Getting a Baby Pool for Baby

Getting a baby pool for that special little girl or guy in your life is a great and safe way to introduce them to the life aquatic.  For safety purposes (and you can never be too safe when it comes to kids and water), let me just say right now that a responsible adult needs to have their eye on kids when they play in the pool at any and all times, as drownings can and have occurred in such pools.  Whew.  Now that we have that out of the way, you should know that there is actually quite a large variety of baby pools on the market.  Because almost every product you find will be an inflatable plastic baby pool, choosing the one you want is mostly a matter of size and design.  Remember that infants most likely won't be doing any actual swimming in the a baby swimming pool, and that what you want is more of a baby wading pool.  However, you don't have to just get the smallest pool you can find, as any pool can be a baby pool if an adult is taking care of baby.  Read on to find out about some of the baby swimming pools and baby pool toys out there.

You might think that one of the very pools you see, featuring baby in pool on the box, would be the best choice.  After all, it's scaled for the baby.  And these can be just fine if all you want is something that baby can sit in by him/ herself.  However, chances are you'll both enjoy yourselves more in a larger model baby or kiddie pool.  Even though an adult wouldn't even consider swimming in such a pool because of its small size, it can be very nice to hold baby and play with the water together.  It's probably also a lot easier to take care of baby from inside the pool instead of reaching in, and this type of pool would therefore be safer.  The good thing about the tiny pools is that it doesn't take much water to fill them up, so set up and clean up are easy and you don't waste as much water. 
One great feature a lot of pools like the Sun Smart Baby Hideaway Pool and the Mushroom Baby Pool feature is a kind of canopy for keeping baby out of the sun.  These can allow baby to spend a longer time in the water on a hot day while preventing that fresh baby skin from getting burned by the hot sun.  Some models even have a canopy that, when hooked up to a hose, sprinkle water down from above- great for making kids laugh and keeping them entertained while at the same time cooling them down.

Instead of a full blown pool, you might consider getting an inflatable pool toy for baby if you own a normal sized pool or have access to one.  This way, baby can stay safe in his little water buggy or other float toy while you watch over him.  This way, you can take baby into a lake or even the ocean (preferably when waters are calm) and he can enjoy bobbing around on a large and natural body of water.  Some models also come with their own canopy to protect baby from the sun.   
Other pool toys can get kids to want to play in the water.  Toys such as beach balls, pool "noodles", torpedoes, and the like can keep kids entertained until their fingers and toes have turned to prunes.  You can even pair baby beach buckets and shovels with a sandbox if you have one nearby, although many babies can have fun simply filling up and emptying any old containers you might have lying around (they're easy to entertain).  For older kids, arm floats or inner tubes can be great fun, but make sure you also watch these kids at all times.  It's not too difficult for someone who doesn't know how to swim to drown.  A child might take off his arm floats, forget he has done so, and then jump into deep water without remembering to put them back on- I know it happened to me.  Luckily I was somehow able to make it to a ladder and crawl out alive, but other kids might not be so lucky.  The point is, be vigilant when kids are in the water.
Finally, you might need some accessories for babies in the water.  If you don't have any sort of shade for baby, it is a good idea to slather some natural sunscreen on him.  Forget the ones you normally find- these are full of ingredients that many people consider harmful to the body.  Pick a natural sunscreen that blocks the sun mechanically (meaning physically) as opposed to chemically.