Baby Fence Ideas Needed

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C

cdogstu99

0
Oct 7, 2014
111
Braintree, MA
Tonight was scary. My one and a half year old basically just walked into the pool--thankfully my wife was right nearby and rescued her. Whatever the case it scared me straight into thinking we really need to put up some sort of protective fence. We have a four year old that can't swim either. Here's a pic of our deck:

https://s32.postimg.org/vp2zmrbc5/image.jpg

Anyone have any ideas to help block off ththe pool--with some sort food prebuilt fence? Or anything else?? Thanks in advance
 
We rushed into finishing our deck n putting up a gate to keep our 3 year old granddaughter off the pool deck. My thought would be to fence it straight across the deck with post like tge outside railings and add a gate.
 
I highly recommend taking your kids to the local Y and get them swimming lessons. I did this with my kids when they were about the same age as yours are. It's never too early to learn to swim. Group swimming classes are great, but if you can afford it, a few private lessons are worth their weight in gold and can quite literally save a life. At this age all you want is for them to not panic if they are in water over their heads. They need to learn how to float, and get themselves over to the side where they can hold on. The fancy swimming stuff can come later.
 
I live in the Houston metropolitan area. Every summer, there are multiple news stories about some kid(s) drowning in family/neighborhood pools. Each of these stories is unbelievably tragic, and each is 100% preventable. You cannot be too safe when it comes to water safety. As when approaching any safety topic, you should use the "multiple barrier" mindset. Statistically, given enough time (or, in the case of children, given enough incentive), any single barrier can be compromised. Here is how we have approached this with my small children:

  1. First barrier, Education: We constantly told/explained/threatened that they were to not be anywhere outside without explicit permission from mommy and daddy. This was to set expectations regarding what is allowable and what is not.
  3. 2nd barrier, Door Lock: I removed the existing deadbolt from the back door and replaced it with one that requires a key to unlock from both sides. While the kids could compromise this barrier by finding a way to reach the key and then figuring out how to actually use it once they did reach it, this has been quite effective.
  5. 3rd barrier, Fence/Gate: In previous house (when kids were really young) I installed a fence with a padlocked gate that completely separated the house from the pool. Due to zoning requirements, I was limited to 4' height. Eventually, kids would be able to find their way through this fence. (In current house, there was no logical way to add a fence, and the proximity of patio furniture would give a very easy path to getting over the fence anyway. We thought long and hard, and decided that Barriers 1, 2, and 4 would work for us now that the kids are a bit older.)
  7. 4th barrier, Swimming Lessons. This should be a last resort, to be relied up only when the other barriers have failed. We've had our kids in swimming lessons from the time they were 18 months old, but they weren't competent swimmers until they were about 4.5 years old. Even when they could swim, they had trouble getting out of the water unless they were right next to the steps. By all means, get your kids swimming lessons but DO NOT rely on this engineering control as they only barrier to safety.
At a minimum, I would encourage you to find a suitable fence/gate system, examine the lock on your door(s) that access the pool, and get your kids into a swimming program ASAP. And, of course, constantly remind them to stay away from the pool when you're not with them. Good luck!
 
The webstie for the pic won't open for me but know that the mesh fences are ok but not as safe as one would think. Many areas do not consider them a proper safety barrier. Also get a pool alarm and a door alarm if a door from the house leads to the pool. This is the NY regs. They are tough but good. Here is a link to the NY regs: http://www.dos.ny.gov/dcea/pdf/PoolsumUC0708.pdf Make sure your pool meets this and you will be in a much better position than you are now. Thank God everything was okay. I'm nervous just reading the post. Thank you for sharing b/c this will make us all re-evaluate our pool safety.
 

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The most important barrier is swimming lessons, precisely because it is the last resort. It's also portable: fences protect them at your pool, lessons protect them in general no matter where they are or what their age.
 
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