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"  I was 2 or 3, the story goes, leaning into our dinky above-ground pool to grab something\u2014a beach ball? A doll I&amp;#039;d put in for a swim? I reached a little too far and my feet lifted off the grass. There I teetered on my belly, face submerged in the water, legs too short to make it back to safe ground.   And yet, being a mom of four, I&amp;#039;ve spent half my midlife summers gritting my teeth in pool water. I endure the summer swim scene for one reason only: I don&amp;#039;t want my kids to wind up like I nearly did. Drowning is the second most common cause of death in children under 14 (after car wrecks). Nearly a third of all 1- to 4-year-olds who die do so in water. And for every child who drowns, four more are treated in the ER after going under.   Unfortunately, especially for pool-dreading mamas like me, the only sure way to prevent your child from drowning is to keep your eye on him. You can&amp;#039;t drownproof a child. You can&amp;#039;t make him water-safe through swim lessons. You can&amp;#039;t count on &amp;quot;floaties.&amp;quot; To varying degrees, these measures may lower the risk of a drowning, but they&amp;#039;re all weak stand-ins for watchful parents.   That&amp;#039;s not to say teaching a child to swim is a bad idea. It ranks right up there in the lifesaving canon with teaching her to look both ways. It just doesn&amp;#039;t let you off the hook. Before Henry, my eldest, hit his first birthday, I enrolled him in a Mom-and-me swim class at a local university pool. &amp;quot;To get him used to the water,&amp;quot; a friend had urged. (I seemed to forget that this was already happening in his daily bath.) Week after week, slipping into the pool was like flipping a switch in my placid, happy fellow. Time for his 45-minute siren imitation to begin. &amp;quot;Kick-kick-kickkick- kick,&amp;quot; I&amp;#039;d cajole, by necessity louder than the other mommies, as I held him under his armpits and glided him through the water.   &amp;quot;WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!&amp;quot; he yowled every time. For six weeks.   Later I was relieved to learn that the American Academy of Pediatrics says most kids aren&amp;#039;t developmentally ready for swim lessons until after their fourth birthday. But some observers wonder if that policy will change: A new study reports that formal swim lessons for toddlers and preschoolers (ages 1 to 4) reduces their drowning risk by 88%. The catch: These must be formal swim training programs, not so-called drownproofing measures (once the rage, now discounted) or water-play classes that help little ones get accustomed to the water, like Henry&amp;#039;s class. (As if immersing your baby in coolerthan- bath water at his cranky time of day would spark his inner fish.) The AAP frowns on infant swim classes, mainly because they instill in parents a false sense of security.   All kids should be taught to swim eventually, though. By late preschool, Henry\u2014and later, his three sisters\u2014seemed capable enough of following directions to be handed off to a trained YMCA swim instructor. Sheepish about my own ineptness, I never have spelled out, &amp;quot;Mom is afraid of water and that&amp;#039;s why she&amp;#039;s making darned sure you aren&amp;#039;t.&amp;quot; They think I don&amp;#039;t like the water because my glasses get wet.   Today, you&amp;#039;d think that all four had a seal for a mother, given the way they glide, bob and bodysurf. There have been no close calls, though Page did once mysteriously lose a Teletubbies bathing suit in the ocean surf. She went into the water splashing and came out like Baby Godiva. Obviously I was doing something stupid like sneaking a look at the book I&amp;#039;d foolishly packed\u2026thank goodness I only lost Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po.   After that, I made up my mind to always keep my eyes glued on the kids whenever they&amp;#039;re around water. I knew the stories about kids drowning in a crowded pool or while a parent turned away for a second, and I didn&amp;#039;t want it to be my kids, especially since there was something I could do\u2014watch them.   I really do try to see pools the way my kids do: tempting beach balls and bright swim noodles bobbing on shimmery, summery blue. And the nature lover in me is as drawn to lakes and oceans as a toddler to a puddle (but without the splashing impulse). I&amp;#039;m just wary, that&amp;#039;s all. And for a mom, that seems about right.   More Ways To Prevent Drowning   At parties, designate at least one adult as child watcher\u2014and that person should be vigilant. Don&amp;#039;t count on safety in numbers. Too many parents assume that someone else is watching. Drowning can happen in an instant.   Don&amp;#039;t allow your young child in homes without a fence around the pool unless you&amp;#039;re present and prepared to keep a watchful eye.   Know that if you&amp;#039;re talking on a cell phone while keeping an eye on a young child, you&amp;#039;re distracted.   Be wary of children&amp;#039;s pool party invitations. Ask who will supervise, and gauge how much the hosts understand the risks.   Don&amp;#039;t use water wings, inflatable toys or noodles as a substitute for life jackets.   Learn CPR. It&amp;#039;s been shown to improve outcomes in drowning victims, says the CDC.   Clear the pool of all toys immediately after everyone&amp;#039;s out. Leaving them is too great a temptation for someone to lean in and grab.   Get your parenting questions answered by Momfidence columnist Paula Spencer when you email her at momfidence@gmail.com. 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<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/family-friends/a3853/momfidence-kids-pools-77860/>