Shallow Water is Dangerous Too

Content warning: risk to children

Julia and I know drowning is the biggest risk to US kids 1-4, and we try to take this seriously. But yesterday our 4yo came very close to drowning in a fountain. (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 few years we've been in a series of rental houses, and this time on arrival we found a fountain in the backyard:

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

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

Yesterday evening my aunt noticed our 4yo was walking on the fountain rim, and called me over to say this looked dangerous. Checking, I initially didn't see her at all. Then, in an image burned into my mind, 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 my relief she was breathing, normal-colored, and immediately started crying.

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

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

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

I'm feeling very lucky that my aunt happened to see her in a risky location and that I was able to get there in time, and I'm kicking myself for conflating "shallow enough to stand" with "shallow enough that a surprised and disoriented kid coming in at an awkward angle will reliably be able to stand."