Baby Fence

[sleater]

sb23
just went outside and thought about it some more
we will give serious consideration to a 4ft fence

thanks for the input

ps: serious consideration means thats probably the way we'll go

[sb2323]

Sleater,

So glad you will probably go with the 4' fence. I read your earlier post asking why a 3' fence isn't sufficient and to tell you the truth it scared me half to death. And I am by no means an overprotective mother, most would say I'm somewhat to the contrary. But IMHO there is no comparison between, say, letting a 2 year old climb all over a playscape, risking a skinned knee or at worst a broken bone, and what could happen if your child somehow wandered into the back yard while you were showering, vacuuming, etc. and got into the pool area.

I was reading in our local paper just a couple weeks ago about a 4 year old who was terribly mauled by a pit bull in his back yard. A dog he had grown up with since birth, and who had never shown any hostility whatsoever towards the boy. Nonetheless, his mother made a point never to leave the boy alone with the dog. Unfortunately, just the day before, the latch on the back door had broken and they hadn't yet had someone out to repair it. The boy wandered out while his mom was in a back room. It will take over 20 surgeries to try to repair the damage done.

I truly believe that the only reason any child lives to see its 3rd birthday is by the grace of God. No matter how dilligent the parents, there is always room for human error. Never has the old saying been more true, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Keeping a close eye on your child, having clear rules strongly enforced, and teaching your child to swim are all definitely important parts of pool safety. But noe of them is nearly infallible as a strong, impenetrable barrier to keep them from reaching the pool in the first place.

At 14 months your little one is just beginning to become really mobile. Ask any parent of a child older than 3, not to mention those who have more than one child (don't know if that's in your future plans, but having friends over surely is), and they will tell you that a 3' fence would probably be sufficient to keep them from trampling flowers, but not to keep them from something really enticing. And your daughter will reach the stage, as my 3 and 4 year olds are right now, where she has learned the rudimentary basics of swimming and thinks she is a lot better at it than she really is. That, IMHO, is the most dangerous phase--overconfidence in one's own abilities, not yet developed a healthy respect for the dangers that water poses, and very little ability to exercise good judgement.

Anyway, I'm glad to read that you are leaning heavily towards the 4' fence. Like I said, we are well-pleased with the wrought iron. We went for the simplest style, endcaps, etc. to keep it as unobtrusive as possible. I wish you good luck in your search for the perfect fence!

Susan

[sb2323]

Sgtb1: How often do you use your pool? We are usually in and out of ours at least a couple times a day. Just wondering how easy it would be to put the cover back on every time?

[sgtb1]

first in response to Sleater's comment: "just watched the catch a kid video
it looks cumbersome and i wouldn't trust it alone as displayed in the video
i'd bet it'd lose tension within a summer or two

guess ultimately, i don't like the solution to be something a kid can crawl on above the water -- inevitably it'll become a toy ..."

here is what they say about that:
"4. What happens if my child falls or crawls onto the Katchakid?
The Katchakid serves as a barrier between the child and the water. As long as the net is in good condition, properly positioned and tensioned, the net will support the weight of a young child near the pool's edge. Katchakid's unique mesh size has a dual action: small enough to prevent a toddler's head from penetrating the net while simultaneously large enough to discourage movement. Most children will find the Katchakid uncomfortable and abrasive to move on, which will deter any further crawling on the net."

--http://www.advanced-pool-covers.com/faq.html#2

My parents had one of the green "winter" covers it was really hard to get on and off. It was usually the "chore of the spring" (and fall) to take it off and put it on. This one however is suppose to be able to go on in about 8 minutes and off in 5 - at least that's what they say.

They have some interesting points about using covers rather than fences on their site also:

http://www.advanced-pool-covers.com/net.html

and they claim it has been uv treated to last up to 8 years or so.
"14. How long can I expect my Katchakid to last?
We would estimate that a Katchakid that has been treated with a reasonable amount of care would last an average of eight years" - also from the faq section

In answer to your question about how often we use the pool, - I've only been in it twice, but we bought the house in Oct of last year and the water was to cold to swim, since that time I've just been watching it turn green while we are having to drain it and get the copeing and tile replaced. They're working on it this week.

I expect that we'll be using it a lot in the summer after it's fixed and filled back up. This net system was explained to me as a minor inconvience like a car seat... it takes a little time to get right at first but is just something that you have to be willing to use considering the potential outcome otherwise. One lady told me that she was able to remove and instal the net by herself while pregnant.

