Water Safety Training for Babysitters and Caregivers

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:

• Keep a hand on a baby in the bath at all times, and take the child along if they must step away.
• Find and fix water hazards in a home: tubs, toilets, buckets, coolers, wading pools and doors to the pool or yard.
• Follow the family's pool and outdoor water rules, and stay within arm's reach of young or weak swimmers.
• Respond to a missing child by checking the water first and calling 911 with the address ready.
• Fill out the family's water rules sheet with the parents before the first job.

Materials

• A doll and a dishpan or empty plastic tub (no water needed)
• A towel, a washcloth and a bottle to show 'everything within reach'
• Pictures or a simple floor plan of a home with a bathroom, kitchen, laundry, back door and yard pool
• Copies of the Babysitter Water Rules sheet and the Emergency Action Plan
• A pretend phone for 911 practice

Lesson steps

1. Warm-up: Where is the water? 5 minutes

   Ask the group to name every place a toddler could find water in a home. Aim for at least eight: bathtub, toilet, sink, bucket, mop pail, cooler with melted ice, pet bowl, wading pool, rain-filled bin, pond, hot tub, pool.

2. Activity 1: Bath time, hands on 10 minutes

   Demonstrate with the doll in the empty tub, then have each person practice.

   • Before the bath, put the towel and everything else you need within reach so one hand can stay on the baby the whole time.

   • Never leave a baby alone or with another young child in or near water, not even for a moment. A bath seat or infant tub does not change this; bath seats can tip and babies can slip out.

   • Doorbell or phone? Wrap the baby in the towel and take them with you.

   • After the bath, drain the tub right away.

   • Ask the parents if their child bathes alone. The AAP says children shouldn't bathe alone until they're at least 6.

3. Activity 2: Hazard hunt 10 minutes

   Pairs mark every water hazard on the floor plan and write the fix. Review together.

   • Toilet lids down (and locked if the family has lid locks); bathroom door closed.

   • Buckets, mop pails, coolers and wading pools emptied right after use.

   • Doors to the yard, garage or pool kept closed and locked; tell the parents if a door alarm is off or a pool gate doesn't latch.

   • No child goes outside alone where there is a pool, pond or hot tub.

4. Activity 3: Pools and outdoor water 5 minutes

   Go over the rules that apply when parents allow swimming.

   • Only swim if the parents said yes, in writing on the rules sheet.

   • You are the Water Watcher: phone away, eyes on the water, no other jobs.

   • Babies, toddlers and weak swimmers: stay within arm's reach, in the water with them.

   • Water wings and floats are toys. Use a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket if the child can't swim.

   • Never put an older sibling in charge of watching a younger one in or near water.

5. Activity 4: Emergency practice 10 minutes

   Practice the two emergencies that matter most, out loud.

   • A child is missing: check the water first: pool, hot tub, bathtub, toilet, buckets, pond. Seconds count. Then search the rest of the house.

   • A child is in the water and in trouble: shout for help, call 911, and reach or throw something that floats if you can do it safely from the edge. Get the child out if you can do so without putting yourself in danger.

   • 911 practice: the dispatcher will ask what happened, where you are and who needs help. Read the address from the rules sheet, including the apartment number and floor.

   • Call the parents after you have called 911.

6. Assessment: Quick check 5 minutes

   Ask the quick check questions below. Anyone who misses one repeats that activity with a partner.

7. Take-home

   Each sitter takes two copies of the Babysitter Water Rules sheet: one to fill out with each family before the first job, one to keep. Recommend a full babysitting and first aid/CPR course.