There is a misconception that drowning deaths only occur when we all flock to water sources during summer.
While the warmer months of the year are when we are most likely to enjoy water activities, across Australia last financial year almost half of all drowning deaths occurred during the autumn and winter months.
Winter Safety Tips
Ensure your child doesn’t become a winter drowning statistic with our Top 3 Tips for keeping children safe in winter:
1. Supervise
Understand that children can, and do, drown in winter, and that most drownings occur when children find their way to water unnoticed. Supervision is essential year-round to prevent drowning.
2. Remove
Store buckets and paddle pools away during winter so they don’t fill with water after rain. It’s takes as little as 3cm of water for a child to drown!
3. Inspect
Make a habit of checking around the house for puddles and water that may have pooled in buckets, holes and containers after rain.
Winter swimming lessons
Keeping up your child’s swimming education during winter is really important. When the cold weather hits, swimming is probably not an activity that is high on the agenda but is in fact one of the best activities children and young people can undertake at this time of year!
- Children who continue swimming lessons during winter are more likely to improve their skills and endurance by building on skills already learnt – they may progress quickly to the next stage. Having a break over winter often results in children’s skills plateauing or even going backwards.
- Swimming as regular exercise helps to strengthen the immune system – children and young people who swim may be less likely to catch the common colds and flus that go around in schools and childcare centres over the colder months.