Public Swimming Pools and no vax

[stacey05]

Hi. My youngest is 21 months and my only completely unvaxed child. I was just wondering if there is any reason to avoid a public swimming pool? I am sorry if this is a silly question, but I wondered if things like hib, pertussis, etc. could be caught in a swimming pool? I was thinking of signing him up for a mommy and me swim class at the Ymca and then I realized I didn't know if there should be any concern? I am guessing not and thinking those of you who don't vax probably don't avoid pools, but I thought I would ask just to make sure. Thanks so much.

[Li27]

I was wondering the exact same thing..... my DD is 14 months and we're thinking about swimming this summer.

I'm looking forward to reading some replies. Thanks for posting the question!

[saimeiyu]

DD is 19 months. We don't vax and she's been using public swimming pools since she was 7 months old. DH and I get sick from the pool on occasion, but... She's never been sick yet.

If it's a good public pool, they should have enough chlorine to kill anything really nasty, and they'll close it if something happens like someone throws up or poops in the pool. So I don't think you need to worry. Not any more than about anything else, really.

[Li27]

Anyone else have any thoughts?

I'm nervous about taking DD who is 14 months to the pools this summer..... my DH so wants to take her and I've been avoiding it.

Would love to hear more opinions or info about this.....

[GAmomto5]

Originally Posted by Li27

Anyone else have any thoughts?

I'm nervous about taking DD who is 14 months to the pools this summer..... my DH so wants to take her and I've been avoiding it.

Would love to hear more opinions or info about this.....

Just curious - What exactly are you afraid of her "catching" in a pool?

[ammiga]

Why are you more afraid of a pool than the grocery store? I guess I just don't think you can live life in fear.

[TanyaS]

Public swimming pools are typically over-chlorinated. I would be more concerned about catching something at Walmart. My children are unvaxed and have swam in public pools, lakes, rivers, etc. They've never gotten sick afterward. But they catch everything from the nursery and kids classes at church.

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

we swim in the public pool at the local high school and the local rec center; is the only option for us to deal w the heat really. staying inside only woks for so long- esp when even with the window unit going it is over 80 inside most of the time

[jammomma]

I wonder if it makes any difference if the pool is a salt water pool?

We have a private neighborhood salt water pool a few blocks away. It's super nice and we can't afford a membership ($2000 initiation and $700 per year fee ) so we go to the Y, which is heavily chlorinated, but this post made me wonder about the salt water pool?

I would prefer a salt water pool, but I never thought about the germy issue?

[Gitti]

With all the chlorine in swimming pools your child is more likely to get UTI or ear infections. But nothing that there is a vaccine for.

[ShwarmaQueen]

I doubt it's worth worry over. Now the chlorine, that's a different story. Is the pool at your Y enclosed? Ours is, and after every swim lesson we did I had a headache for HOURS. The chlorine smell was obnoxious.

[ramama]

Okay, my children are not totally vax-free (we stopped when DD1 was 2 and DD2 received one round when she was an infant, then we saw the light but they swim in a public pool a lot. I mean, their swim lessons now are every day for two weeks. They have never gotten anything from the pool. Ever. I actually never thought about it before. But I don't worry about them catching anything anywhere so I'm weird like that

[runes]

Originally Posted by jammomma

I wonder if it makes any difference if the pool is a salt water pool?

We have a private neighborhood salt water pool a few blocks away. It's super nice and we can't afford a membership ($2000 initiation and $700 per year fee ) so we go to the Y, which is heavily chlorinated, but this post made me wonder about the salt water pool?

I would prefer a salt water pool, but I never thought about the germy issue?

Consider yourself lucky that you have access to a salt water pool, they are much gentler on the skin. I would so prefer that our local pool was salt water vs. chlorinated!!

Think about what salt is, though. NaCl. Sodium Chloride. There are still chlorine ions in a salt water pool, it's just not as chemical-ly.

BTW, I don't worry about disease at all in terms of pools. Vaccine-free DD has been swimming since she was 3 months old.

Enjoy your summer, and have a blast splashing and swimming with your little ones!! :

[claddaghmom]

Hmm, my family is completely vaccine free (except me...I was the guinea pig ) and we have always swam in public pools. In fact, my mom just bought a summer pass to the pools in the area. During the hotter months, we go almost every day.

This was really helpful for my youngest brother, who had eczema.

I remember writing a paper on infectious diseases a couple years ago....hmm I wonder if I have it saved somewhere. Probably not. IIRC my conclusion was that being in the pool directly in a contaminated area for the first 20 minutes was basically the only way to "catch" something.

And by contaminated I mean bodily fluids not entirely dispersed in the water...fecal matter, vomit, blood etc.

HIV actually seemed the easiest to "catch."