In-ground Pools

[Priscilla]

Does anyone have an in-ground pool? with young kids?

Do you love it or is it just a big ball of stress with the littles?

NOT concerned with maintenance!!

Just kids and the water=possible big stress factor?

[lovely1m]

I don't have one, but I have seen on TV some amazing covers that are completely safe. They are really expensive, but would be worth the piece of mind IMO.

[Leah]

An in-ground pool is something I never thought I would want with small kids - the stress factor would be just too much for me. But I've seen some really nice fences put up around the pool deck to keep kids out and if I ever had a pool like that, I would go for it.

For now though, we just use the hot tub. lol

[Tracyfish]

We don't have one, but my mom and dad so and they had the mesh fence around it when the boys were little. It was very easy to move it was time to swim and put back up when they shouldn't be near it.

It was like this with the poles that stuck into the decking.

[origami]

In some states and municipalities, you are required to have fences and gates of a certain height with locking latches.

[julifish]

We have an inground pool and in Florida they have to have a pool net like in Tracy's pic above. I wouldn't get a pool without one of those AND I'd put locks (high up above little hands that are on chairs) on all doors leading to the pool to be extra safe. I think the nets are great and ours is really hard to get into when it's up. Now that the girls are 9 and 12 we don't need but whenever my neice comes to visit (2) we put it up even if we aren't going to be in the yard, same thing when we leave town. I'd hate for someone else's kid to wander into our yard and fall in!

I think that if you have good pool rules and follow safety measures it's totally worth it and I never stressed out about it, but my kids could both swim when we got our pool.

Also, totally recommend a salt system if you can swing it - so easy and stress free!!!

[jacinda]

There are laws here that state certain fencing requirements for all pools. I'm personally a bit paranoid about kids around water (even though they love it), but my sister has an inground pool, very well securely fenced, and she loves it. Her kids are fantastic swimmers and so confident in the water because of it.

[robinforman]

We have one, and have a very secure pool perimeter fence, including a magnet lock and a deadbolt. We also have special two-part locks inside our home on the three doors leading to the backyard (even though there is another fence they would have to get through.) I am comfortable with the safety of it when I am here. That being said, I am NOT comfortable with anyone else using the pool with my kids when I am not here. We love ours, but it is DEFINITELY something you want to be careful with.

[maryinaz]

We didn't build our pool until my youngest boys were 9. Drowning happens a lot here in AZ and it is one of my worst nightmares, so I didn't want to have to stress about it when they were little. There are all kinds of restrictions here when you put in a pool, from having self-closing gates to the back yard and door to your house, to locks on your windows. And fences around the pool are required given certain circumstances.

Even though all my boys are older, it's still a big worry for me. Sometimes they play around too rough and I'm out there yelling!

[AmyG]

Don't they also make the pool alarms you can put in too? That go off if they sense movement in the water? I'd want one of those plus the fence, locks and a high lock on all my doors to the outside.

[DawnMarch]

We have a pool, but we also have a big, metal pool fence around it. Even with the fence, it was a source of some stress. If my kids were really little, I think I'd wait a few years -- maybe until they were about age 6 or 7 and reasonably good swimmers -- until I'd put one in.

[Priscilla]

FIL sells pools and does NOT req. this. not sure why. DH is going to do his own research.

Originally Posted by julifish

Also, totally recommend a salt system if you can swing it - so easy and stress free!!!

[DawnMarch]

I've heard mixed things about the salt. Our pool guy said that people are tending away from them these days because of a number of problems in maintaining them.

[FeeJardine]

We have an inground salt pool and while we weren't intentionally looking for a house with a pool when we bought but I'm sooooooo glad it is there...summers are way to hot here not to have one. In Australia we are required by law to have 1.2m safety approved fencing and a self closing gate so some of the stress of having a pool is removed. Our children have been around this pool since babies so we have constantly been on at them to not go near the gate or fencing and have always stressed how dangerous it is to be near the pool without an adult. Anyway the kids love it and in summer when it's hot I'm sooooooo glad I don't have to go to a public pool everyday.

Also ours is a salt pool which I love. We have a creepy crawly that cleans it and a pool cover to keep the leaves out, reduce evaporation and heat it. Having a salt pool in my opionion is no harder to maintain than a chlorine one and maybe cheaper...our on going maintenance expenses are extremely low. We are in Australia though...so salt pools here might be different to the states.

Fee x