As summer season heats up, extra households are heading to the pool to chill down.
However sure pool toys can put youngsters in danger for accidents and even drowning.
Dr. Meghan Martin, a mom of 4 and a pediatric emergency drugs doctor at Johns Hopkins All Kids’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, revealed her prime 5 most harmful water toys, alongside together with her suggestions for staying secure this season.
No. 1 on Martin’s checklist of harmful water toys is reusable magnetic water balloons.
“The magnets maintain the balloons collectively and so they’re sort of a cool concept,” Martin informed Fox Information Digital.
“However these magnets, sadly, can sort of come out and if kiddos swallow magnets, they’ll really trigger a number of actually unhealthy bowel issues, and so they can get actually sick. So something with small magnets, we do not like round small kiddos.”
Martin stated she had a case final summer season during which 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 nicely,” Martin stated. “The reusable water balloons with out magnets are nice. However the ones which have magnets in them, these might be harmful.”
Martin’s checklist, 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.
“Certainly one of them is the asphyxiation threat. Any time one thing is across the neck, we get involved about that airway. In the event that they bought hung up on one thing and put stress on the airway, we do not need that in any respect.”
Flipping over is one other threat of placing a toddler in a neck float. If it flips, the child’s face will plunge beneath the water, and it may take an grownup seconds or minutes to note and reply.
“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 possibly can get distracted in your telephone or one thing like that, pondering that the child’s secure and floating,” she stated.
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“It’s vital to at all times be being attentive to your youngsters across the water. No telephones in any respect and no neck floats,” Martin added.
One other merchandise that offers each dad and mom and kids a false sense of safety, Martin stated, is water wings or floaties.
“For the kiddos, once they use these within the water, they assume they’ll swim once they most likely can not,” Martin stated.
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“So, later, they could leap within the pool [without the water wings on] and sink proper to the underside as a result of they can’t swim.”
Martin stated water wings are additionally harmful as a result of they put a toddler in what is named the “drowning place.”
“They’re straight up and down within the water,” she stated.
“For a swimming place, you are somewhat bit extra horizontal, both in your entrance or in your again. And so in that [vertical] place, you are inclined 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 because of put on and tear, which might be harmful if dad and mom are usually 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 have been capable of pull him up rapidly, however it was very scary.”
Martin additionally stated she avoids giant, heavy floats that youngsters may 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 giant floats or something like that.”
Mermaid tails — whereas cute and well-liked — are additionally a tough “no” for Martin.
“Something that restricts leg motion or foot motion is a drowning threat,” Martin stated.
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“We wish youngsters to have the ability to kick their toes to get again as much as the floor. If motion is restricted, they could not be capable to try this.”
The pool itself is the best threat to youngsters, Martin stated.
So, placing obstacles in place is vital.
“Layers of safety are vital and also you as the father or mother or guardian are the primary layer of safety,” she stated.
“Your consideration must be on the children always. No distractions. Have a ‘water watcher,’ so there’s somebody who’s designated and sober to observe the children within the pool.”
The second layer of safety, Martin stated, is a safe pool fence or a bodily barrier to stop youngsters from getting in once they’re not purported to be within the water.
“You desire a good self-closing latch,” she stated.
“Door alarms are additionally actually vital or some type 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 vital in issues like Airbnbs or VRBOs the place individuals are staying someplace that they are not conversant in or the child is staying someplace they are not conversant in.”
Martin stated door alarms are simple 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 top-of-the-line methods to make sure youngsters 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 wishes assist, a sensible swimsuit colour selection may save the day.
“Blue swimsuits, inexperienced swimsuits, a number of the cooler colours might be tougher to see below the water,” Martin stated.
“If a toddler have been submerged below the water, it is tougher to get your consideration. However when you noticed one thing vibrant orange below the water, you’d be extra attentive to that colour. So choose a brighter coloured swimsuit, like purple, orange, yellow, one thing that you’ll see somewhat bit simpler.”
Solar publicity and dehydration can deplete a younger swimmer’s power, making them extra fatigued and inclined to drowning.
“It’s so sizzling, particularly in Florida and the south proper now,” Martin stated.
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“So it is actually vital to be sure that we’re staying appropriately hydrated with water and electrolyte options, like Pedialyte or Gatorade — and ensuring that we’re overlaying our pores and skin as a result of burns occur so continuously, particularly the individuals which can be visiting Florida.”
Within the warmth of the summer season, Martin provides one remaining piece of recommendation for holding youngsters secure:
“If you cannot discover your kiddo or they’re out of your imaginative and prescient for a second, the primary locations it’s worthwhile to test 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 and so they can get into the automotive and get the doorways locked and never be capable to get their approach out.”
