How many adults per children when swimming?

[TinyGang]

This has cropped up again with us and is quite annoying..

Dh (very capable and in control) wants to take our twins aged 3 and dd aged 6 swimming in the local leisure centre's shallow teaching pool. Leisure centre says only two children per adult so that pretty much rules out swimmimg there unless we can both go.

Another local pool (further away) which comes under a different borough council, says this ratio is ok with them.

Does anyone know where on earth these 'rules' come from, they do not seem very consistent? What's it like near you and how do lone parents cope? Dont go swimming much I guess

one child under 8 to one adult round here .. so you would be even more out of line

there is one pool which allows 2 children per adult but that's it

The pools near us are 1 adult to 2 kids, but they also specify that the adult can swim......

I have to fib I'm afraid as I can't swim, but as I never take them anywhere but the shallow training pool I'm comfortable to do it. If I want to take all 3, I have to go at weekends with DH or Dsis (who are good swimmers anyway)

I can understand why they have these rules, but it is difficult.

Personally I think that your DH should argue his point that he has twins and and therefore the rules should be a little more flexible. I'm about to start taking my DTs swimming and I am preparing my argument should they try to forbid me.

There were some guidance rules about this somewhere...I'll have a look.

Our local pool uses common sense (thank goodness). The people on the desk are trained lifeguards (they all rotate round duties) and I had a chat about this to them because I have 2 kids close in age (they are now 3 and 4) and I know many pools don't allow more than one under 5 per adult. I told them, quite honestly, that I didn't bring them together when they were babies because I genuinely didn't think it was safe (largely cos ds thinks it's funny to try and sink to the bottom all the time!) but once the youngest turned 2, the eldest (then 3) could swim fine in armbands and in that trainer pool could touch the ground the whole way across. They were totally reasonable and said as long as I stayed in the learner pool, they had no problem.

But I know many other pools where I wouldn't be able to do this.

Here it is - all the local authorities take their guidance from this. You can see that they specifically say that the rules don't need to apply for learner pools

child admissions policy

Thank you foxinsocks!

I admit I can see the reasons for a limited number per adult, but it's such a rigid rule and we'd never take any risks with them and do something that we couldn't cope with.

Like you we didn't take them much as babies because we were more nervous about it with three when they were all younger and didn't think we could manage.

TinyGang - I think I heard that the crucial thing is that this is only GUIDANCE for leisure pools - not law - and as such they have the discretion to decide. i don't know if there are Health & safty pressures though, or perhaps insurance issues?

There is a campaign set up for people who want to highlight how this is preventing many children from swimming....

See RighttoSwim