7 Year Old Going to a Waterpark Without Mom?

I second get a sitter for the 1yr old and go with. Oh, and sign that girl up for swim lessons. I did not learn how until about her age and let me tell you the things my older sister did to me to "teach" me like toss me into the deep end! My dad finally tought me one summer when I came to visit and my life CHANGED after that . Please get the girl some swimming lessons.

If she could swim I would say yes, but since she can't I would probably say no. Please--get her signed up for swimming lessons ASAP. I am a former lifeguard and it is so important just to have basic swimming skills. I see adults who can't swim or who are terrified of the water and it can be a big problem for them. Kids learn fast; she'll pick it up. It can really help to find a swim school with warm water and small class sizes.

I'd find a sitter for the 1 yr old and go to the water park with her.
I would worry too much about safety if I wasn't there.

You say it's a trusted friend.
There are lifegaurds every 3 feet.
It will be so much more fun for both girls to have a friend along. I would talk to the other mom about your concerns and what to watch for. Ask her to make sure she doesn't let them run off alone. But ultimately, I'd let her go.

For most water parks, you’re not allowed to get into the slides and such if you don’t swim and to be honest; if she doesn’t swim I wouldn’t let her go. Even if like other mom’s suggested you get a babysitter for your little one, you would still need to go with her on the slides or wait for her at the bottom every single time.
You can explain the situation to your friend and say that for any other activity in the future she would love to go and maybe you can organize a sleepover or something like that to get them together.
I know I would understand if I was your friend because I don’t think I would like to be responsible for a child that doesn’t swim on a water related activity.
Good luck!

Molly, I think you have to decide if you trust your friend enough to do this. It all comes down to that. Is she the kind of mom who hovers? Or does she sit by the pool and read a book...?

Your call based on the knowledge of your friend...

Good luck making the decision!
Dawn

I have never been to raging rivers but most of those water parks have a crazy number of lifeguards. You go down the slide and if someone doesn't pop up quick enough they are all over them like a cheap suit.

About the only thing that would scare me is if they have a wave pool. Those I wouldn't let my kids into until I knew they could swim.

I guess I am saying I would let her go but no wave pools!

My 7 year old is a pretty good swimmer and was invited to a water park recently - a much much smaller one. I couldn't let her go. Just couldn't do it and I'm liberal when it comes to letting other people drive her etc. There's something about those places... In this case, I don't know the other mom well but you knowing this mom well is offset by it being a huge water park and your daughter not being much of a swimmer. Sucks to have to say no but I don't blame you.

I would make sure that your friend knows your daughter cannot swim at all.

If this place is like Noah's Arc in the Dell's there is so many other options besides just swimming in a pool. They have water slides that the end is not deep, they have a lazy river where it wouldn't be more than waist high on her. They have other options.

I would make sure the mother knows not to take her in anything that would be over her waist to where if she did fall in she could easily stand up.

If you trust her and believe she would do this, then I would let my daughter go.

nope if you could go and even take her for a few hours then yeah but without you and her not being a strong swimmer i wouldnt risk it

I would tell your friend the truth. Your daughter is not a strong swimmer.

While they would let her wear a life jacket in the lazy river and pool, they will not let you wear one on the slides. So your friend may be put into a situation where the daughter wants to run the slides, but the mom can't go with her and stay and watch your daughter at the same time.

Maybe you could mention your planned outing to the water park and the friends can meet up then?

Rightly or wrongly, I remember going to water parks well before I was able to swim. Further, my parents would not always ride along with us. Lastly, my mom's swimming wasn't and still isn't strong enough to be of any use should we be in any trouble. Sounds like she's got basic swim skills, as she can swim in the pool without you at her side.

If she's not one to run off, and the other mom is happy to take her along, let her go. It will be a great good time.

F. B.

My daughter is not a good swimmer either and told me she is just not ready to go under the water. She still has fears and I don't force her. Living here in Florida there are so many water parks and I will not let her go to any of them, with or without me.

If you are having doubts then don't let her go and try to make plans another time. I am sure your friend will keep an eye on her but not like you would. Once she is a better swimmer then let her go. Not going is not the end of the world and remind her that they can do other things later on.

At the risk of being told I'm a helicopter...Hell to the NO!
Not a swimmer? NO waterpark--especially under someone else's supervision.

Uh--yeah--they have lifeguards, rules, etc. but too many potentially hazardous situations...have you FELT the currents in those lazy rivers??!!

With you? Sure.
Without you & she's a non-swimmer? NO WAY!

I'm torn on this one. I let my four year old go last year with her aunt and uncle, but I knew she was well supervised and was going to be in the little kid area, not the big water slides. If you can afford to get a sitter for the baby, I agree that you should do that and go along. If you can't, I would probably say no. HOWEVER, I would make it a priority to get that girl in swim lessons so that next year you won't have to hesitate in saying YES!

