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Beach Safety Tips for Your Family

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Summer is drawing to an end, but it is not quite over yet! There are still some fun beach or lake days ahead for your and the kids on the weekends and before school starts.

While days at the beach can be a lot of fun, especially as a last celebration of summer before it passes, the beach can present dangers for you and your family. Here are a few tips to keep your kids safe at the beach.

Preparing for the Beach

As a parent, you know that when you take your kids out somewhere, such as the park, a restaurant, or a beach, you need to prepare. Here is a beach checklist to help you make sure that you have what you need for the beach:

  • Sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, layers of clothing: Protecting your kids from sunburns is essential if they are out in the sun all day. Make sure that they are well covered and you reapply sunscreen.
  • Bathing suit, water shoes, goggles, life jacket: Just as you need to protect your kids from the sun, you need to protect them while they are in the water. Make sure they have the proper equipment to go swimming. Water shoes are especially important to protect from sharp or slippery rocks. If your child is not a strong swimmer, floaties or a life jacket will also be important to bring.
  • Food, water, shade: When sitting out in the sun all day, exhaustion can set it. It is important to have a reprieve from the sun by sitting under an umbrella or in a shady area. Drinking plenty of water and eating food will also prevent dehydration or heat exhaustion.

Swimming Safety

One significant concern once you are actually at the beach is making sure that your children swim safely. Here are a few tips to make sure that this happens:

  • Evaluate your child’s swimming skills before allowing them to go into the water. Have they had swimming lessons? Do they need to be held in the water? Do they need a life vest? Make sure you understand how well they can swim before letting them in the water and provide proper supervision.
  • Make sure that a lifeguard is on duty if your child is going to swim in a lake or ocean.
  • Make sure that your child obeys the swimming limits oftentimes imposed in lakes and oceans.
  • Swim with your child to keep an eye on them.
  • If you are not going to swim with your child, make sure that they have a swimming buddy.
  • No diving in shallow water.

Keeping Your Child Safe

I hope that this article has provided some useful tips to keep your kids safe if you are going to the lake or the beach. If your child is injured at a lake or beach, contact my office. I am happy to review the situation and help you.