Parents Are Being Warned That Towels Around Children’s Shoulders Can Be Fatal

Nikki Scarnati, a certified infant swimming instructor, has highlighted a common mistake that parents often make without even realizing it: wrapping their kids in a towel after swimming. This oversight can have potential safety implications. To ensure the well-being of your children while they enjoy their swim, let’s explore a life-saving tip from an expert in the field.

A simple act can put kids at risk of drowning.

In a TikTok video, swim instructor Nikki Scarnati passionately advises parents to refrain from placing towels over their child’s shoulders. She emphasizes that this seemingly harmless action can actually pose a significant drowning risk. With a towel covering their upper body, a child would be unable to move their arms freely underwater in the event of an accidental fall into a swimming pool.

Nikki, speaking from her own experience as a parent, highlighted the potential danger of incorrectly wrapping a towel around a child. She admitted to having made this mistake numerous times without realizing the inherent risk it posed.

“Naturally we wanna cover them like this, right? No, because if they were to fall in the pool this way, all of their limbs are gonna be restricted underneath a wet towel,” the instructor says.

Nikki explained the right way to wrap a towel.

In her video, Nikki urged parents to always wrap the towel under their kids’ arms after drying them off first.

“So when you get them out of the pool, dry their arms off, lift your arms up, but put the towel underneath their arms. That’s right. Make sure your towel is under your little one’s arms. NOT on top. That way, if they end up in the water, they still have access to their limbs to self rescue, and they’re that much safer,” Nikki explained.

Bonus: mistakes we often make regarding to swimsuits.

1. You shave the same day you’re going to wear a swimsuit.

To have hair-free, smooth skin, you don’t need to wax or shave the same day you intend to wear a bikini. On the contrary, doing so could make your skin more sensitive to the sun, pool chemicals, sea salt, and sand.

2. You put sunscreen on while wearing your swimsuit.

Sunscreen and similar products are aggressive agents for fabrics, especially swimsuits. That’s why you should keep them away or make sure to wash the garment thoroughly before putting it away so as to remove any residue. Otherwise, the next time you take your swimsuit out of the closet, you might be surprised by the way it has stretched out.

3. You don’t know what your body type is.

Knowing your body shape can make choosing a swimsuit much easier. For curvy figures, the most flattering styles are asymmetrical swimsuits with adjustable knots on the sides. If you have a more square-shaped silhouette, go for something that enhances your waist, maybe with draping or details that stylize your body.

People aren’t always aware of the everyday dangers that can appear in front of their eyes. So, it’s always important to know how to behave in case things get bad.