I also vote find a sitter and go with her :) You will have so much fun. I would keep her in the kids section.

I would probably do the same thing as you- not let her go. Those places are crazy busy. Even if her friend's mom is responsible, it just takes a second for something awful to happen. If you don't feel right about it, go with your gut. Honestly, I would be nervous letting my 12 year old go without me!

Just make sure the friend's mom knows it has nothing to do with her, and everything to do with you. And if DD knows of the invite, just sell her on the fact that she's going to the waterpark at a different date. And maybe try to plan something else with her friend.

No - 7 is to young to be at a waterpark without one of her parents. I know there will be lots of people who disagree. But I know a family who left their 6 yr old at a pool party of family friends to go pick up their other child from a soccer game (one of the parents was working, the other was doing the driving that weekend). By the time the parent returned (about an hour later) their child was in the bottom of the pool and had drowned. No one noticed it - the other kids were all in the pool playing. None of the adults were watching that one child. Each was diligent about their own child, but lost track of the other.
While the probability of your child having any kind of incident or problem is very, very insignificant - it's just not something I'd do. I've been a sponsor for our middle school youth group at water parks and these kids are 12 - 14 and we have one adult per group of about 5-6 and they do dopey things! One girl lost her eyeglasses in the bottom of a waterslide pool and she disappeared into the bottom of the pool to look for them. I was standing there and went and yanked her out. The lifeguard had not yet noticed her and other kids were poised to come down the slide on top of her. The lifeguard stopped the slide and found the glasses within about 45 seconds - but this 13 yr old just didn't have the experience to know what to do. You can't expect a 7 yr old to - and someone else will never watch your kid that way you would.

Why don't you both go together?

I'm definitely not a helicopter mom, but I wouldn't be comfortable with letting her go.
Trust your gut. Maybe you can find some other way for the girls to get some time together. An amusement park, maybe?
My kids think waterparks look like fun, and I like them too. But I am holding off on taking them to one until they are strong competent swimmers.
Honestly, if your daughter is just working on building her confidence in the water, I don't think she'd have that much fun anyway. The big slides and stuff are pretty intense.
Yes there are a lot of lifeguards. But they are not you, mom.

When my son's were that age the only time they went swimming without me or my husband was when they went with their daycare. Last year I let my oldest go to one of the big ones with the band. And this year his friends mom asked me to get passes for both of my boys so she can take them when she goes. But we discussed what I wanted to be done with my youngest. And he's going to be 10 next week. I understand your being uncomfortable. Just let her know that you don't feel she's ready to go without you and maybe they can go when you take the next month when maybe all of you can be there.

If she was a good swimmer and confident, sure! She's not, so I wouldn't allow it.

Women have a wonderful intuition that we need to listen to. Follow your gut on this one. My 7 year old can't swim, my parenting fault as well. Under no circumstances would I let her go to that type of water park without me or her dad.

http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/8517...

As long as there IS an adult there I don't see a problem. They'll be supervised. You have separation anxiety. Think how much more confident your daughter will be for your family's outing next month.

Maybe she has reservations about going. Have you asked her?

I wouldn't let your own insecurities and fears mess up a day of fun for her tho.

As much as I want to scream YES LET HER GO!!! I have to say no :(. I just took my kids to Water Coutnry USA over Memorial Day weekend and I refused to go without another adult. For anyone who knows me, my kids and I do stuff alone ALL THE TIME!! But not the water park. I wanted an adult at both ends of whatever they were doing, non-negotiable.

My kids are not fabulpus swimmers, but they've been in swimming lessons for two summers now and really enjoy the water. We just got a pool for the backyard, and they all love to jump in. They are not afraid, but I don't think any of them would survive the deep end if just tossed in...and there is so much more at water parks to worry about.

I'm a scardy cat as a mama and my kids don't do a whole lot without me there or I trust the other parent with their lives. I can't replace them.

These water parks are dangerous. Children and adults die each year in these places. They do not have enough life guards on duty (some places have none even though they're supposed to have them) and they tend to be overcrowded. You do need to be a skilled swimmer if you want to be assured some amount of safety. There are thousands of pending lawsuits against various water parks nationwide. The number one cause of death is lack of adequate supervision on the part of the park staff and child chaperone/parents, and a major contributing factor is no swimming skills.

See:
http://www.rideaccidents.com/water.html
http://www.ehow.com/info_###-###-####_dangers-waterparks....

It is impractical to believe someone could save her if she were to get into trouble. Children drown mostly because they are so crowded and chaotic, no one notices they are missing or in distress until it is too late. In the past, children have been accidentially crushed or hurt in the tubes, others drown in the wave pools. You have no control over the other swimmers and teens tend to be very obnoxious and uncaring of younger children.