We have it scheduled to be installed sometime in the next few weeks, it takes them about 4 hrs to drill the holes for the anchor points.

I believe that it has a 5 year warranty, as long as my dog's don't chew on it!
(small sections of it can apparently be repaired but it isn't warrantied)

Like I said we'll have to just let you know later, in a month or so how good it works first hand.

I think that for our pool which is roughly 18'X36' (about 95' perimeter) with a few curve and all it was about $2K the mesh fences that we looked at were about the same amount after instalation and all. They do free estimates you just have to fax them a paper from the web site with the measurements on it. They may not be in all states, though you'd just have to call and ask. But we have also been putting extra locks on the doors going to the back yard and all so that our <1yr old can grow up safe.

The comment about not making it over 3 yrs but by the grace of God is probably true also... Parenting is hard work! but then most of you on this thread probably know that already. We seem like we're always looking back seeing "near miss" opportunities for injury.

I don't know if it's for everyone, but we'll see soon how it is for us. There's always a chance that it's a "lemmon." (as it's used for cars that never work right)

Regards.

[leejp]

I'll install myself to save some $$$ (looks straightforward enough).

http://www.cantar.com/product.asp?ProdID=8
http://www.safetyguardfence.com/

Available here:

http://diypoolfence.webdirectbrands.com/

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAFETYGUARD-Safe...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/SWIMMING-POOL-FE...QQcmdZViewItem

I actually already have a fence around my backyard. This fence will go around the pool only for additional protection. Pending configuration, It'll be $1000-1500 for my 18x36 IG.

If anyone has a better suggestion/prices... let me know!

[sleater]

leejay
we looked at that one as well
was concerned about whether it might be flimsy ... didn't look into it enough to say for sure ...
in our case, we didn't want the fence right beside the pool and since, on one side, we have only a 3ft sidewalk, i'd have had to put a portion of the fence on the lawn -- i figured trying to level that and keep the fence standing straight a year or two down the road would be a bear.
plus ... can that thing stay up in the winter without getting compromised?

my two cents ...

[PoolDoc]

Knowledgeable people differ passionately about what 'appropriate' or 'reasonable' levels of care and risk should be for small children. This always makes it a difficult topic to discuss . . . it's hard not to feel that someone who disagrees with you is acting in a way that's immoral.

But, the reality is that parents have to have the right to use their own best judgement about their own children. And this right inevitably means that they have to have the right to make mistakes -- including some serious ones -- with their own kids. People sometimes find themselves wanting to disagree with this idea; the tendency is to say, "Well, somebody ought to do something!"

The problem is that the only "somebody" left is the government. Forgive me for being political for a moment, but I believe that the both the old Soviet Union and Hitler's Nazi regime tried that approach, with results that were nothing short of horrifying. And, everyone I know who's seen the 'foster care' system up close and personal has concluded that even some pretty awful homes are better, on the average, than foster care! (And that's not a criticism of foster care: I'm not sure that there's an alternative in some cases of abuse or neglect. I'm just saying that the 'solution', while sometimes necessary, is itself often pretty horrible by its very nature.)

So, unless you want to advocate that governments should assume the responsibilty for child care, a la Brave New World or worse, 1984, you have to let parents make their own imperfect judgements. Personally, though I grew up around large aggressive dogs, I'd never have a pit bull. But, I believe that responsible parents have made judgements on that topic that they have the right, and responsibility, to make even though I disagree.

Just how safe pools should be made is a similar topic.

In the past, I've often told here how important I think it is to watch children constantly when they are in the water. I know that many parents don't have the knowledge that I do about how fast small children can drown. But, I still tend to feel that such parents -- and they are many; I see them by the dozens every summer -- are acting irresponsibly. But I don't think they should be arrested: I believe they have the right, and responsibility, to make decisions for their children. And I know, that in the real world, that includes decisions that I disagree with, and which I think are seriously mistaken.

I think this thread was drifting past providing information, toward arguing what which way was best. For the reasons I mentioned above, I don't think that's a really fruitful direction.

So, in my very own dictatorial way, I'm leaving the information, locking the thread, and letting the parents involved make their own decisions -- right or wrong, as the case may be.

Sincerely,

Ben
PoolDoc

[JohnT]

I believe they have the right, and responsibility, to make decisions for their children. And I know, that in the real world, that includes decisions that I disagree with, and which I think are seriously mistaken.

Personal responsibility. What a radical concept.