Drowning/water psa
Just sharing because I was so traumatised by the what ifs and don’t want anyone else to go through the fear, let alone the possible worst case scenario.
My 18mo was walking around the wide edge/wall of a small and shallow pool and he toppled in. The water was maybe 10-15cm deep? He rolled over onto his back quicker than anything and was totally submerged. I‘d had my eyes on him the whole time, was 1m away, and he still was able to be fully submerged for a few seconds with his eyes open, panicking and looking up to the surface of the water. I was there in a flash (even though it felt like in a dream where you can’t run) and huge shoutout to another mum who leapt over screaming to grab him too. He coughed up a little water, had a huge cry, and then was completely fine and has been since. I was eerily calm and then totally broke down once I got home and I can’t get the image out of my mind; I think the image was horrifying but made worse by the fact he was totally silent under the water.
I cannot emphasise enough: please, please never leave your child alone near water, no matter how shallow. I think as our Jan babies get more confident, it can be tempting if they’re in the bath or playing in a paddling pool to pop away for a second, but in this case if I hadn‘t been right there, and that other mum hadn’t been there, that would have been it. It was the classic “a child can drown in a few cm of water“ scenario.
We have adequately watched him in the aftermath so please no advice on getting him assessed medically, just love and light and vigilance to you all!