilance as a minimum.

you 100% will not be able to rely on any other adults to ensure that doors are shut etc.

No, I wouldn’t be going. I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old and there’s no way I’d go with them. The doors of the villa will have to be kept closed at all times, and checking often in case people forget to close them. You won’t be able to relax outside, one of you will have to be with the kids at all times. Go to somewhere young child friendly until they’re old enough to be around a pool.

You have a rule that you agree who is in charge of which child and you stick to that agreement until someone else clearly agrees to take over care of that child. Do not include PIL as they sound unreliable.

While you are in charge of a child you don’t take your eyes off them for more than 30 sec - you hand over to another specific adult if you need the loo etc. And nobody ever gets left with all the kids.

The main risk is always the “I thought someone else was watching them” risk and the “I was having fun with the other adults and forgot about the kids” risk. So you need rules to counteract this risk.

Take a travel cot or playpen with you for the babies.

No drinking if you are in charge of a child, until they are in bed. Unfortunately it just makes you relax too much.

Afraid I agree with pp that this isn’t the most relaxing of holiday options.

Make sure you know who is responsible for each child at all times and handover care directly if eg you go to the loo. Maybe try to get a playpen for the babies?

Get something like this but has to be worn 24 7
Floatee - To save lives | Children's anti-drowning T-shirts share.google/74Wf00flLc6oRDxTV

You say the villa hasn’t got a fence around it- so the garden isn’t fenced? That’s very different to a pool not being fenced. Which is it?

I agree with many others and would never ever go to a villa with an unfenced pool with small children. Surely you noticed this when deciding which villa to book?

I wouldn't go either. But if you did go ...

Your children cannot be left alone at any time - even times you would normally leave them eg 3 year old alone in kitchen eating his breakfast for a few minutes. An adult must be with them at all times. Preferably you or your dh.

If you are at the pool and the kids are swimming one person must be primarily responsible for them - as in not reading/swimming/looking at the interesting bird in the tree but actively minding them in the water. I suggest you have a coloured bracelet or similar that you pass between each other to pass responsibility.

The most likely time for an accident is when there is a crowd and everyone thinks someone else or everyone else is looking out for the kids

Make sure - personally - that the doors are locked every night and that a toddler can't wake up early and decide to go and play in the pool without an adult. this would be one of my biggest fears.

Look at the videos about silent drowning before you go.

I wouldn’t risk it. Sorry.

You will have a lovely time, I presume you don’t let your children wander outside alone at home? The same thing applies here.

Yes you will need to be vigilant but you will have fun playing with your children in the water. You will have to be crystal clear when you hand over child watch duties that whoever is on watch knows what they are doing.

Have a lovely holiday.

You’ll have to watch them constantly when outside. And be vigilant about keeping the door closed.

I went for a run once at 5am (boiling heat!) at a holiday villa place. As I was stretching after, a tiny toddler wandered over to the pool. He would have walked stright in if I hadn't stopped him. And probably silently drowned. He just sneaked out. I got him back to his mum so no harm but I was the only person near the pool.

Not in a million years would I go.

It would be the stuff of nightmares for me, I’m afraid. Is the two year old still in a cot? My greatest fear with young children would be not so much when I knew they were outside, because there wouldn’t be a time when I wouldn’t be ‘on guard’, whoever nominally had charge of them, it would be the fear of them finding a way outside when I was asleep, or thought they were asleep - a french window open in someone’s room, with their door not properly closed, for example…

There's a reason it's mandatory in Australia, where many homes have them, for outdoor pools to be fenced.

Edited to add: when I was an au pair in my early 20s, I had to jump into a swimming pool twice - once fully clothed - to rescue my 2yo charge, who loved the water but was too young to understand it was the waterwings that kept her afloat, not magic.

This. We avoided villas with pools completely. Most EU countries have rules about fencing for child safety so where are you going?

Hate to kick you when you’re down but it’s an insane decision to have booked it in the first place. It woukd have been my top non negotiables when booked with children of that age

You need rules and a safe place for the kids.

1. One kid per parent and eyes on them always.
2. Drill into 3yo that they don't go near the pool.
3. Check doors at night twice.
4. Remind all adults re doors.

I'd never have booked this in the first place.

Make sure - personally - that the doors are locked every night and that a toddler can't wake up early and decide to go and play in the pool without an adult. this would be one of my biggest fears.

Mine too, and the additional adults in the mix make it more frightening. Something as simple as someone gets up early and decides to have a coffee on the patio and doesn't relock the door when they come back in. Absolutely inevitable that someone at some point is going to leave a door or window open/unlocked.

I wouldnt just be vigilant, I would draw up a rota so you know exactly who needs to be with the dc at every minute of the day.