Oklahoma doctor shares summer safety tips for kids around water, sun and heat

As Oklahoma families head outdoors for summer fun, doctors are urging parents to keep safety top of mind, especially when it comes to swimming, sun exposure, and heat. Dr. Courtney Stahls with Ascension St. John Medical Center shares expert advice on how to keep kids safe at pools, lakes and in the summer heat.

What do parents need to remember about water safety?

“Exactly right. So now it's past Memorial Day, so it's swimming time. All the pools are open. I mean, it's Green Country, so we have lakes and rivers and so many bodies of water. But the biggest important thing is to make sure you practice safe swim safety.”

“And so really what that means for us as parents is making sure there's always an adult that’s supervising children. You may have a kid that's really good at swimming. They've taken swimming lessons as early as one year old. But drowning can happen at any time. And so making sure your children are fully supervised by an undistracted adult is going to be the most important thing.”

What do new parents need to know about sun safety?

“Yeah, so the biggest protection is going to be sunscreen. So for your littlest baby, you're going to start off with a mineral sunscreen. So there are a million brands out there, but it's going to be that thick, pasty sunscreen that doesn't quite blend in very good, but gets really good protection and helps their sensitive skin as babies.”

“You can start that as early as six months old, so you're right in that window. And honestly, I do that for my older kids, too.”

What time of day is safest to be outside in Oklahoma heat?

“And then also, you're going to avoid the heat. As we know, in Oklahoma, it gets so hot. We're getting ready to get into that. But the times of day for that to be outside is earlier than 10 o'clock in the morning and past 4 o'clock in the evening. So that 10 to 4 window, that's going to be hot. So you're going to limit your sun activity in those hottest hours.”

How long should babies be outside during summer?

“For your littlest babies, maybe 30 minutes to an hour. But also, you'll gauge are they feeling really hot? Are they getting hot pink cheeks? Are they feeling really clammy? That's when you're going to want to go inside and get some air conditioning going, get some cool water, some ice packs if they're feeling extra hot.”

“But really also stay in the shade. And so for our littlest babies, a sun hat, long sleeve swimsuit or cotton loose, like white outfit, and then lots of shade is going to be really important.”

What kind of swimsuit offers sun protection?

“Exactly. It protects the skin. And then also sometimes pools right now might be a little bit cold, so that gives a little bit of extra warmth when kids are swimming. But then you'll want it in a lighter color, and that will keep kids cooler. If it's a darker color, that will absorb some of the sun rays a little bit more readily.”

What about safety tips for teens?

“Yeah, so we talk so much about like risk for water for small children, but actually there is this big upswing in risk for teenagers, more particularly in our natural bodies of water.”

“So, lakes and rivers, teens get a little tricky and want to get a little risky with some of their behaviors. And so we really recommend that all, even adults that are on bodies of water, like lakes and rivers, have life jackets that are fitted, that you have an adult that's supervising, and to really harp in on that safety with your teenagers too, because they want to be adventurous and maybe jump off a cliff or do something maybe a little dangerous.”

“So, having that extra supervision and those conversations beforehand about safety at the lake.”