Whether my kids could swim or not, I would avoid those water parks. I think they're so dangerous and not worth the trouble. Pools are bad enough, but it is much easier to see what your child is doing in that situation versus the very unpredictable water parks. So IMO nix the invite. I wouldn't put my precious cargo in harms way for a silly outing. This has nothing to do with holding her back from having fun, it has to do with common sense safety. Remember, no matter how good of a friend you may have, if nuck comes to tuck and something goes wrong, it's her own child she's going to be looking out for, not yours. It's human nature. I think your friend is wack wanting to take on a responsibility like that. If anything should happen to your daughter, she's going to have to live with that for the rest of her life. I say if you want your child to do stuff like that, it should be on your watch. She can't fend for herself. She can't swim. She's too young. She's not that woman's own child. She'll be in a strange environment. She'll be in a huge chaotic water park with strangers and no skills, no no-how, no one to watch out for her safety. I think that's nuts...and wouldn't even give it a second thought.

If you need convincing about the dangers of pools and water park dangers, here in my neck of the woods a local family is still reeling from the near death of their 6-year-old child after her intestines were sucked out of her body after she got sucked under water into a country club's faulty filtering system. They won a million dollar settlement, but the girl has to live in a facility with a colostomy bag for the rest of her life.

This weekend, at a different local country club, a 6-year-old boy who couldn't swim, died at his friend's birthday pool party. He drowned because no one noticed him in trouble. There was no guard on duty and it was up to mom (host) of the party to keep an eye on all of the kids. Her heart was probably in the right place, but she clearly took on too much and the boy's parents trusted that mom too much, and now they are all going to have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

Last but not least, no insult intended, but I have to say if you admit your failing about teaching her to swim, why on earth are you letting her get into a pool...and unattended?

Statistically, you are upping your chances for a tragic water accident. Yes, experienced swimmers drown, but it's a guarantee if you don't know how to swim.

Please, for the sake of your daughter, save the money you'd spend on this nonsensical trip and spend it on getting her some swimming lessons so she CAN be safe.

My family has had two swimming tragedies. One ended happily as the child was revived and is okay. The other ended in a death. This is not something to take lightly. Hurt feelings do not compare to the pain and horror of losing someone in a drowning accident.

I am mom to an 8 year old new swimmer. I would not let her go. The guards are pretty worthless (yes, I am sure some are great, but I wouldn't trust them). Also, 6-9 are the most dangerous times for kids because they often think they are safe and can swim and adults trust them, but they aren't experienced in an emergency.

Also, I don't know that I would trust another mom just to now lose my child at a huge amusement park, by the way.

Trust your gut, don't feel bad about something so important. It't not like she will NEVER go to a water park.

Ask if they can shift the outing to the day you already have planned. I too would not let my child do this unless she were able to basically swim enough to get her head above water on her own if she were tumbled over into the water.

These places often have lots of different types of pools and may have ones that are very shallow and just for younger kids, so your friend may already be figuring on just doing those, but you would need to ask. And another person who posted was right -- it will be hard for the other mom to say no if the girls want to do slides that aren't appropriate for your daughter but might be fine for her own.

Trust your instinct on this. If you are not comfortable don't do it. It's hard since the girls don't see each other much. When you turn it down (or suggest going with your family, later), be sure to offer a different outing for the girls where you would take them. That ensures that missing the water park does not mean the girls are missing time together.

The first time I took my kids to a water park they were two and six and they wore life jackets. They have attended waterparks with their summer camp since they were six, but they have both had swimming lessons since they were three. Is the mom just bringing the two kids, or is she supervising a whole group? Anyway, I would probably send her, but make her wear a life jacket. I'm not familiar with this particular water park, but most I have been to are quite shallow.

I live in the desert (the land o' pools) so I've taken my 6yo daughter to swim lessons for the past couple of summers and she is a good swimmer. She can swim a lap, but even so, I would be very wary of her going by herself. I might feel ok if I hired a trusted sitter to go w/the mom and also (esp w/slides and wave pools) would insist she wear a life vest.

First of all, don't beat yourself up for her not swimming. I have had my 7 year old in lessons and hes not a strong swimmer even after 3 years of lessons but he does ok. I would be nervous too about letting them go but if its a mom & 2 7year olds, I would consider letting her go. Your friend is someone you trust so I am sure she will keep a watchful eye out for her especially if you tell her she isn't a strong swimmer. I don't know Raging Rivers but I have been to a few water parks that you have to be a certain height before they will let you go on a ride or a slide. There are lifeguards there too to help the mom out. I know when I have extra kids, I am extra cautious about everyone & what they are doing. Let us know what you decide!

If she can't swim , it wouldn't be much fun for her . I wouldn't want her to go without you . She would probably be scared at some point . Can you invite the friend and her mom with you when you are planning to go? Good luck =0)