{"id":901946,"date":"2026-06-30T00:50:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T00:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/901946\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T00:50:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T00:50:24","slug":"water-safety-tips-every-houston-parent-needs-to-know-after-toddlers-drowning-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/901946\/","title":{"rendered":"Water safety tips every Houston parent needs to know after toddler’s drowning death"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 A toddler\u2019s death in a swimming pool in Huffman is raising tough questions about water safety and what parents can do to protect their children.<\/p>\n

A 1-year-old was found unresponsive at a home in the 500 block of Lago Trace Drive in Huffman. While details surrounding the incident are still emerging, KPRC 2 spoke with a local water safety expert about steps parents can take to prevent a similar tragedy from happening to another family.<\/p>\n

R<\/b>EAD MORE: <\/b>Toddler dies after being found unresponsive in swimming pool in Huffman area, HCSO says<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Lesley Zimmer, district executive director with the YMCA of Greater Houston, says water safety starts early \u2014 and it goes well beyond the pool itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwim lessons are always important \u2014 any age, even as a toddler,\u201d Zimmer said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to learn safety, how to get in and out of the water, looking for the sides, floating on their back. Making sure that you\u2019re prioritizing and teaching your child how to swim \u2014 not just recreationally, but with those skills in mind \u2014 because swim lessons and water safety are one in the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zimmer says children can enroll in swim lessons as young as 6 months old. But even with formal training, she says supervision should always be the top priority.<\/p>\n

\u201c88% of drownings happen with a caregiver nearby,\u201d Zimmer said. \u201cIf you\u2019re by a pool, even recreationally, having a water watcher \u2014 there\u2019s no level of fencing or different devices that match watching your child in the water. Always have someone with eyes on kids in the pool, make sure you have the right flotation devices, wear bright colors and always know the depth of the pool. A toddler doesn\u2019t know when they take a step off a step \u2014 so it\u2019s good to always know what the water depth is and have someone watching at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

While nothing replaces supervision, there are additional tools parents can use to create an extra layer of protection. Pool fencing creates a physical barrier around the water, and pool alarms can alert parents or caregivers if a child or pet enters the pool unexpectedly. Both options are widely available at retailers like Home Depot and Amazon.<\/p>\n

Zimmer also says clear pool rules should be established early \u2014 starting with requiring children to always ask permission before getting into the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a toddler and you can\u2019t keep her away from the pool,\u201d Zimmer said. \u201cTeaching her at that age that she has to ask permission so that she doesn\u2019t get into a situation where we have to potentially save a life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Houston-area parents looking to enroll their children in swim lessons, the YMCA of Greater Houston offers programs starting at 6 months old. For more information, visit the YMCA of Greater Houston\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 A toddler\u2019s death in a swimming pool in Huffman is raising tough questions about water safety…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":901947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,425,50,31655,8152,15091,1176,18946,365181,358,3187],"class_list":["post-901946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-local","tag-news","tag-pools","tag-safety","tag-safety-tips","tag-summer","tag-swimming","tag-swimming-tips","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116836317514892765","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}