本文作者分享了一次惊险的家庭假期经历。作者家四岁的女儿险些在花园的喷泉中溺水，幸好及时被发现并救起。作者反思了自己对喷泉安全性的判断失误，原本认为喷泉深度适合孩子站立就足够安全，但忽略了孩子在突发状况下的应对能力和水中浮力带来的风险。这次事件让作者深刻认识到，即使是看似安全的浅水区域，也可能对幼儿构成严重的溺水威胁，并强调了对儿童安全看护的重视。

⛲️ 浅水区的潜在危险：作者认为自家后院24英寸深的喷泉对四岁孩子来说是安全的，因为孩子可以站立。然而，孩子在喷泉边缘行走时意外落水，由于姿势和水的浮力，无法自行站立，险些溺水。这表明“孩子能站立”并不等于“绝对安全”，尤其是在孩子可能处于意外或慌乱状态时。

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 家庭假期安全隐患：在有多位成人和多名儿童的家庭假期中，虽然孩子通常不会完全独处，但父母和其他监护人可能未能时刻关注到每个孩子的具体活动。作者承认，虽然有家人的存在，但并未确保孩子时刻被成人看管，特别是涉及到有潜在危险的水域时，放松了警惕。

⚠️ 监护人责任与反思：作者的阿姨及时发现了孩子在喷泉边缘的危险行为并发出警告，为作者争取了救助的时间。作者对此表示感激，但也对自己的失误感到自责，未能充分考虑到孩子在水中可能遇到的复杂情况，如滑倒、姿势不当或水中浮力等因素，而仅仅以“能站立”作为安全标准，是一种过于简化的判断。

💧 孩子的情绪恢复力：尽管经历了惊险的一幕，作者提到孩子在获救后情绪稳定，并未表现出对水的恐惧，甚至在之后还能在溪流中玩耍。这显示了孩子在特定情况下的适应能力，但也不能因此忽视事件的严重性以及潜在的心理影响。

✅ 安全认知的再强调：作者通过这次亲身经历，深刻反思了自己对儿童溺水风险的认知偏差。他认识到，将“能站立”与“绝对安全”划等号是错误的，尤其是在户外环境中，任何水域都可能成为儿童溺水的威胁。这次事件强化了他对儿童安全看护，特别是水源安全问题的重视程度。

Published on July 20, 2025 2:30 AM GMT

Content warning: risk to children

Julia and I knowdrowning is the biggestrisk to US children under 5, and we try to take this seriously.But yesterday our 4yo came very close to drowning in afountain. (She's fine now.)

This week we were on vacation with my extended family: nine kids,eight parents, and ten grandparents/uncles/aunts. For the last fewyears we've been in a series of rental houses, and this time onarrival we found a fountain in the backyard:

I immediately checked the depth with a stick and found that it wouldbe just below the elbows on our 4yo. I think it was likely 24" deep;any deeper and PA wouldrequire a fence. I talked with Julia and other parents, andreasoned that since it was within standing depth it was safe.

We discussed boundaries with the kids (no going through the gate orout the driveway, stay within the fence, stay out of the pond) andthen let them play on their own. They were in and out of the houseall week and, while with this many people around they were rarelyalone, we also weren't ensuring they were accompanied.

Yesterday evening my aunt noticed our 4yo was walking on the fountainrim, and called me over to say this looked dangerous. Checking, Iinitially didn't see her at all. Then, in an image burned into mymind, I saw the top of her head moving in the water. I sprinted over,jumped in, and despite the shallow depth immediately fell full in:very slippery on the bottom. Still, I got her out quickly, and to myrelief she was breathing, normal-colored, and immediately startedcrying.

With the timing of my aunt's warning and how long it took me to getthere, I think she was likely in for about fifteen seconds. It seemsshe held her breath and didn't take in any water.

After she recovered she told me she was trying to push her legs downand stand up, but they wouldn't go down. I don't know if the problemwas that she was wearing a very poofy dress (pictured below), orthat she doesn't have enough practice maneuvering in water tomanipulate the natural buoyancy of her body, but either way she wasstuck in an L-position with her legs sticking straight out in front.

In addition to being physically fine she also seems not to have beenaffected emotionally. We were near more water today, wading in astream, and she didn't seem fearful:

I'm feeling very lucky that my aunt happened to see her in a riskylocation and that I was able to get there in time, and I'm kickingmyself for conflating "shallow enough to stand" with "shallow enoughthat a surprised and disoriented kid coming in at an awkward anglewill reliably be able to stand."

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