Suzi, I am sorry this happened and unfortunately it's a familiar story, my sister just told me yesterday that a relative on her husbands side had the exact same thing happen last month. Their sweet 2 year old daughter was found in the pool a couple of days before Mother's Day. Mom told the other kids (10 and under) to watch their sister while she went to change clothes, they didn't and she went wandering.

It is so terribly terribly sad.

It breaks my heart when I read these type of posts.

Any child that will be around pools should have swimming lessons. Period. Waterbabies and Aquababy programs are both excellent. They take children as young as 3-4 months. Right after they've received their first complete round of vaccinations.

Forget the water wings, life jackets and floaties. Put the dollars toward swim lesson and having a childproof fence around any backyard pool. Not the property fence. A pool fence.

Wading pools are no exception. Many toddlers and crawlers have fallen face first into wading pools and drowned.

Oh Suzi, I know how this is playing out over and over in your mind. I wish I had words to comfort you. It will take you a while to settle down. The poor momma.

Sad to hear!

Terrible, terrible, terrible. So sorry for that family and for you too. I can't even imagine.

Very,very sad. I know a family that went through this as well. There are safe guards, fences, alarms etc. You can't just rely on yourself to be diligent enough to watch children around a pool. That is what makes this even sadder.

I share your angst. Your post brought a memory of an event I witnessed 30 years ago. I'd forgotten about it, but your mention brought it back. I,too, recall the anguished cries of a mother and the sobs of a dad.

I was on trip to visit my mother and sister. I had pulled off the interstate to fill my gas tank for the last leg of the trip. Just as my gas tank filled, I heard the anguished cries from a distance. I looked across the road and spied a pool at a Motel. There was a commotion at the pool side and sirens were heard approaching - too late. A young child about 4 yr old had drowned,

Suzi sad experience for you to witness in the emergency room.

People with pools should have a fence with a locked gate. Our neighbor's 2 year old granddaughter drowned in one years ago, was just tragic.

Very sad. My view is that toddlers should never be alone and out of direct sight/supervision of an adult. Never, not even for a few minutes. Whether near the known risk of a pool or in the relative safety of their homes. They don't know or understand and need the constant vigil of others to keep them safe.

Not everyone does that, I know. You can see the consequences of that most weeks in the newspaper.

Sadly, even wonderful parents can be distracted for just a second, which is all it takes.

My baby nephew is in infant swimming lessons. I think it's great because he lives in Florida and between all the pools, ocean and canals, there's water everywhere.

I remember once when I was a kid, maybe 7 or so, I was at a pool party. My mom was on the chairs chatting with the other moms. I had gotten out of the pool and I was behind her and I hear her yell, "where's my daughter?!?!" and I will never forget the panic in her voice when she realized she lost sight of me.

Sad, and even sadder, many times preventable. But fences with locking gates around pools (statutory in many places) can help. Watchmelol's idea of swimming lessons is good. And of course Snidely's idea of constant vigilance is importance for the safety of toddlers. (Cabinet locks and interior door locks to doors exiting the house places high on the door are additional ideas, there are all sorts of 'keep-safe' products and ideas.)

Also, be alert for signs and symptoms of bladder infection, which can many times be caught early and treated less expensively and with a shorter wait time by your doctor in his/her office rather than going to the ER.

I don't know the circumstances of this tragedy. Not sure if the pool was fenced or who was watching the child.
Lucille, the bladder thing started around 10 PM on a Saturday night. NO doctor is open at that time or on Sunday, so ER was my only choice. I know I got there early, like at 7 AM, so the tragedy happened early. I followed the ambulance into the parking lot. Sad.

For after-hours attention to something non-life threatening like a bladder infection, Urgent Care facilities usually offer quicker (and also cheaper) access. We have them all over, including some that are part of the local large medical group practice. Also some that aren't.

Maybe there aren't any where you live but it's a choice to consider for the next non-emergency emergency.

Oh Suzi, I can't imagine what the sounds of grief must sound like and what it must feel like for the mother.

I've seen two instances where children just slip into the water. They don't struggle and they don't make a sound. One time was at swimming lessons with my kids. They kids were just toddlers and they were on a platform at the edge of the pool and one of the kids (not mine) slipped off and down. I happened to be watching and was waiting for the child to reappear or for the instructor to notice. I didn't know I could move that fast. The child was just sinking and not coming back up. It was the strangest thing. Fortunately the child was ok. The other instance was in a family pool but the same idea. You won't hear them slip in or struggle because they don't do either. You physically can't take your eyes off of them.

Heart breaking.

I'm not sure a fence with a locked gate would stop a determined toddler. I've known some little kids who are determined and pretty resourceful.

"I'm not sure a fence with a locked gate would stop a determined toddler. I've known some little kids who are determined and pretty resourceful."

My town has a statute, there must be a 4 foot fence around a pool and it even specifies how far apart the posts can be.

Will such rules stop every death? I'm sure not, but they will stop some. As will the other ideas posted by many here. Because they may not be 100%, does not mean they are not useful.

Water safety is something that should be reinforced constantly. It is not limited to toddlers or young children.

Our community recently lost twin teenage boys in a swimming tragedy. They were both athletes but were careless.

My dad's 11 year old cousin and her 10 year old friend drowned in a lake. One went out and got in over her head. The other came to rescue her. Neither could swim. They are buried next to each other in the cemetery.

I can't help but think of the terrible burden of guilt of the children in Lukkiirish's post who were told to watch the 2 year old who drowned. As mentioned by several posters here, it requires vigilant attention by adults (not children) to keep children safe around water.

That is for sure sad news. That poor mother. Even if you try to minimize risk's accidents can still happen. I do think swimming lessons are important but they will not save a young child if panic sets in or they get a cramp or are too far out and get tired. Some children also believe they are a more capable swimmer than they actually are.

We have an indoor pool that has access doors to the front and back of the house and an access door to the rec room. That rec room door has a sliding lock up high and a child proof door handle on it because I have younger nephews. My kids are not allowed to swim in it without supervision. They are all very good swimmers but my boys also play rough as well. Two are teens and one is a pre-teen. I'm not sure at what point I'd allow them to swim without me present, but it isn't yet. Regardless of the precautions we have in place there is always a chance something devastating could happen. All it takes is for someone to leave the door unlocked and if we had a gathering at our house and an unsupervised child then tragedy could occur. And I do have relatives that don't supervise their children. Both myself and my children have ended up as "babysitters" at family functions. With that said, you cannot keep an eye on your child 24-7 and some kids are can figure out child proofing. My middle son had received a broken arm and I saw it all happen. I went in to change his baby brother, was watching through the patio doors. I saw him on the top of a covered ride on car. I yelled for him to get off it. His older brother that was in the car shook the car and he went tumbling off and broke his arm. I saw the whole thing happen. He also gave himself a ligature mark across his neck when he stood on top of a turtle sand box, grabbed the clothesline down to his height, slipped off the top of the sandbox and onto the clothesline. I was within a few feet of him. Accidents happen all the time and of course we need to do our best as parents to minimize them, but nobody knows the circumstances that lead to this horrific tragedy. The parents may have had safeguards in place and the accident still occurred.

and while one neighbor's child survived, his brain damage had placed him special ed classes...it was so sad...I often wonder what happen to him...he'd be at least 40 by now...