Healthy Swim Habits
One of my favorite movies, “The Sandlot”, portrays the perfect summer activities for kids; playing baseball in a vacant lot, campouts in a killer tree house and swimming at the local pool. I’m sure this is every child’s expectation this summer. Unfortunately the pool portion, or any of it for that matter, won’t happen unless we all adopt healthy swim habits.
There’s a nasty little bug that will try to ruin a large portion of your summer, it’s called Cryptosporidium (Crip-toe-spore-id-ium). Basically, It is trying to hitch a ride from someone who has diarrhea into your local swimming pool. And then when you least expect it, it swims into your open mouth and down to your intestines to camp out for a couple weeks. Meanwhile you’re stuck inside by the toilet, looking out the window at that tree house.
Last summer Cryptosporidium made a lot of people sick. So many that health officials wouldn’t allow children ages 5 and under to swim in pools. Some public pools had to even shutdown for the remainder of the summer because people kept getting sick.
Here’s some ways that Crypto can spread:
- A person who has diarrhea doesn’t shower before getting into the pool.
- Someone changes a child’s soiled diaper close to the pool.
- A person with crypto doesn’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom.
- A baby with diarrhea let’s loose while in the pool. Swim diapers can only hold so much!
Okay hold onto your seats, this is pretty gross but I have to share it so you get the whole idea. I found this in our local paper. “On average people have about .14 grams of poop on their bottoms which can contaminate water. People who have diarrhea have millions of germs.” Oh I feel bad for the poor guy that had to do that study.
So after all this being said and you’re still up for going to the public pool, here’s a few healthy swim habits to adopt from Nature For Kids:
- Take a shower with warm soapy water before getting in the pool, that includes your kids.
- If you have diarrhea, don’t go to the pool! And be sure you’re completely better before going back again.
- Wash your hands after using the bathroom or changing a diaper.
- Don’t swallow the water or even let it in your mouth.
- Take your child to the bathroom regularly and check their swim diapers often.
- Change baby diapers in the restroom, not poolside.
Well, the sky is clear and it’s warming up fast so I think we’ll head to our public pool to practice our crypto defense. Have a great day!
7 Responses to “Healthy Swim Habits”
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My daughter got this last summer (she was only 16 months old and it 2 weeks it was horrible) and I have been really scared to go swimming, hopefully everyone will take this advice!
okay so i don’t know if this made me excited to go use the pool or terrified.
we are heading to the pool today and will practice some good clean etiquette, hopefully everyone else will do the same.
btw, those are super cute pics of your kids
Gross! That is incredibly important to know! Yikes! I feel bad for the poor study group and the volunteers! Who would want to know? I check in on your site all the time but never leave comments, so its about time! I just wish we were closer to share play time! Have a great birthday tomorrow~
So, I think I might stick to my friends pool. First, its free. Second, she is a pediatric nurse and is probably leery of this virus. Third… its free.
So, I think you might have scared me away from the local public pool, but I will for sure use these tips at my friends pool.
Thanks for such a fun site.
Sorry for grossing everybody out
But I thought you all should know!
I totally agree with you that the crypto is nasty and totally gross. My kids started swim lessons this summer and the pool is trying to require everyone to take a ‘cleansing shower’ before entering the pool. While I understand the reasons and all; I really think that the pool should take steps to make it easier for kids to take said shower. In my opinion it is completely unacceptable to expect a 5 yr old boy to go into the men’s change room alone. Aside from any scary older men that may or may not be in there; there are also older boys that play around in questionable ways. Unfortunately, there really are crazies out there that do bad things, even though we all would like to think our town is different and safe. While they do have family change rooms - there are only 2 and they are always full in between lesson times. I understand why boys older than 3/4 shouldn’t be in the women’s change room - I wouldn’t appreciate someone else’s son watching me change. All this angst could be solved by there being a public shower (like at beaches)out by the pool so that you can rinse off before and after a swim and then there is no scary possiblities; everything is right there in the open. Anyways, that’s my rant about poor planning when it comes to shower placement.
I’m totally with you on that one Jamie. I was at our pool the other day thinking the same thing. I really don’t want to let my boys go in the dressing rooms alone and I rarely get a chance to go into the family restrooms. An outdoor shower would solve this problem for sure. Maybe it’s something to nudge into action by asking pool managers some questions. Thanks for your comment!