Beware of drowning!
Anyone who knows me from practical experience knows that I am usually very relaxed and not very anxious when it comes to parenting and development issues and often advise people not to take a too tense view of things. But when it comes to today's topic, there is simply zero room for compromise. It's one of the most important issues in paediatrics: the risk of children drowning.
The rules are clear - and they should ALWAYS be strictly followed:
A child who cannot swim very confidently and is not at least of advanced primary school age must never be left unsupervised near water for even ONE second. Regardless of whether they are wearing water wings or not. And water doesn't just mean a pool or a lake, but also water in a rain barrel, a very shallow paddling pool, a really small stream or the bathtub at home. No child unsupervised! Never!
Accidents are part of children growing up. And for us parents, it is often difficult to find the right balance between protecting and overprotecting, allowing children to gain experience and at the same time limiting unnecessary risks. Fortunately, children usually have a well-functioning guardian angel when it comes to climbing accidents, bicycle accidents, falling down stairs, etc. Unfortunately, this usually fails completely when it comes to water accidents.
Once again: it is not the depth of the waterhole that is decisive, but its accessibility. What many people don't realise is the phenomenon of "dry drowning": In children up to pre-school age, sudden contact with water can lead to reflex breathing arrest and such a massive cramping of the larynx that this can have a fatal outcome.
If you are in the garden with your child at the paddling pool and the telephone rings in the house, you have to go to the toilet or the postman arrives: either tuck your child under your arm, no matter how much they protest, or let the telephone or postman ring and postpone going to the toilet - because your eyes must remain with your child at all times.
Further interesting tips
U6 screening
The U6 screening is the doctor's favourite screening. Because at 10 to 12 months, the children are still cute and baby-cute and not yet so big that they can blow up the whole examination with a violent tantrum (yes, there's all that ...). In other words, the U6 is usually a very pleasant experience. How does it work?
Grass does not grow ..
Let me start with a less glorious example of my own career as a father: We were on holiday and I thought, now I have to teach my child how to do a Köpper from the edge of the pool. My plan ended in a huge argument and a terribly bad mood.
Undescended testicles
Easter is over, the eggs have hopefully all been found ... and that brings us to the topic of undescended testicles. It doesn't sound very spectacular, but it's an important topic in everyday practice.