Swimming, Diving and Pool Safety

Updated water safety and drowning prevention advice for parents from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) drops the group's opposition to early swimming lessons for infants and toddlers and highlights the risks of inflatable pools, and body entrapment and hair entanglement in pool drains.

The primary function of a personal flotation device (PFD) (what used to be called a life jacket) is to keep your child afloat, with his mouth well above water so he can breath. It's critical that the PFD you pick for child meets this test.

Pool and spa drains pose a serious risk of body entrapment and hair
entanglement, particularly to children, but are preventable hazards if
safety precautions, including the use of special drain covers, safety
vacuum-release systems (SVRSs), and other pressure-venting
fitler-construction techniques are used, say the Consumer Product Safety
Commission and The American Academy of Pediatrics. 

More 350 infants and toddlers drown in swimming pools each year nationwide, the majority in the summer months of June, July and August; most in backyard pools.  Here are some swimming pool safety tips from the  Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).