Water safety: 5 tips to help keep children safe this summer

As summer arrives, getting the kids away from screens and outside for a swim is high on the holiday to-do list. But just as important as packing sun cream or remembering swimming costumes is to think seriously about water safety.

Even if our children are strong swimmers in a pool, open water presents a completely different, unpredictable set of challenges. To give you peace of mind while your kids have fun in the sun, we’ve put together a list of five tips for ensuring their safety, with the help of Ross Macleod, water safety manager at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

It’s horrible to think about but, according to the National Child Mortality Database, from 2020-2025, 131 children died from drowning in open water, including beaches and lakes, and in swimming pools. By learning the Water Safety Code, and by teaching it to your children, you can ensure they are kept safe. They might have already learned this in school or at swimming lessons, but it’s a good idea to go over it again in a relaxed way that doesn’t worry them.

The Water Safety Code is a simple checklist to keep you and your children safe:

• Stop and think: Take time to plan your trip by researching safe locations and potential dangers. When you arrive, don’t head straight for the water, pause to look around and take in your surroundings so you know where the lifeguards are and any warning flags.

• Stay together: Always stay with friends or family when you go into the water. Choose a venue with a lifeguard.

• Float: If you fall in or become tired or worried while you are swimming, stay calm and flip over on to your back to float. Shout for help.

• Call 999: If you see someone in trouble then call 999 for help. Don’t be tempted to try to rescue them yourself.

Now you’ve got the basics sorted, here are the 5 tips:

It may be tempting to head for the beach or pool that’s most convenient or looks prettiest in photos but make sure you choose one with professional lifeguards. Get your kids to help you spot the red and yellow flags - these mark the safest part of the beach so you should only swim or bodyboard in between them.

This is also the part of the beach the lifeguards will most closely be watching just in case you need their help. Also look out for other flags. Red ones mean danger, while black and white flags point out the part of the beach being used by hard craft such as surfboards or kayaks and isn’t safe for swimming.

Ross says: “Any water that isn't supervised by a lifeguard increases the risk hugely. If someone gets into trouble and there isn't anyone trained there to respond, that situation can get really bad really quickly.”

It may come as a surprise, but in the UK there are actually more cases of people drowning inland, in lakes and rivers, than by the sea because there aren’t usually any lifeguards there. So what do you do if your teenager tells you they're planning to go out with their friends on a hot day and you’re worried they might go swimming?

Ross recommends having a conversation with them about the dangers of unsupervised swimming so they have all the information they need to make sensible choices. Explain to them about the effects of cold water on the human body, especially during a heatwave. Teens might think it’s fun to dive bomb into a lake but it can be very dangerous.

What is cold water shock?

Ross says: “A key hazard is the temperature of the water - open water is much colder than you think. Going from 30-degree air temperature on your skin to say 12 or 14 degrees by jumping into water can cause your body to involuntarily gasp and inhale water. We would recommend going in slowly and acclimatising.”

They should also watch out for the body slowly reacting to the cold temperature over the 20-30 minutes after they got into the water. This can prevent your body from working properly - like swimming properly or doing up the zip of a lifejacket - and there is a risk of hypothermia.

Read more on cold water shock here.

Professional lifeguards make a huge difference to safety, but they have to watch everyone on the beach so they can’t replace the focus you have by keeping your eyes firmly on your child. You should keep the kids within arm’s reach at all times so you can react immediately if something goes wrong. The water may seem totally calm but things can suddenly change. Currents can change direction and cut you off or make areas that previously seemed safe suddenly more risky.

A top tip for parents – take it in turns to be the “water watcher” who stays right next to the children in the water and won’t be tempted to get distracted by their phone. It can be easy to assume another adult is keeping a close eye on the kids when in fact they think you are. Maybe whoever is “on duty” could wear an armband or a particular sunhat.

Ross says: “The beach and open water is a very dynamic environment, particularly at the coast, it’s always changing. So the wind could change direction, there could be a bigger set of waves that come in, the currents could start working in different ways. The water depth is quite variable as well, so there could be a deep hole that isn't visible from the beach.”

Don’t assume your child is fine because they’re a strong swimmer in a pool, the experience of swimming in open water is quite different because they don’t know what to expect. As well as the water’s natural movement, the temperature is much colder and there are no sides or lane ropes to grab on to."

Would it even be a family holiday if you weren’t forced to carry around a giant inflatable pizza slice or rainbow-coloured dolphin? But while inflatables are a lot of fun, they haven’t been designed for open water. They are light and can easily be blown away by wind or carried with the currents.

Ross says: “We would highly recommend people leave them on the beach or use them in the pool only. If they do take them to the beach, definitely only use them when the wind is blowing onshore. So, if there's an orange windsock up, please don't put your children in the water on inflatables. And if you ever do use them, make sure they're tethered to you.”

