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A swimming instructor has urged parents not to wrap a towel around their kids’ shoulders.
If you’ve got little ones who enjoy swimming, you might think nothing of wrapping a towel around their shoulders after they climb out of the pool to help dry them off and keep them warm.
However, swimming instructor and water safety advocate, Nikki Scarnati, has warned parents that the move could actually pose a risk to the child’s safety.
In a clip posted on TikTok, Scarnati shared the best way to dry off your kids after they’ve been for a dip and it turns out that plenty of folks were completely unaware.
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Addressing her followers, Scarnati shows the ‘proper way to put your towel around your child' by comparing it to the way most parents would 'naturally' dry off their kids after a dip.
In the video, Scarnati explained: "I see it happen so many times, and I myself, as a parent, did it without even realising it was a thing."
The TikToker then demonstrates putting the towel over the kid's shoulders - which I think a lot of us would say is the way we'd do it.
However, this popular method of drying down is pretty unsafe for little ones as it could impact their ability to swim if they happen to accidentally fall back into the water.
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"If they were to fall in the pool this way, all of their limbs are going to be restricted under a wet towel," Scarnati adds.
Instead, you should dry their arms off, then get your child to lift up their arms and wrap the towel around them - essentially like you would with yourself after getting out of the shower.
"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," Scarnati concluded.
Many parents have flocked to the comment section of the video thanking Nikki for the warning they knew nothing about.
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"That's a great idea! I bought my son an oversized towel hoodie so his arms stay covered but he's got mobility," one parent said.
While another TikToker backed up what Scarnati had said, saying she found herself in a similar situation.
They wrote: "I can confirm this is true. When I was two I fell into the deep end of a rec pool with my towel on around my arms and I had to be rescued."
Claire Reid