Scary moment at the pool

Today I took my kids to a local pool (more like a beach - it's sandy and gradually gets deeper). We had been to this pool a couple of times with DH and the kids. We had just arrived and there were no lifeguards on duty yet. (I didn't know that there were no lifeguards at that time). I put sunscreen on DS and then put it on DD. DS was playing by the edge of the pool with the friends we went with. My friend was in the water with her one year old and 4 year old. Apparently DS saw them go into the water and he followed them in. I look up from putting sunscreen on DD and DS is face down in the pool in knee deep water. I run to him and pull him and and he coughs up some water. He is crying and scared, as am I.

We stayed for awhile longer, but my kids didn't go in the water much. It was difficult to watch them because DD kept trying to run off and DS wanted to play in the sand.

I know it's my fault. I shouldn't have taken them there. I questioned going there without DH and even discussed with DH whether or not it would be safe. I am just frustrated that I can't take my kids places that the other moms take their kids. I have another baby on the way and I think I will feel every more trapped and unable to watch 3 kids at the same time. My MIL is always talking about how I need to get the kids out of the house more and then I take them out and this is what happens.

I am thankful that DS is okay, but feeling very guilty and frustrated.

I'm not sure what the point of this post is, other than to remind everyone to be careful around water. If you don't think it will be safe to have your kids somewhere without extra help, then don't go.

 

:hug: how scary that must have been for all of you :hug:

I know for me it's picking the spots that are easy to take all 3 to by myself. Like the local bouncehouse type places. We also have an enclosed toddler park that is awesome and I take them there a lot.
It also may be worth hiring a Mother's Helper to come and join you.

It can be very restricting to have so many little ones but this too shall pass. :hug:

 

:hug: to you Amber and your DS! I think your advice is very sound about taking them to water places. I know I won't without another adult around and it can be frustrating because we do have a pool outback that we could get more use out of if I only had another adult around during the day.

 

:hug: that is scary! the same thing happened to me the first time i took the girls to the pool by myself - Danika decided she was invicible & ran straight into the water, falling over & getting stuck face down. it was probably only 5 seconds till i got to her but it was a damn scary 5 seconds. after that, i made it a rule that they had to hold my hand at all times when we're there & it's been okay since then.

i agree with Brigette that it definitely takes some creative thinking, but finding places you can take them all safely will keep them entertained and you sane. :hug:

 

I am so sorry you had to go through that. SO SCARY. I understand your frustration too. I would think the pool would be hard to manage...I thought about it several times and decided to wait until next year.

 

:hug: I'm so glad everything turned out okay!!

Have you thought about the child harness's/leashes for outings like that? When we go to the park without dh, I always use the leashes on the twins. Just in case. I don't have the big bulky backpacks, I have the very simple nylon ones that go around their chest, they are small enough to keep in my diaper bags at all times.

:hug: It won't be so bad after the baby is born, the twins will be 2 before you know it and they'll be better able to walk with you and hold hands or onto a stroller. :hug:

 

I just had the same thing happen!! I never dreamed of taking my two to the pool alone until we tried the arm floaties. I know some teachers say there not good. However we went to the beach for a few days and I bought the life jacket type swimmies and they hated them and went face first in the pool, I bought the $1.00 arm floaties from walmart......worked like a charm. My two were so happy they could swim on their own. It also allowed me to realize I could take them by myself, because they would float with me. They were even learning how to get to the side, climb up and out by themselves.



.......then I decided the other day to go to the YMCA pool with my brother and his kids. I was so happy I could take my two by myself. They were doing so great and about 15 minutes later, the lifegaurd said I had to take them off. The pool was also a very shallow pool that led into a deeper pool. Well my two wanted to go deeper and my DS went face first into waist deep water and couldnt stand himself up. Very scarey for him.......so needless to say.....we left.


It will be nice when they can swim, but the arm floaties work great for my two.

 

:hug: Sorry this happened to you. It's hard bringing toddlers to the pool alone. I never did it at that age, but now that I have 2 5 year olds & one 2 year old I do.

A few years ago we were camping and I couldn't find my swimsuit, so dh went in the pool with them. Basically he sat on the stairs and held one and the other was on the stairs as well. I was there watching carefully. DH was interacting with a girl (kid) and didn't see Clayton step off the step into the deeper water. Everything turned out ok but dh didn't understand why Clayton stepped out. He just didn't 'get it.' Kids have no sense of danger at that age.

A friend of mine has two kids and unless both parents are there, the kids do not visit pools or lakes. Glad everything turned out ok.

eta: It is very frusting not to be able to do certain things with the kids. I'd get invites to go out and do things with singleton parents and I had to say no because there was just no way I could do that activity with my twins and I didn't want to always be asking for help. :hug: I do understand your frustration!

 

I understand your frustration and the worry about safety. Earlier this summer, I took my 5 year old son to the local play and scoped out if it would be okay to take the twins. I was excited that it had a baby pool with a fence and secure gate around it. I told my husband next time we should all go and one of us can stay with the twins and the other can go on the big kid stuff with our older son. When he was chasing after one of the twins, the other fell face first in the water. The lifeguard got her right away...but it was stll scary. Usually they don't have a lifeguard in the kiddy pool. They also kept running to the gate every time someone went in and out. They were obsessed with finding out what was going on in the rest of the pool and couldn't enjoy themselves in the kiddy pool. I feel guilty that I don't take them out as much as I did with my other kids at this age. If your MIL suggests you get them out more, I would ask her to come along and help!

 

:hug: and I'm so glad everyone is okay!

It's so scary when things like that happen! We have gone to the pool/beach a few times only to leave in frustration because it's very difficult to manage/watch the two LO's and water is such a scary thing. I'm hoping next year will be a little easier. Again, hugs and so glad everyone is okay!

 

Wow. I was scared for you just reading that post. Water situations are my worst fear. This weekend we were up at a lake with a bunch of friends from church. My husband was out canoeing with our 2 older girls and I had our twins (18 months) at the beach area which had a long platform that led down to a dock area for swimming. I spent the entire chasing them. One kept trying to climb a stone wall to get out of the beach area and then I would run to get her. As soon as I would turn my back the other would be running towards the dock area. And then they would switch. It was simply exhausting. Eventually I just couldn't do it anymore..I got so frustrated that I just couldn't just relax just a teeny, tiny bit and have conversation with our friends...so I threw them in stroller and hiked it back to our cabin. I was mostly afraid one of them would accidently get down to the dock area. I would never do a pool without 2 people, so that we could be one-on-one with the babies. It stinks, but I wouldn't feel safe. I feel like when they are older things will hopefully get a bit easier, but for now I will probably just need to accept that water activities will be limited when I'm by myself. So glad everyone was ok!

shannon