However, if a child gets into difficulty they should hold on to anything they have to hand that will help them float - that might be a bodyboard or an inflatable. Ross says a common mistake children make when they panic is letting go of their bodyboard to try and swim back. As long as they are floating, they're much safer until help arrives.

What colour is your children’s swimwear? And have you ever thought about how the colour affects how easily you can spot them on the beach or in the water?

If you're anything like the majority of UK parents, you'll have bought neutral colours which aren’t visible against the side of a swimming pool or against the waves. Research by Royal Life Saving Society UK found that two-thirds of children wear blue, white or grey swimwear.

The best choices are colours that stand out against the background. Pick high-visibility swimwear so you can spot your kids easily if they get on the beach and so they can be seen by the lifeguards and rescued quickly if they find themselves in trouble in the sea or pool.

In 2021, safety experts Alive Solutions placed fabric of different colours in a pool to see which could be seen most clearly. They tested how the colours looked from the shore and from slightly higher up as if they were watching from a boat or dock. Neon yellow, green and orange were the most visible. White came in fourth place but resembled the reflection of clouds on the water so wouldn’t be easy for a lifeguard to spot. A surprising find was that neon pink – which is brightly visible in a swimming pool - was not easy to see in open water. Most shocking of all was that every other colour tested disappeared very quickly despite the test being done in shallow water.

I’ve swam my entire life and I’ve only recently become aware that there are certain colours that can’t be seen underwater. As a parent, I should have been aware of this sooner.” - Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington

Meanwhile the RLSS says blue, grey and white should be avoided at all costs as they cannot be seen. Instead they recommend the following visible colours: Pink, yellow, red, black, purple, green and fluorescent colours

Ross says: “It’s important to think about colours that make children easy to find both in the beach environment but most importantly in the water. We just bought our four-year-old a little fluorescent neoprene hood. We're going up to Scotland for the summer holidays, and she's going to be going in the water, but she's going to stand out a mile away because she looks a bit like a Minion.”

Don’t feel bad if you weren’t aware of how hard it is to see some swimwear colours in the water. Even Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington admitted in 2024 that she hadn’t known, while campaigning for stricter laws around the colours of swimwear being sold for children. She said: “I’ve swam my entire life and I’ve only recently become aware that there are certain colours that can’t be seen underwater. As a parent, I should have been aware of this sooner.”

It is terrifying even to imagine your child finding themselves in difficulty while in the water but there's one simple thing you can teach them that will help save their life. If they find themselves in difficulty or start to panic, they should “float to live” - turn on to their back and float like a starfish. They should try to do as little as possible and relax. This works for adults too.

If you spot someone you think is in trouble in the water, immediately follow the RNLI’s 'Phone, Float, Throw' message.

Ross says: “Wherever you are, phone 999 and say there’s someone in trouble in the water. If you’re at the coast, you'll go through to the coastguard. If you're inland, it tends to be the fire service that will coordinate.

“Tell that person in the water to rest and to try to flip onto their back and float, and then try and find something to throw to them. So public rescue equipment like a throw line or a rescue ring is ideal, but anything you've got to hand that might just buy them a few minutes, like a football or a drinks bottle with the lid on.

“We’d really encourage people not to enter the water themselves unless they've got the relevant training and kit with them, because we've sadly seen lots of bystander rescues go wrong in recent times.”

Drowning doesn’t look like a lot of people imagine it - or how it’s regularly shown in TV dramas or in films. Often people are too busy trying to stay above the water to be able to shout or wave, and it can look more like they are quietly trying to climb a ladder.

• Remind your kids of the Water Safety Code: Stop and think, stay together, float, call 999.

• Pack bright swimwear: Ensure your children are wearing colours that can be seen such as pink, yellow, red, black, purple, green and fluorescent colours.

• Leave inflatables at home: Leave the lilos, unicorns and toy sharks behind unless you're heading to a swimming pool.

• Pack a pen: Keep a marker handy to write your mobile number on your child’s wrist or a wristband in case they get lost on a crowded beach.

• Have the chat: Remind younger children to stay in your sight, and if they do get lost to speak to a lifeguard.

It may be worrying to think about water safety when you’re just trying to have a happy, memory-making day at the beach or pool but you shouldn’t let it put you off enjoying the water. With some preparation, awareness of your surroundings and a conversation with the kids, you'll be all set to have a wonderful family day out.

The RNLI has these recommended resources for parents wanting to talk to their kids about water safety.

Newsround have a video on beach safety that you can share with your child.

BBC News have more water safety information for adults here.

The RNLI also has a song you could play to your children to make water safety fun.