I’m a swimming instructor – this is the deadly mistake parents make with their children’s towels

I’m a swimming instructor – this is the deadly mistake parents make with their children’s towels

  • Swimming instructor and mum issues warning to all parents 
  • Nikki Scarnati never wraps a towel around her child’s shoulders

A professional swimming instructor has claimed there is a ‘right’ way to wrap a child in a towel after spotting many parents making a similar ‘mistake’ after lessons.

Certified swim coach Nikki Scarnati recently issued a stern warning for parents to avoid wrapping a towel around their children’s shoulders because it can restrict their movement if they were to fall in the water.

Nikki demonstrated a different way to use a towel in a video with her young daughter, which is by securely tucking the towel under the child’s arms after drying them off.

‘I see it happening so many times, and I did it without realising for so long,’ she said. 

‘When you get your child out of the pool, it’s natural to want to cover them completely – but if they were to fall into the pool this way, all of their limbs are going to be restricted underneath a wet towel.’ 

Certified swim coach Nikki Scarnati recently issued a stern warning for parents to avoid wrapping a towel around their children’s shoulders because it can restrict their movement if they were to fall in the water

Nikki demonstrated a different way to use a towel in a video with her young daughter, which is by securely tucking the towel under the child's arms

Nikki's simple hack can also prevent children from tipping over because they can use their arms to steady themselves

Nikki demonstrated a different way to use a towel in a video with her young daughter, which is by securely tucking the towel under the child’s arms after drying them off

The mum advised: ‘After you get them out of the pool, you should first dry their arms off and put the towel underneath their arms.’

‘This way, if they end up in the water they can still have access to their limbs to self-rescue, and they’re that much safer,’ she added.

The mum also asked parents to make sure the towel isn’t long enough to be a trip hazard.

Nikki’s simple hack can also prevent children from tipping over because they can use their arms to steady themselves. 

Many shared horror stories about children getting into accidents while wrapped in a towel.

‘I stopped wrapping my kids at the shoulder after my son tripped up stairs and split his chin open because his arms were trapped instead of being able to catch himself as he fell,’ a dad said. ‘Better to be cold than to rush to the ER for stitches.’

‘I can confirm this is true,’ another woman echoed. ‘When I was two, I fell into the deep end of a pool with my towel on around my arms and I had to be rescued.’

But others were skeptical and couldn’t see how tucking a towel around a small child would help.

‘I think the instructor’s way is actually more restricting: you’re tucking the towel around the child,’ a mum said.

‘But if the child is just holding a towel wrapped around themselves and they fall in the pool – they won’t still be holding the towel and it’s likely to just slip off,’ she added. 

‘I think that if it’s fastened around them, it could potentially wrap around their legs, and/or pull them under the water with the weight of it being wet and still wrapped around the child’s lower body,’ another wrote.

A third said: ‘Wrapping under the arms would restrict leg movement, making it more likely that they would trip.’

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