Supervising children in the water: how to be a real water watcher

Most parents believe they are watching their children at the pool. Often they are nearby, which is not the same thing. This guide explains what proper supervision looks like, and why a mermaid tail raises the bar.

Most of our own students are adults. This is general advice for parents and carers anywhere.

What active supervision means

Active supervision is a job, not a mood. Royal Life Saving Society Australia's Keep Watch programme describes it by age:

Singapore's Families for Life goes further. It asks parents to keep a child within arm's reach near water at all times, even a child who can swim. It also says the watcher should be an adult, not an older brother or sister.

For a child in a tail, use the strictest standard whatever their age. An adult within arm's reach, in the water or right at the edge. Royal Life Saving Society Australia advises that tails are used only with active adult supervision. Our guide for parents explains why.

What active supervision is not

• Glancing up between messages.
• Watching from a sun lounger with a book, or from indoors through a window.
• "The lifeguard is here."
• An older child "keeping an eye".
• Chatting with other parents at the bar end of the pool.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asks that the watcher avoids reading, phones and alcohol. Keep Watch singles out phones and quick household jobs as dangerous distractions.

Name the watcher

When several adults are present, everyone assumes someone else is looking. The fix is simple: one named adult is the watcher, and everyone knows who.

Safe Kids Worldwide, a US charity, offers a free Water Watcher card for exactly this. The adult holding the card watches the children in the water without distraction. After a set time, such as 15 minutes, they hand the card to another adult. The American Academy of Pediatrics also urges families to assign a water watcher.

A lanyard or a bright hat works just as well. What matters is that the role is visible and can be passed on.

Why shifts should be short

Watching water is tiring work, even for professionals. In research behind RLSS UK's pool lifeguard qualification, lifeguards' ability to spot a simulated drowning fell over time. After 30 minutes, the average detection rate in the study was below half. RLSS UK now has pool lifeguards rotate every 15, 20 or 30 minutes.

A parent with no training will tire sooner. Keep shifts to about 15 minutes, especially at a busy party.

How to hand over

A handover is the moment children are most often unwatched. Do it properly:

1. Say it out loud. "You're watching now." Wait for "I've got them."
2. Count the children together, and point each one out.
3. Say who is in a tail, and who is a weaker swimmer.
4. Pass the card or lanyard. Only then step away.

Never hand over by text, by a wave across the pool, or by assuming.

Why lifeguards are not enough

Lifeguards save lives, and you should choose lifeguarded pools where you can. The CDC still asks parents to keep supervising closely when a lifeguard is on duty.

A lifeguard watches a whole zone and everyone in it. They cannot follow one child's every breath-hold. In a CDC-published study of breath-holding drownings in New York State, almost every incident at a regulated pool happened with a lifeguard on duty. More than half happened with other swimmers present.

On holiday the gap can be wider. RoSPA notes that many hotel pools have no lifeguard at all. See Mermaiding on holiday.

What drowning actually looks like

Films show shouting and waving. Real drowning is usually quiet. The CDC notes that drowning happens in seconds and is often silent.

Writing for Divers Alert Network (DAN), rescue expert Mario Vittone describes the instinctive drowning response:

• Upright in the water, with no useful kick.
• Head low, mouth at the surface, sometimes tilted back.
• No waving. The arms press down on the water to lift the mouth.
• No shouting. The body is busy trying to breathe.
• Glassy or closed eyes, hair over the face.
• Trying to swim but going nowhere, or seeming to climb a ladder.

Vittone notes that someone in this state may last only 20 to 60 seconds at the surface without help.

RLSS UK adds a caution: drowning does not look the same every time. A child may be panicking at the surface, or already unconscious anywhere from the surface to the floor. A child who is quiet, still, or too long underwater is a reason to act, not to wait.

A useful habit: if you are unsure, ask "Are you OK?" A child who cannot answer needs you now.

Scanning: how to really look

If you are watching one child, keep your eyes on them. If you are watching several, keep a steady loop.

• Count heads constantly. Know the number, and recount after every splash.
• Look at the floor, not just the surface. A child in trouble may be on the bottom.
• Move to beat the glare. Sunlight on the water can hide a whole child. Change your position until you can see the floor.
• Keep the group small. One adult cannot actively watch a crowd. Split the children between watchers if you need to.
• Stay close. Arm's reach for young children and anyone in a tail.

RLSS UK has dropped its old rule of scanning a pool every 10 seconds. Research found lifeguards covered only part of their zone in that time. If trained lifeguards cannot sweep a big pool that fast, a parent should not try. Watch fewer children, more closely.

Why a tail makes watching harder

A tail changes the rules for the watcher, not just the swimmer.

• The usual escapes are gone. A child in a tail cannot stand up or tread water normally until their feet are free.
• Underwater play is the point. Children in tails spend much more time under the surface, so "under" stops looking alarming.
• Breath-holding is silent. A child who blacks out simply stops moving, and it can look like play. See Breath-holding and shallow-water blackout.
• Upside down is possible. Royal Life Saving Society Australia advises against somersaults and other disorienting moves in a tail.

So a watcher of a child in a tail should:

• Be within arm's reach.
• Watch every dive, and keep watching for at least 30 seconds after they come up.
• Enforce "one length, one breath", and stop breath-holding games. See Breath-holding games and children.
• Check they can take the tail off alone before they swim in it.
• Watch one tail at a time where possible.

Bright tails and swimwear help. RLSS UK notes that blue, grey and white blend into the water, while neon yellow, orange and green are easier to see.

If a child goes under and does not come up

This is general knowledge, not rescue training.

1. Go at once. Do not wait to see if it is a game.
2. Shout for help so others know.
3. Get their face out of the water, then get them out of the pool if you can do so safely.
4. Call 995 in Singapore, or have someone else call. Stay on the line; the dispatcher can guide you through CPR.
5. Send someone for an AED if one is nearby.
6. Start CPR if they are not breathing normally, and keep going until help takes over. If you are trained, begin with two rescue breaths. If not, the dispatcher will talk you through it, and chest compressions alone are far better than nothing.
7. Get them checked by a doctor even if they seem fine. See Never alone.

Why CPR training matters

Parents are usually first on the scene. Guidelines from the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics stress that rescue breaths matter after drowning. Trained rescuers start with two breaths, then 30 compressions. If you are untrained or unable, chest compressions alone are better than nothing.

In Singapore, the SCDF's free, one-hour DARE Plus programme teaches CPR and AED use at community centres, focusing on compressions. For drowning, also look for a first aid course that teaches rescue breaths and child CPR.

Common mistakes

• "I'd hear them." You often will not.
• "There are lots of adults here." Then name one.
• Long shifts. Attention fades well before you notice.
• Trusting floats. KKH and the CDC both say inflatables and foam toys are not safety devices.

In Singapore

A KK Women's and Children's Hospital study of child submersion cases from 2011 to 2015 found more than half happened in condominium pools. About one in five happened during pool parties, and those parties accounted for half of the deaths. KKH's message was that these incidents could have been prevented. See Mermaid pool parties.

In our lessons

Lessons are mostly one-to-one and never more than four, and every breath-hold is watched, one student at a time, in the shallow end. A separate photographer takes the photos, so her eyes never leave the water for a camera. An adult must be at the pool for children under 16. Outside lessons, the watcher is you.