12:14 | Admin - I will go ahead and post Dr Rizvi's reply:
For very young infants (those under 6 months of age) it isn't recommended to have them in pools or the ocean for a number of reasons:
1. Their immune systems are still developing and they may be more susceptible to bacteria they get exposed to through these activities. Despite poolwater chlorination, pools STILL do represent a large exposure to bacteria...and ocean water is the same.
2. Small infants may also have a hard time regulating their temperature and staying warm in pools and other water bodies 3. Water safety can be an issue as well.....ANYTIME an infant is in ANY body of water, whether it is a pool or ocean or even a bathtub they should be supervised closely-hands on for those small infants and "touch supervision" meaning the child should be within touch reach of an adult for older children.
For these reasons I'd advise that you NOT expose your infant to pools or ocean just yet. Wait until he is AT LEAST 6-9 months old. Then pools with adequate supervision and holding may be ok for a brief time. Remember that if the water is too chilly for you and feels cold to you that it is too cold for the infant. Hot tubs are NOT ok for children under 5-the exposure to the heat may be too much for them.
Sara |
