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> I wouldn't let a small child I am responsible for go into a pool alone You would. Let me give you the scenario: you're home alone with the three kids, you've

> I wouldn't let a small child I am responsible for go into a pool alone You would. Let me give you the scenario: you're home alone with the three kids, you've been chasing them around, doing laundry, cleaning up spilled grape juice, telling Jenny to stop cutting Tommy's hair, etc. Finally, you think everyone is down for a nap. You turn on the game. 5 minutes later, 5 minutes, you think "It's too quiet...". You get up and walk around for a couple minutes to find 4 year-old Sally's door open. No Sally. Where's Sally? Sprint around the house, run down to the kitchen, look in the back yard, and she's face down in the pool. You immediately get her out, desperate. You realize you have to separate from her to call 911. She's been unaccounted for by now for 12 minutes. The paramedics get a breath back, but anoxic brain injury has set in. She dies, tubes in every orifice, 3 days later. I have seen this play out more than once. My parents had a pool. I was a lifeguard, have made rescues. I was also on swim team, I'm in the Navy now, and I'm a physician. I surf, I dive, I do open ocean swimming and triathlons. I've helped rescue a diver in pulmonary edema. I think I wouldn't leave my kid unattended, but I know I might. I've met the parents. They wouldn't let a small child go into a pool alone either.

lacker 7y ago
I don't have a pool, thus solving this problem.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  I suppose you also avoid getting mugged by never leaving your room, thus solving this problem.
- strbean 7y ago
  Until someone breaks into your backyard and sets up a kiddy pool, and your toddler goes and falls into it!
keanzu 7y ago
I have a pool. I have a fence. A friend's son was visiting, also four years old, vanished for just a second and suddenly I thought Oh god, the pool. Sure enough there he was stuck outside the fence trying to get to the pool but frustrated that the latching mechanism can only be operated by someone at least 5 feet tall. I wouldn't let a small child go into a pool alone. Pool safety is life and death. Get a fence.
- Igelau 7y ago
  > Get a fence. killjoywashere obviously just blocks the pool entrance with their enormous trophy case
  - keanzu 7y ago
    If I thought it would help I'd send my fence off to be trained as a Navy physician but it seems to be able to handle the task fine without the additional training.
  - dang 7y ago
    Personal attacks will get you banned here. Please don't do this again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- cryptonector 7y ago
  Better yet: don't have a private pool.
  - dotancohen 7y ago
    The houses in my new construction neighborhood all have pools. We deleted the pool and got almost no cash back, so far as I know we were the only family to do so. I'm not carrying that responsibility.
    - cryptonector 7y ago
      +1. I don't know why my comment above was downvoted, but we did consider buying a house with a pool when our kids were young, and we decided that the risk was ETOOHIGH, especially given that we have a wonderful community pool in the neighborhood. Pools are expensive to operate and dangerous to have children around -- your own as well as your guests'.
- antasvara 7y ago
  That was an extreme example,the point is that kids can end up in the water in unexpected ways. Even parents that would never intentionally leave children in the water alone can end up in a situation where a child is unattended in the water. Perhaps a better example is when you have 4 kids to keep an eye on at a public pool, and you lose track of one while dealing with an injury to another, or reapplying sunscreen, or a number of other reasons to be distracted. Or what about the situation where you send your kids outside to play and they sneak back to the pool? No sensible person would let their children into the pool alone, but it can absolutely happen to even the most careful adult.
mcv 7y ago
I don't mind leaving my child unattended for a short period in a safe area. But not near a pool. Of course luxury homes with their own pool in the backyard put rather a big strain on safety around your own home. Put a good fence around it, I guess.
- keanzu 7y ago
  > I don't mind leaving my child unattended for a short period in a safe area. ...and safety is relative to this child's capability. My parents put me through extensive swimming lessons from a young age precisely so they could let me play unsupervised in the ocean. I'd been a half mile out to sea alone by the time I was 10. Turns out I wasn't as unsupervised as I thought; my mum was freaking out but, unable to swim, couldn't do anything about it! But if the child can't swim, no alone pool time for them.
  - mcv 7y ago
    Exactly. My oldest son, now 10, has been perfectly able to swim on his own. We live in a former port area with lots of great swimming spots that he visits with his friends. But he's got his swimming diplomas (two of them, which I consider the minimum for this situation). Sea, though, can be tricky. Half a mile out to sea, currents can be very different. I know that I as a kid once floated on a tiny inflatable boat quite a bit out to sea, and my dad swam after me to drag me back. I thought I could get back on my own, but my dad clearly wasn't entirely convinced.
    - wahern 7y ago
      A true story about an autistic boy and his father who spent a whole night drifting after a riptide pulled them out to sea: https://www.mensjournal.com/features/lost-in-the-waves-19691231/ https://www.mensjournal.com/features/lost-in-the-waves-19691...
- robocat 7y ago
  Some countries and states with pool culture legally require a fence around all pools. As far as I can tell, New Zealand has a legal requirement for a fence for over 30 years. There is a little more info on other countries here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_fence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_fence

