Hot Tub Safety with Kids

Here are some things to consider about hot tubs and children/kids:

Proper chlorination of hot tubs is essential. Hot tub folliculitis is a specific rash caused by infection of the hair follicles of the skin with Pseudomonas, a particularly nasty bacterium. It appears most often in my experience in the areas covered by a tight-fitting bathing suit on a child who sat for a prolonged period in a hot tub.

Always make sure to install drain covers on every drain in your hot tub. Additionally, ensure these drain covers are in excellent working situation and are not cracked or in poor repair inside any way.

Never allow children, or adults for that matter, to run around the tub, as it is quite easy to slip or fall and get hurt. It is not uncommon to hear of children falling into a hot tub and drowning so it is important to ensure that your child knows how to get out of the hot tub in case of an accident.

Always keep the water temperature in your hot tub below 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of the water should be lowered if children are submerged as their skin is extra vulnerable and extra likely to burn.

A door has been left unlocked or open; the alarm system or device for the door has been turned off; the pool safety barrier has been left open; your child does enter the water, panics and does not attempt to utilize survival swim training; CPR is administered too late to save the child."

Tubs should be covered when not in use, and provision made to keep small children away from open tubs.

If your children have long hair, it must always be tied up close to the head or covered with a bathing cap.

Which leads to the discussion of hygeine diapered children are fundamentally dirty down there no matter how clean you think you keep them. Again, to me this is a good reason to keep little kids out of the tub.

It is important that strict limits are placed on the time that children are allowed to stay in the hot tub. The smaller bodies of children will heat up faster than adults which can raise their internal body temperatures to dangerous or even fatal levels very quickly.