Outdoor pool w/4.5yo and a 6mo?

[doberbrat]

starting to think ahead to summer a bit since I just got a family membership so we could use the outdoor pool at the Y.

come summer, dd1 will be 4.5 and dd2 will be 6mo. how do we handle the pool?

I was thinking a solarveil carrier, upf swimsuit & hat and everybody in the water. when dd2 is sleepy, park her in a stroller poolside in the shade.

dh looked horrified when I said he'd have both kids in the pool. - he's going to be home w/2 kids 2 days a week so he'll have to take them swimming.

His idea was to stick dd2 in a stroller for the whole time.

dd2 has a fairly proficient dogpaddle. ;) she can get from one side of the pool to the other and can swim underwater but I'm not ok w/having her in the pool w/o one of us. and I doubt pool rules allow it at that age.

what do other people do?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 was 6 when summer rolled around with a new brother so that probably helped our cause. By that age I was comfortable letting him be in the pool alone, especially in the shallow end. My pool had no requirement that a grown up be in there. Our pool has a baby pool and ds1 spent a good amount of time there that first summer with his baby brother (who was 6mo at that time, btw).

Honestly I just didn't bring ds2 in the water all that much. He was happy in his stroller so he hung out there a good bit. I owned a carrier for the water but ds2 didn't like it. He still doesn't like to be in the water without my arms tight around him. Also, with the water's help kids don't weigh much so I could carry both of them at once easily.

I bought a good life jacket for ds2 last summer just for the "just in case" moments if I turned to check on ds1 and lose track of ds2. Rarely happens but I want to have some sort of back up plan for peace of mind.

It really was all about the stroller though. We would often go to the pool ready to go (swim diaper, bathing suit...) and ds2 could go in for a little bit then I would change him and he would be done for the day while ds1 kept playing.

It's next summer that will be a challenge for you if my experience plus what I have witnessed at my pool has been any indication. So busy and so not understanding the rules and reasons for certain safety things. Luckily he still liked his stroller last year because chasing him all summer got a bit tiring. Luckily ds1 is great in the water and does well if I am not in with him.

The pool and a 6mo + older dc was pretty easy. :) I think even though your dd is only 4.5 it will still be pretty easy. I have seen other people with that age difference at the pool at the 4.5 yos seem to follow the rules well and keep out of trouble.


Beth

[elliput]

I was thinking a solarveil carrier, upf swimsuit & hat and everybody in the water.

This is exactly what I did last year. DD was 4.5 yo and DS was 9 mo. We only went to the morning "toddler" hours for kids 6 and under, so there was hardly any crowd and the deep end was off limits with the line being monitored by the life guards. My Y also has life jackets and float tubes for use, so DD would quite often want to use those.

[jjjo1112]

I managed to take the kids swimming last year by going to a pool that was zero depth entry and wearing the baby. This summer will be more difficult because younger DD is now walking/running. I love the water and swimming, so even though it is challenging-I make it work. DH, on the other hand would never try to manage all 3 kids at the pool. He doesn't use a carrier that often and prefers the stroller. He wouldn't feel comfortable watching them-so he would probably pick a different activity to do on the days that I work. If your DH was horrified by the idea-maybe he doesn't need to take them swimming those 2 days and you could take them on your off days?