Pool Party - with or Without Fence

Hi- We don't have a pool but did have a pool party for a huge number of young children at our local tennis club. We hired two teenagers who were junior lifegaurds to "watch" the pool and kids. It worked perfectly, parents with really young kids went in with them but the older swimmers had trained eyes on them while adults relaxed a little and talked. These girls took their job VERY seriously. The lifegaurd program they go through is awesome and it really teaches the kids how important their job is, they do not take it lightly! Also I would put a life jacket on my little ones at the pool before they were good swimmers, a little peace of mind goes a long way in a party situation. I wouldn't count on the fence alone as you may not have much fun stressing over who may get in the pool zone. Have fun!

When my SIL has anyone over to use the pool it is the rule that if you have a child in the pool then a parent needs to be in the pool. The gate to the fence is open when pool is in use because it is difficult to open in case of emergency. During eating the pool is closed and the gate is shut. Only she or her husband can declare that the pool is re-opened.

We had a pool party last year. We don't have a fence. During most pool parties, kids will want to be in the water the entire time. We specifically stated on the invite that all parents would need to get in the pool with their kids. If they weren't swimming we wouldn't have allowed their kids either...fortunately, it was a non-issue. We also had these water watcher necklaces that we used. We traded them out and for 30 minutes or so we asked family and friends to just watch the water. It worked well. No one minded the job and it helped keep every one safe.

Do you have a deck around the pool? Is your pool above or below ground? Usually when we have pool parties a few of the fathers always end up on the deck watching the kids. We have never had a problem. When no one is in the pool the gate is locked. You can also get a pool alarm for when you are not using the pool. If a child goes in the water unattended the alarm will sound.

I have a Protect-A-Child fence as well and just had a large party. I assume that the children and adults are going to be enjoying the pool since it is hot, sunny weather now. I found that EVERY parent wanted to be sure that his/her child was safe and one person from each couple attended the children in the pool or in the yard at all times (especially if the child was a toddler or younger). There were also plenty of adults to ask as extra eyes when a bathroom run or other issue arose and the adult needed to leave the pool.

I think it would be rather MORE dangerous to keep the fence up since there is not much space between the fence and the pool and surely children will be walking & running around to the "other" side of the pool/climbing out the ladder on the "other" side, diving, jumping etc. Also, should there be a problem, you must have instant access to the pool should an adult need to jump in to rescue a child. So for ease of use and safety, take the fence down. It was really much more enjoyable and you will find more parents engage with the pool than less without the fence.

If the pool is off limits at this party...(in the summer?!?!?!?)...keep the fence up. But expect a lot of whining from the kids :)

Interesting answers. We have a mesh pool fence also and have parties quite often. We NEVER take down the fence. The gate is unlocked when we are having the party and the rule is that if YOUR kid is in the pool then one of that kids parent needs to be poolside at ALL times. Its not enough to just have one or two parents out there with a bunch of kids in the pool. I'm an insurance agent in AZ and had clients that had a party. While the couple of parents on "pool duty" were watching the little kids in the shallow end, one of the older kids drown and sank to the bottom of the deep end and NO ONE noticed. Even if you have 100 people over I don't understand why you just can't go thru the gate. It's not in the way, its there to protect the kids from the pool. Good luck to you and hope you have a fun party.

a pool without a fence around it is an incredibly bad ideal.great business for the lawyers, but bad for you. even if a child just trips and stubs their toe, you can be sued for millons. dont be surprised if at least one parent tries to drop off their kids and leave. do yourself a really big favor and make sure that the parents know that they are responsible for their own kids.
K. h.
and no alcohol allowed

how old are the kids and how "large" is the party? also, do you have a link to what your mesh fence looks like - I'm having difficulty picturing what the fence is like and getting an idea of how difficult it would be for the children at your party to get around it. My first thought is that I'd def. want to leave the fence up because it would be a visible deterrent and even if it isn't perfectly able to keep the kids out, it will at least slow kids down .

Our pool has a 6' gated fence (wood frame with wire screen) and the latch is up at the top, so we haven't had issues with kids wandering into the pool area during parties.

Just a thought. Is there a local teenager you could hire during the party who could act like a life guard, keeping watch over the pool at all times? That way if a parent gets distracted you have an extra set of eyes. Just a suggestion.