As summer time heats up, extra households are heading to the pool to chill down.
However sure pool toys can put children in danger for accidents and even drowning.
Dr. Meghan Martin, a mom of 4 and a pediatric emergency medication doctor at Johns Hopkins All Kids’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, revealed her high 5 most harmful water toys, alongside along with her ideas for staying secure this season.
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1. Reuable magnetic water balloons
No. 1 on Martin’s record of harmful water toys is reusable magnetic water balloons.
“The magnets maintain the balloons collectively they usually’re sort of a cool concept,” Martin instructed Fox Information Digital.
“However these magnets, sadly, can sort of come out and if kiddos swallow magnets, they’ll really trigger quite a lot of actually dangerous bowel issues, they usually can get actually sick. So something with small magnets, we do not like round small kiddos.”
Martin stated she had a case final summer time wherein a woman put two of the magnets in her nostril, one on both sides.
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“They sort of squeezed the septum within the center — so, they’ll additionally trigger different kinds of accidents as effectively,” Martin stated. “The reusable water balloons with out magnets are nice. However the ones which have magnets in them, these might be harmful.”
2. Neck floats
Martin’s record, which was shared on Johns Hopkins All Kids’s TikTok account, garnering greater than 450,000 views, additionally talked about neck floats — which hold a small kid’s head above water.
“These are dangerous for a pair completely different causes,” Martin stated.
“One among them is the asphyxiation danger. Any time one thing is across the neck, we get involved about that airway. In the event that they received hung up on one thing and put strain on the airway, we do not need that in any respect.”
Flipping over is one other danger of placing a toddler in a neck float. If it flips, the infant’s face will plunge beneath the water, and it might take an grownup seconds or minutes to note and reply.
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“We wish them to have their face above the water,” Martin stated.
“I’d fully keep away from these neck floats — within the bathtub and in swimming pools.”
Martin stated placing a toddler in a tool like a neck float offers dad and mom a false sense of safety that their child is secure.
“You might get distracted in your telephone or one thing like that, considering that the child’s secure and floating,” she stated.
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“It’s necessary to all the time be being attentive to your children across the water. No telephones in any respect and no neck floats,” Martin added.
3. Water wings or floaties
One other merchandise that provides each dad and mom and kids a false sense of safety, Martin stated, is water wings or floaties.
“For the kiddos, after they use these within the water, they assume they’ll swim after they most likely can not,” Martin stated.
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“So, later, they might bounce within the pool [without the water wings on] and sink proper to the underside as a result of they can not swim.”
Martin stated water wings are additionally harmful as a result of they put a toddler in what known as the “drowning place.”
“They’re straight up and down within the water,” she stated.
“For a swimming place, you are a bit of bit extra horizontal, both in your entrance or in your again. And so in that [vertical] place, you are likely to sink down, and in order that’s not a great place.”
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Floaties can simply deflate in the event that they get hooked on one thing or have small holes as a result of put on and tear, which might be harmful if dad and mom usually are not paying shut consideration.
“I’ve shared a narrative about my very own son when he was about 18 months,” Martin stated.
“We took the water wings off to have [an ice pop], after which he threw himself instantly into the pool with out them on and he went below. We had been capable of pull him up shortly, nevertheless it was very scary.”
4. Giant, heavy floats
Martin additionally stated she avoids massive, heavy floats that children might get trapped below within the water.
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“Youngsters can get caught beneath these floats or caught below the water, and, clearly, that is scary for them,” she stated.
“In the event that they’re caught below the water, they’re not capable of breathe, so [I advise] warning with massive floats or something like that.”
5. Mermaid tails
Mermaid tails — whereas cute and common — are additionally a tough “no” for Martin.
“Something that restricts leg motion or foot motion is a drowning danger,” Martin stated.
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“We wish children to have the ability to kick their ft to get again as much as the floor. If motion is restricted, they might not be capable to try this.”
Different necessary ideas and data
The pool itself is the best danger to children, Martin stated.
So, placing boundaries in place is vital.
“Layers of safety are necessary and also you because the guardian or guardian are the primary layer of safety,” she stated.
“Your consideration must be on the youngsters always. No distractions. Have a ‘water watcher,’ so there’s somebody who’s designated and sober to look at the youngsters within the pool.”
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The second layer of safety, Martin stated, is a safe pool fence or a bodily barrier to forestall children from getting in after they’re not presupposed to be within the water.
“You need a good self-closing latch,” she stated.
“Door alarms are additionally actually necessary or some kind of alarm to let dad and mom know that the kiddo has left the home and gone into that pool space itself. These may even be necessary in issues like Airbnbs or VRBOs the place individuals are staying someplace that they don’t seem to be aware of or the child is staying someplace they don’t seem to be aware of.”
A wise swimsuit coloration selection might save the day.
Martin stated door alarms are straightforward to buy on-line and might be put in and eliminated at trip leases with out inflicting any property harm.
Early swimming classes, Martin stated, are among the finest methods to make sure children are secure across the water.
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But when the worst ought to occur, and a toddler does get into the pool and desires assist, a wise swimsuit coloration selection might save the day.
“Blue swimsuits, inexperienced swimsuits, quite a lot of the cooler colours might be harder to see below the water,” Martin stated.
“If a toddler had been submerged below the water, it is harder to get your consideration. However for those who noticed one thing vibrant orange below the water, you’d be extra attentive to that coloration. So choose a brighter coloured swimsuit, like purple, orange, yellow, one thing that you’ll see a bit of bit simpler.”
Solar publicity and dehydration can deplete a younger swimmer’s vitality, making them extra fatigued and prone to drowning.
“It’s so sizzling, particularly in Florida and the south proper now,” Martin stated.
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“So it is actually necessary to ensure that we’re staying appropriately hydrated with water and electrolyte options, like Pedialyte or Gatorade — and ensuring that we’re masking our pores and skin as a result of burns occur so incessantly, particularly the folks which might be visiting Florida.”
Within the warmth of the summer time, Martin provides one remaining piece of recommendation for retaining children secure:
“If you cannot discover your kiddo or they’re out of your imaginative and prescient for a second, the primary locations it is advisable verify are the harmful locations, just like the pool, as a result of time is of the essence to get them out,” Martin stated.
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“One other harmful place to look could be the automotive as a result of it’s sizzling they usually can get into the automotive and get the doorways locked and never be capable to get their means out.”