Pediatricians urge parents to never take eyes off children while they are even near the water

The Internet is exploding over a floating baby, but it turns out the adults calmly watching are doing everything right. No matter how old - or young - your children are, you need to watch them in the water - vigilantly.

The American Academy of Pediatrics could not be more forceful in its recommendations for water safety.

“The bottom line principle for all children is you must have your eyes on the child,” said Elie Ward, New York State spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

That said, the doctors’ group firmly believes children should be taught to swim. Yet there is no magic age when it is all supposed to come together. And the group does not sanction one method of instruction over another.

“We encourage people to teach kids as young as reasonable,” Ward said. “But even a young child who is taught skills still needs eyes on him because the reality is the child might panic. So the reality is unless that child has passed the swimming test, eyes on (the kid).”

Ward, like hundreds of thousands, watched a Facebook video Monday of an adorable 6-month-old girl. The first few seconds are grab-your-heart scary as the baby falls face-first into a pool.

She is fine and instantly flips herself over and floats.

The chubby-cheeked baby does not swim. She does, though, save her life by flipping herself over and floating. Still, adults surround her.

Her mom, Keri Morrison, is determined that the baby learn water safety. She had lost a toddler to drowning.

Drownings are a leading cause of death in children between 1 and 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drowning kills more children between 1 and 4 than anything except birth defects.

And in 2014, the last year for which data was available, 793 children between 1 and 18 drowned, according to the CDC.

The CDC recommends everyone learn basic life-saving skills such as floating and CPR. Pools should be fenced. In New York State, this is a requirement as is a lock on the fence.

 

The CDC also says “make life jackets a must.” Some parents confuse flotation devices with life jackets and they are not the same.

While pediatricians recommend lessons, this depends on many factors including how comfortable parents are in the water and if the child is constantly around water.

“Every family is different,” Ward said. “There are children who can learn to swim at 5-years-old. There are kids who are 11 and can’t learn; their coordination is different. It is up to the parent and the family to figure out what is good for their kid.”

Toddlers and teenaged boys are at the greatest risk, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Its existing recommendation, from six years ago, urges children 4 and older learn to swim. But the group adds “new evidence shows that children 1 to 4 may be less likely to drown if they have had formal swimming instruction.”

The advice has not been updated since 2010.

“Children’s developmental systems have not changed,” Ward said. “The water has not changed. And there is no magic in children saving their own lives if they fall into the water.”