Drinking pool water

[MoRaw]

Hello

My 2 year 4 months old toddler drinks a lot of pool water when he goes swimming. I am worried that this will give him some gastrointestinal problems. I am thinking of taking him to the doctors and asking for a blood and stool test to check whether there is anything wrong.

Am I being paranoid?

yes paranoid. if he is I'll you will know..

Are there any signs there's anything wrong with his gut? You'd be better off obtaining and figuring out the daily results of the pool water before you go swimming if you are that concerned.

No signs but things could be happening in his gut that may not show symptoms for months, years?

I've taken my 2 swimming weekly since they were a few months old, they both must have swallowed gallons of pool water (dd2 has usually soaked through a nappy and a pair of trousers within an hour of getting out ) and they're both fine stomach wise anyway, they're both bonkers

You're being massively paranoid.

And I don't think your GP will put him through the trauma of blood tests for swallowing pool water either...

Well I understand your concerns, my pair drink pool water too - an they nearly always come away from swimming with some type of bug.

I have it on good authority that the council never change the pool water though, they don't have the funds.

I thnk you have to take it on trust that your ds's gut is fine. Otherwise you'd have to stop taking him swimming.

You could give him a pro-biotic and make sure he eats healthily and with as little processed food as possible, no refined sugars and plenty of vegetables, perhaps with sauerkraut and home made yogurt. I'm sure you are doing these things already though if you are concerned for him to have healthy gut.

I think you are being a little paranoid, you know they put chemicals in the pool water to keep it hygeinic? And the pools have to monitor water quality? My 2 (2, 5) have been swimming at least once a week since they were a few weeks old (as have I) and we have never had any pool related tummy bugs (fingers crossed! We have been three days running this week).

Thanks everyone. Your "tut tuts" have been reassuring although my concerns have not been entirely wiped out.

Any tips on getting him to not drink any water (I'm not sure simply saying 'close your mouth' works)?

Cold, I do my best. Never tried the sauerkraut though. I'll give it a go. Weirdly, he loves vegetables (so did I as a child).

Try encouraging him to blow bubbles rather than drink. It's what we do in our lessons, at this age (20mo) dd2 still swallows but she tries so I'm sure she'll get the hang of it eventually .

As far as I'm aware none of us have ever caught d&v from swimming - in fact when she had an awful bug over the summer it was in the middle of the holidays so we hadn't been swimming for a few weeks.

Thanks Amandine. Showed my husband your post and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Coldweatherbaby, I have decided to make my own sauerkraut. Seems simply and just read about its benefits. I should come on Mumsnet more often!!!

You're being paranoid as others have said.
As a mother you'll have enough to worry about over the years, don't invent things to stress you out more.

Both mine have swam since tiny and never been ill from swimming. Learning to swim is an essential skill - the earlier the better. Chlorine in the pool kills the bugs. That's what it is there for. Levels are checked several times a day. Kids swallow water until they learn to blow bubbles and breath under water. Save yourself the stress !

Ooh good, Its fabulous stuff if you can get it in 'em

I teach baby and preschool swimming. They'd have to drink more than 10% of their bodyweight in pool water before they came to any harm. Trying to get him to blow bubbles, or even play a game of spitting water/opening your mouth and letting it pour out down your chin would both help though. They do grow out of it but don't worry it's not going to do him any harm in the meantime, and the benefits of going swimming are huge!