Assign A Waiting Area
“What does that mean?” you may be asking.
It means that you are going to provide your child a waiting area, a SAFE SPACE, near water as a way to teach them to “Self-Rescue”, long before they are ever NEAR or IN Water. In a little bit, I will introduce you to the hands-on teaching aid that we will use to do this. You will meet the Waiting Whales and we will show you the Water Safety Kit designed to help parents teach their children, “Where there is water, I will WAIT!”
The term “Self-Rescue” has long been used in the world of swimming lessons.
What this means is that if your child found themselves in water, they would be able to independently roll on to their back so that they could breathe and then either float until help arrives or be able to propel themselves to a place of safety, like a wall ledge, a ladder or steps.
Yes, this is an incredibly important skill for a child to be able to perform. Especially if they have access to a backyard pool, a controlled water environment.
What does “Self-Rescue” look like if your child has access to a river or creek in your back yard or a pond on your property? What about if you are on vacation on the beach and they are spending time at the ocean? These are uncontrolled water environments and a different set of “rules” apply here.
To this point the “Self-Rescue” in the water skill has been one that I don’t think parents feel very equipped to be able to teach their child. They want to leave the teaching of the water skills to the “professionals”. The thing is there are many factors that keep children out of swimming lessons. For example, not every family has access to the people, time or resources needed to be able to participate in a program that teaches this.
And truthfully, due to the fact that statistics show that the current path that we are on, a path that includes self-rescue lessons, swimming lessons, water barricades, adult supervision and flotation devices, has not been successful in lowering drowning rates.
Fatal childhood drownings have risen 11½ % in the past 3 years and I think it is time to figure out another way of addressing this and new strategies need to be employed because drowning needs to STOP.
I believe that EVERY parent should have access to information, resources, tools and strategies that TEACH them how to in turn keep their child safe in and around water.
I believe that EVERY child deserves the opportunity to have parents who have been empowered with information, resources, tools and strategies so that they can be taught how to ALWAYS be safe in and around water.
Are you ready to talk about a NEW plan of attack to keep children safe around the water and begin the next chapter toward eradicating drowning?
Yep.
Me too.
Here’s the plan.
What if CHILDREN could be taught to “Self-Rescue” long before they ever got near or in water?
What if PARENTS could be a part of this teaching process? And what if it was something that they could teach in their home, starting at birth?
“Where there is water, THEY will WAIT!”
This one sentence can be the difference between a child being safe in and around water and a child being involved in a tragic water accident.
I know, you are thinking that there is no way that this simple strategy could save lives.
I have been using the word WAIT in the Swim With Miss Dayna swim program for, well, a very long time.
My students learn to wait for an invitation to join me by the pool when lessons are ready to begin. They learn to wait for permission to jump into the pool at the end of the lesson.
They learn to wait for their next turn while their classmates complete their work.
The word WAIT is a powerful word and we need to use it more often, especially when our children are near water.
How do I know “Where there is water, I will WAIT!” works? Because I see it in action each and every day.
And then I get this…
Here is a text from a mom who told me that is exactly what happened with her son in the Summer of 2023.
“I just have to tell you that [child’s name] swim lesson with you this Summer literally saved his life this past week. I’ve never been so scared and panicked in my life. We were at the lake for a week last week. On the last day we were packing up and [child’s name] was in the truck playing around. All of a sudden I realized he wasn’t in the truck anymore. I started yelling “Where’s [child’s name]?” No one knew. I immediately ran down to the dock and there he was WAITING. He said “I wait mommy.”
“What could have been devastating turned out to be OK because of your lessons. It made me realize how fast a little one can slip away near water. I just wanted to THANK YOU for your dedication to these little ones. Keep doing what you are doing.”
Getting messages like this are initially gut wrenching but then there is relief. Relief that because this little was taught “Where there is water, I will WAIT!”, he was able to “Self-Rescue” before he ever entered the water.
Isn’t this the kind of knowledge you want for your child? Isn’t this the kind of security you want to have when your child is near or in water?
So, how do we begin teaching “Where there is water, THEY will WAIT!”?
We are going to use a 3 fold approach.
Every day, multiple times a day you are going to repeat the phrase, “Where there is water, I will WAIT!” You can make up a little song. You can pause at the word WAIT and let your little one fill it in with their loudest, proudest voice.
You know how they can sing the same songs, over and over again and they memorize them??
Yes. We are going to use that same mind muscle memory and teach them “Where there is water, I will WAIT!”
In the car. At the dinner table. In front of Grandma and Grandpa.
Before going to sleep at night. Anytime you are in the bathroom, for sure.
Using the Waiting Whales Water Safety Kit, we are going to set your bathroom up to look like the photo above. The Kit comes with both of these tools, a Waiting Whale Mat and red barricade tape that says “Closed – I will WAIT!”.
The “Closed – I will WAIT!” barricade tape will get put up across the handles that turn on the water so that your child knows that they are off limits to them. The Waiting Whale Mats that are on the floor are in the WAITING AREA you will create for your child, each and every time they are getting ready for a bath. Your child will wait on their mat until YOU are ready for bathtime to begin, with no distractions and then you will open the barricade tape to indicate that the bathtub and the water are then OPEN.
Why do we use the Waiting Whale Mats?
Well, you know how you have a high chair to put your child in?
Or how you have a pack and play your child can play in?
You know how you use a buggy at Target or the grocery store?
Why do we have and use these things?
Because they keep our child safe and secure in a very specific environment.
Let me give you one more example of a very specific space that we use to keep our children safe.
Parents research this purchase endlessly, asking for recommendations, comparing one to another. They talk about height and weight limits. They are almost fanatically passionate about rear facing vs. forward facing.
You are right. I am talking about car seats.
Drowning is the #1 cause of accidental death in children under age 5 each and every year in the United States. Not car accidents. DROWNING.
Doesn’t it make sense that we would create a space at least AS SAFE, AS SECURE for our children around any and all water environments as a car seat is for our vehicles?
A place where they know to WAIT.
Assigning a very specific WAITING AREA right beside the bathtub or any other water environment they are around.
In 2023, at least 220 children under the age of 5 lost their lives to drowning. This amounts to 1 drowning every almost 40 hours.
Frightening. And sobering.
Parents say to me all the time, “My child would never drown because I am watching them all the time when we are in the water.”
OK, but what about the times that you are not IN water but a water environment is near.
The Child Abuse Prevention Center states that 69% of children who drowned in a swimming pool where not supposed to be in the pool. These drownings happened during non-swimming times.
These might be times where maybe a parent isn’t watching as diligently because their child is not IN water.
Most drowning deaths are the result of a LAPSE in supervision, not a LACK of supervision.
Because I think that I have established that the word “supervise (to observe)” NEVER needs to be used again, we are going to say that most drowning deaths are a result of a LAPSE in WATCHING, not a LACK of WATCHING.
I need you to know and believe that drowning can happen quickly (20 seconds – 1 minute) and it can be absolutely silent.
“Where there is water, I will WAIT!”
Teaching our children this one sentence may become the one sentence that could save their life.
“Where there is water, I will WAIT!”
This is something you can practice with your little one, every day, using the bathtub and the Waiting Whale Water Safety Kit with the CLOSED tape and a WAITING MAT.
With this strategy you can teach, develop and grow your child’s muscle memory around and in water. If we can teach our children to WAIT with us to cross the street, we can teach them to WAIT any time water is near.
Will you join me and the Waiting Whale Kids as together we help you teach your child the important skill of WAITING? We want your child to ALWAYS be safe in and around water. Let’s begin this journey together.