Did you know that when a baby turns one their chance of drowning triples? 41% of drowning deaths of children under five occur in one-year old toddlers, new research from Royal Life Saving Society – Australia has revealed.

This post in in collaboration with Royal Life Saving – Australia

We are a house with a lot of kids, and a pool. While our bigger kids are getting more confident and able in the pool, we still have a two-year-old running around that we have to be extra vigilant about. While it’s not as hard keeping an eye on her when there’s just a few in the pool, it’s a whole different story when we have friends come over and the pool is packed with kids, floating toys and general chaos.

 88% of these toddler deaths were due to accidental falls into the pool because of a lack of adult supervision, and I’ve seen first-hand how easy it is to think someone else is watching the kids when there are a lot of people around. Kids become less supervised and are encouraged to entertain each other. Little kids may be left in the supervision of older kids in the group and large groups can mean everyone thinks someone else is watching the kids.

So, if you are spending time in a backyard pool these holidays follow these 4 ways to make sure the kids are safe.

4 ways to keep your toddler safe in the pool

1. Actively supervise children around water

Always know who is supervising the children and actively be watching. Don’t drink alcohol while you’re supervising the children in water.

If you have a toddler make sure they have one on one adult supervision in the pool being within arms’ reach at all times. This includes supervising them in shallow baby pools. They can drown in 5cm of water.

2. Restrict your child’s access to water

Make sure no one props the pool fence open and make sure there is an adult in arms reach of the kids at all time when swimming.

3. Teach children water safety skills

Make sure you teach your children water safety skills – this is critical!

4. Learn how to resuscitate

Take a first aid course so you know what to do in the case of an emergency.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, drowning is the number one cause of death in one-year-old children – so stay vigilant when you are around water with your children. For more information on water safety visit www.royallifesaving.com.au