stragic = tragic

I have one of these pools. We just set it up a couple weeks ago, or less. When the kids are in it we sit on the porch with them. My 3-year old nephew swims in it too and we are right there. Thankfully, we do have a fence with a locked gate and would never let kids swim unsupervised.

Unfortunately child drownings in my town are something I hear about two or three times a year.

Being from Florida (where pools are very common in homes), you hear about it all the time. So so so sad.

I hate to see this. We should only be drowning the evil children.

Oh god, I don't even want to talk about it. I'm terrified of having to keep track of Mr. Baby this summer. Between hanging out at my mom's pool, trips to the shore and his sister joining the swim team, we're going to be near water constantly. He's sneaky, lightning fast and seemingly intent on harming himself at all times.

Last summer there was a two-year old that drowned. It was very sad news for our town and one of my friends knew the parents. The child had taken the controversial Infant Swim Resource (sound) classes. My friend spoke in front of her women's group (think sorority-type club with the initials JL) and lambasted the teacher of the infant-swim classes. As if it were her fault that the child drowned. I think some of these privileged, or clueless, people think that if your infant and toddler have swim lessons they are OK. I'm not blaming the victim's parents in the least. They probably did not view it as an insurance policy, who knows.

I didn't do infant swim. I didn't feel good about it. My kids did start lessons around 2.5 -3 at the community college and then at the YMCA. My five-year old is still learning. I think it takes a lot of practice and confidence to be able to save your life in an unfamiliar, or deep water, situation. I don't think babies have the capability to react in a crisis situation. Maybe I'm wrong.

Knowing how to swim and knowing how not to drown (it boils down to don't panic) is two different things, and I can't imagine how to teach a small child the latter, even if they know how to swim.

I don't plan on putting the baby in swim lessons for awhile. They don't really retain much when they're tiny. But once he gets about 3 or 4, he's in swim lessons until he's a strong swimmer. Just like his sister.

The rule at my parents' house and the shore is that you aren't allowed anywhere near the water without a life vest until either my mom or grandmother consider you proficient enough to go without. It's taken very, very seriously--and treated as a MAJOR OFFENSE. The wee tiny people, like Mr. Baby, usually just end up wearing their floatie suits 24/7. Whether they like it or not.

That's how my grandfolks did it, jrossi4r. You had to swim laps between the docks eight times without stopping before you were let in the water without a jacket.

Steven Getzoff, national outside counsel to the industry group, pointed out that given the increase in the number of pools in the U.S., the number of drowning deaths per pool has actually gone down.

The problem seems to be the proliferation of pools combined with lack of supervision. It's interesting that they concentrate on "cheap inflatable" pools, even though there appears to be no data on the proportion of deaths that occur in those pools vs. the proportion that occur in in-ground pools and jacuzzis. I'm not sure the inflatables are the factor to hone in on without seeing the data (there are also many many more inground pools than there were 10 years ago).

In any case, yeah, kids around water need to be supervised.

Knowing how to swim and knowing how not to drown (it boils down to don't panic) are two different things

I couldn't agree more. Some of the best swimmers in the world drown when they get into bad or confusing conditions, or just get tired or cold or have a vision or throat problem of some kind, and start to panic. Two of my friends, both accomplished and experienced swimmers and former Red Cross swim teachers, were once caught in a rip current and came very close to drowning. One made it out under his own steam, one had to be pulled.

One really important Red Cross tip for emergencies in deep water is the "throw before you go" idea. If someone in the water is in trouble, the very last thing someone without lifeguard training should do is plunge in after them. It's awful. The panicked person will claw all over you, basically trying to climb up you to safety. They will cling so hard you can't swim yourself. Now both of you are in danger of going down. So the idea is to first, get a response going - holler "Call 911! Help!" or do whatever else it takes to rouse a crowd, while using a progressive series of responses: assuming the person is still conscious and splashing, try to reach them with your extended hand. If your arm isn't long enough, use anything else - a towel, a rope, a pole, a tree branch - to reach to them. If you don't have anything long enough, chuck stuff toward them that they can float on - plastic chairs, pillows, bouys, wooden stuff, floats. Use going in yourself as a very last resort and hope that by then others are on scene.

I had swimming classes when I was a baby, and "graduated" at the age of two, receiving a diploma that I still have. (on it my instructor has written "if she keeps this up she'll be a new Ulrika Knape" which of course was lost on me). Mom didn't like the classes, they freaked her right the hell out, as some of the things they did was throw me in the pool blindfolded as she had to walk around the pool and call my name so I would turn and swim to her. I have no recollection of this but I'm pretty sure she's still freaked out. We did that and picked up poker chips from the pool-steps, one deeper each time until we could get the chips that were in the middle of the pool.

I was probably a lot like jrossi4r's baby, lightning fast and always getting into trouble (hell, I drove a car into a house when I was a week shy of four) and my mother won't ever let me forget that my brother was soo much easier in this regard. We had a pool, so she needed that "insurance", but it never replaced trying to keep tabs of me at all times (I even remember walking in a harness at a very tender age). Mom will never tire of telling the story that I saw a pool at a friends BBQ, and promptly jumped in it with my dress still on - a man saw me and dived right in after me to save me, for which he only received angry yelps of "let me go". Mom was mortified to have to explain that I could swim after he had ruined his suit and probably his watch.

So, I wanted to baby swim with Perle, but never had the energy and time (I worked right after birth), and decided last summer to teach her to swim.

Turns out she's terrified of water. *phew* I have to hold her hand when she's in wee kiddie pools. Fine by me! It's not like I'm going to be more than three feet away anyway. This summer, we might try the ocean armed with vests and everything, but last year she didn't even dare look at it.