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Children and Hot Tub Safety
| May 6, 2011 | Posted by h20articles under Hot Tub Benefits |
A hot tub or spa can both enhance your health and allow you to relax and reduce tension, but it will not be very relaxing for you if you have to constantly watch your children and prevent them from danger in and around your hot tub.
General Safety Rules for Children Around Hot Tubs
- Never allow children, or adults for that matter, to run around the tub, as it is quite easy to slip or fall and get hurt.
- It is not uncommon to hear of children falling into a hot tub and drowning so it is important to ensure that your child knows how to get out of the hot tub in case of an accident.
- Do not to allow children to use the hot tub unsupervised. Even if you allow them to go in by themselves, make sure that you can see what is going on at all times and also be in a position to react quickly should the need arise.
- Make it a rule that whoever uses the hot tub last should cover it up and always use a cover when the hot tub is not in use. This will help prevent accidental drowning.
- It is very easy for long hair to get caught in the return thus sucking the child to the bottom making it difficult to escape. Many Children have drown this way. Make sure long hair is tied up properly.
- Do not allow children to put their heads under the water. This is not only because of the problem with the return but also because of bacteria, which can flourish even in the most well maintained hot tubs. Putting their heads under the water can expose the eyes, ears and upper respiratory tract to these resistant germs which in turn can cause infection and illness
- All parts of the body must be kept away from the water return at all times. A hand, or other part of the body can easily become entrapped by the suction which can keep the head pulled under water leading to drowning.
- It is important that strict limits are placed on the time that children are allowed to stay in the hot tub. The smaller bodies of children will heat up faster than adults which can raise their internal body temperatures to dangerous or even fatal levels very quickly. Actual allowable time will be dependant on the temperature of the water.
- Treat your hot tub like a swimming pool. Have fencing secured at all times. A cover is not enough to slow down active children before you get to them.
- Children must be tall enough to stand on the bottom of the spa or hot tub with their heads completely out of the water before they may even be considered for hot tub use. Maturity and body size must also be taken into account before you allow them in. If in doubt, check with your doctor first about whether your child is ready.
- A hot tub is not a swimming pool. Entrapment, injury or a rise in body temperature can all happen when children are allowed to “play” in hot tubs. So, make it a rule that there should be no splashing or vigorous play of any kind is allowed when in the hot tub.
- Do not allow children to wear a life jacket in the hot tub. Although a life vest may protect a child from drowning, it also causes their body to overheat more quickly in the hot water.
- Put a lock or a child safety devise on your hot tub cover lid.
Dear Go Pool and Spa staff,
I’d like to start off by congratulating you on your superb swimming pool-themed site. I have always been a pool fan, so I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon Go Pool and Spa. My name is Kristen Swope and I’m a doting mom to a little girl named Isabel, and a devoted wife to John. My entire family loves to swim, and we always scour the Internet for sites that share our passion for everything about pools!
I came across your blog and have been hooked on the various articles about pool how-to’s, maintenance, and most especially, pool safety. My daughter is only 5 and I constantly worry about her safety whenever she’s in or around our pool at home.
Because of this, I ended up writing an article tentatively called Swimming Pool Safety for Kids, and I was wondering if you would be interested to feature it in your blog as a guest post one of these days. If so, I’d be happy to forward you a copy of it for your perusal.
I look forward to your response, and reading your site’s next pool-themed articles!
Sincerely,
Kristen.
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yes, please send it and i will read over it and then post accordingly.
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