Hellobee Boards

I spent several days a week last summer at the pools with my then 1.5 and 3.5 year olds. The oldest was in swimming lessons, but I kept them both in puddle jumpers and in the baby/kids pools when I didn't have any other support. It was scary at first, but we figured it out! It was helpful to go with other moms/kids for extra eyes and incentive for the kids to stay put, but it was also fun to make memories just the three of us.

No idea....but I find it daunting to go with 1!! hahah this year i will still be pregnant with LO2, but LO1 will be 2 and I'm nervous to go by myself! (granted I will be 8 months pregnant at the time....)

I would put my older kid in survival swim classes now (ugh the nearest one to us is 40 minutes away so we can't yet) so that when summer is here I don't have to worry so much about him at the pool.

Yes. I did it all the time last summer, but if I was the only adult then everyone wore their puddle jumpers all the time. No exceptions.

I probably wouldn't do it by myself at a big public pool. I'm planning on trying it by myself at my friend's pool this summer now that my kids will be 3. I won't have my husband with me, but I will have one or two friends with their kids there too. So it'll be a ratio of 3 adults to 4 kids. My kids were very comfortable in and around the water in their puddle jumpers last year, but I did not at all feel comfortable with two 2 year olds on my own. Not to mention the whole getting them into swim diapers, swim suits, sunscreen, etc. is just a pain in the butt by yourself.

I've been worrying about this a lot too. I have a 3.5 year old and a baby (currently 4 months and will be 7 months when the pool opens at our apartment). Luckily it's a very small pool but I am nervous about taking my eyes off the 3 year old even for a split second.

I only just did this recently when we were at a hotel with an indoor pool, and my kids are 3 and 6. Neither of them can swim. I'm not sure if I would do it at a public pool.

I take my 3 all the time. Last summer when we were going a lot, my oldest was 4 and my middle was 2. The 4 year old can kind of swim but not so that I feel comfortable moving very far away from him. My kids have vests that they wear that keep them afloat enough that they can sort of swim around with their head above water which they enjoy. Neither of the older ones are super ambitious about the water and they don't try to go into the deep areas or go very far from me. Our pool is very kid friendly with zero entry and a small slide so even the baby can sit in the water and splash a little, and the bigger kids love to help with her. And I always go when it isn't a busy time so it is easier to keep track of my kids. Also if you're regularly going to the same neighborhood pool, maybe you'll make some friends and can help each other out. We see lots of people from our neighborhood at ours and that is fun for the kids and can be helpful for me too.

How familiar are you with the pool? Ours has steps along the whole Olympic length and a ledge along one whole width so in the beginning we stayed close to that corner. The girls were 4&2 and the 4 yo could doggy paddle, go under water and reach the ground across the part of the pool we stayed in. Around here it's super common for the pools to not allow puddle jumpers or any flotation devices so that wasn't an option. The 2 yo would stay on the steps or ledge unless I held her. We were lucky to have a baby pool option too but the 4yo strongly preferred the big pool.

In your shoes I'd have someone come along the first couple of times, get down a solid routine for them to sit while everyone takes off shoes and cover ups and you get out toys, sunscreen etc. And then a good routine for leaving as well. I'd probably go so far as to start a sticker chart for your 4yo that if she cooperates in and out for X days she gets a reward (because heaven knows the pool will have some goody she desperately wants!) I honestly found getting the kids out of there was far harder than managing them in the water. A stroller may be your best friend in terms of keeping your 1.5 yo safe while you get dried off and help your 4yo.

We belong to our community pool, and I've been bring both kids since they were 1 and 4. They hang out in the kiddie pool most of the time, and it can be pretty relaxing. It's a little more difficult to manage with both in the big pool, but it's not too bad as long as one kid has floaties on. Also helps that the pool is down the street.