Swim instructor alerts parents to 'dangerous' mistake they are making with towels
By Nikolina Koevska Kharoufeh |
Wrapping your child up in their towel once they jump out of the pool is something parents do out of habit.
But one swimming instructor is warning it can be very 'dangerous', explaining to mums and dads the proper way to do it.
"?I see it happen so many times, and I myself, as a parent, did it without even realising that it was a thing," Nikki Scarnati said in a video to her TikTok.
In the video, Scarnati จC who regularly posts water safety content on her page to ensure parents are keeping their kids safe จC demonstrates the 'correct' way to wrap their kids in a towel once they get them out of the pool to avoid danger.
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"I'm gonna show you a proper way to put your towel around your child," the mum and swim teacher says to the camera, using her daughter to help demonstrate.
"So when you get your children out of the pool, naturally we wanna cover them like this, right? No."
The mum explains that by putting a towel over a kid's arms, it restricts their movement if they were to fall into water.
"If they were to fall in the pool this way, all of their limbs are gonna be restricted underneath a wet towel," she warned.?
Instead, she suggests parents ensure their kids' arms are out in the open. ?
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"So when you get them out of the pool, dry their arms off, lift your arms up, but put the towel underneath their arms. That's right. Make sure your towel is under your little one's arms. NOT on top," she explains.
"That way, if they end up in the water, they still have access to their limbs to self-rescue, and they're that much safer."
The surprising warning ?left thousands of parents stunned at how a simple habit could be so dangerous for their kids.
"Good tip thank you," one mum wrote.
One adult backed the instructor's claims, saying she had a near-drowning experience while wrapped in a towel.
"I can confirm this is true. When I was two I fell into the deep end of a rec pool with my towel on around my arms, and I had to be rescued," she revealed.
Others pointed out the other benefits the towel wrapping technique has.
"In case they're walking and trip and fall, [there are] hands to catch them instead of their face," one said.
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Australia's BlueFit Swim School's General Manager, Michele Eason has praised the video for bringing attention to the surprising danger.
"Falling into the pool without a towel presents its own dangers, falling in with a towel only escalates these dangers," she told 9Honey Parenting.
"Once the towel is wet it becomes very heavy, no matter how the towel is placed on a child."?
However, she warns parents that there is no substitute for parent supervision in and around aquatic environments: "No matter how the towel is placed around the child there is danger."
Poolwerx Ambassador Libby Trickett also backing the tip, adding, "Remember that it's not just towels but clothing as well that can get heavy when wet."
"That's why it's so important to always watch the water closely but also make sure that your pool gate and fence are working properly to avoid any accidents when the pool is not in use.?"
The former Olympic swimmer says parents need to remain vigilent.
"We've had a few near misses with our girls where they haven't been wrapped in towels, but it's scary to think how much worse it could have been if they were," she says.
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