Hawaii Babies

Re: PSA: babies under 2 + pool = increased risk of asthma/allergies

  • How weird, I'd never heard that! Is it just chlorinated outdoor pools? Are indoor pools OK, or saltwater pools?
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  • I knew about the links but I didn't know it was from birth until 2. I thought keeping them away from chlorine pools until after 6 mths or so was the thought.

    Interesting that asthma can result because a lot of the top swimmers in years past and today have attributed taking up swimming (or their parents putting them into swimming lessons etc) to help with their asthma.

  • imageredshoegirl:
    How weird, I'd never heard that! Is it just chlorinated outdoor pools? Are indoor pools OK, or saltwater pools?

    it's the chlorine so indoor pools are actually worse than outdoor b/c the levels of chlorine build up more.  if the pool is disinfected by other means then it's better

  • Wow, good to know. I know that John wants to get little J in the water as soon as he can but this may make him rethink that. Most of the pools that are closest to us are outdoor ones.
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  • inamrainamra member
    I've heard of studies linking swimmers to asthma due to the chlorine, but I haven't heard of the correlation to infant exposure before. I guess it's just a matter of weighing the importance of getting your child exposed and comfortable with water vs. increased risk of asthma. I swam almost all my life (3hrs+ a day) and I don't have asthma. I've always planned to start our LO in swimming ASAP but maybe I don't have to rush it as much as I was planning to...
    Sept 2008 Wedding | May 2010 & Mar 2012 Babies
  • yeah i saw those... around here saline pools are pretty popular but then you still have the sweat vapors. it's always something, i want jack comfortable in the water so we will be swimming anyway.
  • imageinamra:
    I've heard of studies linking swimmers to asthma due to the chlorine, but I haven't heard of the correlation to infant exposure before. I guess it's just a matter of weighing the importance of getting your child exposed and comfortable with water vs. increased risk of asthma. I swam almost all my life (3hrs+ a day) and I don't have asthma. I've always planned to start our LO in swimming ASAP but maybe I don't have to rush it as much as I was planning to...

    me too and i don't have asthma but when i think back to it i don't think i did all that swimming before the age of 2... i think it was more like when i was 3 or 4.  plus, these are generalizations about increased odds....just like we know getting sunburns increase your risk of skin cancer but not all people who have been sun burned actually have skin cancer.

    i don't think it means you need to keep them out of the water.... first, if you have your own pool you can find other ways to clean the water, second if you go to a public pool, choosing an outdoor one is better than indoor and you can find one that doesn't smell too strongly of chlorine.  and, when they are really young and super small you can use a kiddy pool in your yard and i'm sure that would be just fine.  this info doesn't mean that your baby can't go to the pool! :) it's just something to keep in mind.

  • I was brought up in pools - started swimming around 6 months and lived in them until I was about 15 - mostly outdoor, but I did indoor lessons until I was about 8, and that was year round.  I didn't develop my asthma until I was in college, swimming in the indoor pool all year.  I didn't read the articles, but maybe there is a distinction? 

    My dad also smoked in the house from when I was born until I was  about 10, so I would have thought that would have done it too. 

    so, we will be in the pool whenever I can get him there!

  • inamrainamra member
    imagemrspresley:

    i don't think it means you need to keep them out of the water.... first, if you have your own pool you can find other ways to clean the water, second if you go to a public pool, choosing an outdoor one is better than indoor and you can find one that doesn't smell too strongly of chlorine.  and, when they are really young and super small you can use a kiddy pool in your yard and i'm sure that would be just fine.  this info doesn't mean that your baby can't go to the pool! :) it's just something to keep in mind.

    Very true.

    I actually started out swimming in indoor pools and by high school, I was 100% in outdoor pools. I think I'm probably just not as prone to asthma as others? Hopefully our LO inherits that from me (MH is not an active swimmer and has asthma anyway) =P I *do* have a lot of allergies though, but they're all skin allergies and not respiratory-related. I have had pneumonia before though. I wonder if that could possibly be related. The article only mentioned bronchitis.

    I wonder if there's an "ideal" age when you're allowed/recommended to wait until you can take your LO into open water (ie. no chlorine)? It's a lot colder so I suspect maybe not until they're 2 or older anyway?

    Sept 2008 Wedding | May 2010 & Mar 2012 Babies
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