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We got a pool when our first one was like 3, and the second was not born, now they are 10 and 6 and last year the little one took off swimming everywhere alone, with supervision in the pool of course. We are expecting another one here and will raise it in the pool too. With proper supervision and keeping things like ladders locked up, there should be no problems.
I agree with the staged pool approach. You learn about pool maintenance while kids learn how to play safely in a pool.
STAGE 1: Splash city (1yr - 7yr old kids)Get ~8'x4' x2' high rectangular pool with 3 inflatable wall tubes. This thing was great for kids and friends to splash like maniacs in relative safety (except when they collide). Put in as much or little water as they need to have fun. Start by inflating only top or top and bottom tubes for lower "toddler" profile. Dump each week like I did (or start playing a little with chemicals to extend). DON"T LEAVE KIDS UNATTENDED near water - you can always dump the little pool quickly if needed.STAGE 2: Training Donut: 10'-18'd x ~3'(?) high Donut (5yr - 9yr)
BONUS#1: Put the slide side of a freestanding kid's 4' high ladder slide. Kids love it!
BONUS#2: Put just a couple inches of water in it on a slight incline (with drain plug in lowest corner) - now it's a slip'n'slide with bumper walls. That's great alone or can combine with kid's slide.
We got our first ~$160 10' "Donut" inflatable ring pool from WalMart about 4 years ago. Great fun! We upgraded 2 years ago to a 12' pool but last year we definitely outgrew it. At first We only filled it about 2'-2.5' deep at first so kids and I could get used to the bigger pool area. Great fun. As kids got comfortable and could safely recover from slipping we added more water. Cartridge filter did just fine... in fact we used same cartridge for two years.STAGE 3: The BIG ONE
LEARN & PLAN:
- We learned a lot about green algae and keeping on top of the water conditions :D.
- We learned what level means during first installation and now know that grading will be super-important(tm) for our AG project. (This was a cheap mistake to make (and easily fix) with a donut pool ).
- We confirmed how much the pool will be used.
- We learned the water is freezing cold most the time in Seattle WA area :eek:. My Daughter was the only one who could swim without a wet suit for more than 5 minutes. Needless to say we are planning on buying good solar heating :p.
- We had two years to plan out our pool purchase and what options we wanted to get when we made the leap.
For our back yard the biggest we can squeeze in is about 12'x24' oval (no buttresses). We plan to integrate with our existing deck. I'll be posting a couple questions shortly then I'm off to the store (Internet or local classifieds if I'm really lucky)Hope this is helpful. Our kids are now 6.75 and a tall 9.5 year old and love swimming. They've been taking classes at the YMCA for over a year now. Our daughter just graduated to "Fish" and is looking forward to being able to swim laps. It was sad to watch her try practicing crawl stroke last year in our 12'd donut.
There are still a ton of options to work out, even with this "small" pool.