Backyard Summer Safety

“You need to be extra attentive to making sure they have sunscreen on their necks and on their chins and on the parts that are going to be exposed to reflection off the water. It’s a kiddie pool, a two year old should not be there unsupervised, you really have got to have a parent or at least an older child who is really assigned to pay attention, got to have them there all the time,” says Dr. Ben Kligler, family practitioner at Continuum Center for Health and Healing.

When it comes to bug repellants, not all insect sprays are safe for children. “The main thing that’s in bug repellants is a chemical called deet, and deet keeps the bugs off of you, but, the problem is it’s not so safe, it has some potential toxic effects on people because a certain amount of it gets absorbed through the skin and its not so great for the nervous system so in kids we try to keep the amount of deet very low, which you do either by using a natural product like something with geraniol or by getting a bug repellant that has a very low concentration of deet, 10%, 20%.

Re-apply sunscreen throughout the day, make sure kids are wearing hats and sunglasses…check to see that the label says 100% U.V. protection…and continually offer drinks. “They get busy doing what they’re doing and they just won’t remember until all of a sudden I don’t feel good, I have a tummy ache, I have a headache, and you realize this kid’s dehydrated. So, I find you have to have the water out there where they are and you have to remind them to take a drink every so often,” says Dr. Kligler.

 If you have a blow-up kiddie pool it’s crucial to always empty the water after use…the stagnant water becomes a breeding place for bugs and there’s a potential for drowning, should your toddler or a neighbor’s toddler find their way to it, without adult supervision.