lacker 7y ago

I don't have a pool, thus solving this problem.

reaperducer 7y ago
I suppose you also avoid getting mugged by never leaving your room, thus solving this problem.
strbean 7y ago
Until someone breaks into your backyard and sets up a kiddy pool, and your toddler goes and falls into it!

keanzu 7y ago

I have a pool. I have a fence. A friend's son was visiting, also four years old, vanished for just a second and suddenly I thought Oh god, the pool. Sure enough there he was stuck outside the fence trying to get to the pool but frustrated that the latching mechanism can only be operated by someone at least 5 feet tall. I wouldn't let a small child go into a pool alone. Pool safety is life and death. Get a fence.

Igelau 7y ago
> Get a fence. killjoywashere obviously just blocks the pool entrance with their enormous trophy case
- keanzu 7y ago
  If I thought it would help I'd send my fence off to be trained as a Navy physician but it seems to be able to handle the task fine without the additional training.
- dang 7y ago
  Personal attacks will get you banned here. Please don't do this again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
cryptonector 7y ago
Better yet: don't have a private pool.
- dotancohen 7y ago
  The houses in my new construction neighborhood all have pools. We deleted the pool and got almost no cash back, so far as I know we were the only family to do so. I'm not carrying that responsibility.
  - cryptonector 7y ago
    +1. I don't know why my comment above was downvoted, but we did consider buying a house with a pool when our kids were young, and we decided that the risk was ETOOHIGH, especially given that we have a wonderful community pool in the neighborhood. Pools are expensive to operate and dangerous to have children around -- your own as well as your guests'.
antasvara 7y ago
That was an extreme example,the point is that kids can end up in the water in unexpected ways. Even parents that would never intentionally leave children in the water alone can end up in a situation where a child is unattended in the water. Perhaps a better example is when you have 4 kids to keep an eye on at a public pool, and you lose track of one while dealing with an injury to another, or reapplying sunscreen, or a number of other reasons to be distracted. Or what about the situation where you send your kids outside to play and they sneak back to the pool? No sensible person would let their children into the pool alone, but it can absolutely happen to even the most careful adult.

mcv 7y ago

I don't mind leaving my child unattended for a short period in a safe area. But not near a pool. Of course luxury homes with their own pool in the backyard put rather a big strain on safety around your own home. Put a good fence around it, I guess.

keanzu 7y ago
> I don't mind leaving my child unattended for a short period in a safe area. ...and safety is relative to this child's capability. My parents put me through extensive swimming lessons from a young age precisely so they could let me play unsupervised in the ocean. I'd been a half mile out to sea alone by the time I was 10. Turns out I wasn't as unsupervised as I thought; my mum was freaking out but, unable to swim, couldn't do anything about it! But if the child can't swim, no alone pool time for them.
- mcv 7y ago
  Exactly. My oldest son, now 10, has been perfectly able to swim on his own. We live in a former port area with lots of great swimming spots that he visits with his friends. But he's got his swimming diplomas (two of them, which I consider the minimum for this situation). Sea, though, can be tricky. Half a mile out to sea, currents can be very different. I know that I as a kid once floated on a tiny inflatable boat quite a bit out to sea, and my dad swam after me to drag me back. I thought I could get back on my own, but my dad clearly wasn't entirely convinced.
  - wahern 7y ago
    A true story about an autistic boy and his father who spent a whole night drifting after a riptide pulled them out to sea: https://www.mensjournal.com/features/lost-in-the-waves-19691231/ https://www.mensjournal.com/features/lost-in-the-waves-19691...
robocat 7y ago
Some countries and states with pool culture legally require a fence around all pools. As far as I can tell, New Zealand has a legal requirement for a fence for over 30 years. There is a little more info on other countries here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_fence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_fence