Thank you very much guys! I agree frustratedpoolmom, that the deck would actually prevent spills. The other thing that worries me about the ladder is that she could go right off the back of it. There is nothing there preventing her. (Except that she can't swim over to it.) If I would try to put her on the steps for me to get out of the pool, she could fall five feet down! I'm overweight and it is difficult to get both of us (wriggling little fishy of a daughter) and big fat me out of the pool at the same time. My husband is much taller with longer and stronger arms. I don't think he realizes how difficult it is for me.
Frustratedpoolmom, did you build stairs with a self-locking gate on your deck? Have you been happy with it? Like I said, we currently have an 18 foot round, but when this one bites the dust, I would like a bigger pool. We live on a farm in central Illinois. I teach middle school. I think the pool would get a lot of use with a deck in years to come. Thus, I don't want to build a splash deck until we have a bigger pool. 0