[tigger]

Originally Posted by Cincy

unless it is a Baby Ruth Bar....

[homer simpson] mmmmmmm floating Baby Ruth Bar [/homer simpson]

[SoThisIsLove]

lol. I wouldn't mind if it was a Mounds, but most of the time it won't be.

[tigger]

Originally Posted by SoThisIsLove

lol. I wouldn't mind if it was a Mounds, but most of the time it won't be.

[homer simpson] mmmmmmm floating Mounds Bar [/homer simpson]

[SoThisIsLove]

lol. Yes those are my absolute FAVORITE!

[Cavey]

Originally Posted by tjmosby

I think I just found the answer to my own question.... posted at:
http://www.dcltribute.com/faq/toddlersinpools.htm

Can my toddler use the swimming pool?

Not unless your toddler is potty-trained. The United States Public Health Service (an agency affiliated with the Surgeon General's office and the Department of Health and Human Services) requires that children may only be allowed in the pools if they're potty-trained.

The pools onboard the Disney cruise ships are very small (this is true of the pools on any cruise ship). Although the pools are treated with chlorine, a single potty accident can cause oral/fecal cross-contamination to other passengers before the chlorine can do its job. Disney and a few other cruise lines had a well documented outbreak of Norwalk-type viruses last Fall. Although a specific contact point could not be identified, it is not unreasonable to take action against a potential cross-contamination site.

Enforcement of this regulation can be spotty. Some parents choose to ignore this regulation. Please don't be one of these parents. After all, would you allow your child to swim in the pool if they posted a sign that reads: "Warning: fecal contamination may be present."?

First, let me point out the reference being cited is unofficial. This is a guy's personal website, and he doesn't cite an reference to his information.

I run a public swim area (camp). So if there is any credibility to his statment, it only applies to cruises, or I would have received one of those nifty memos Dept. of Public Health bombards me with every year.

I'm also a Certified Pool Operator, and while I agree you don't want feces in the pool, a swim "diaper" is more than adequate. The issue is containing the solid waste, which a swim diaper does. Few people realize that when a pool is maintained properly, it is cleaner for you to drink the water in a pool a kid just pee-ed in than to drink out of the tap at a drinking fountain. (Fewer people know how disgustingly unsanitary a hotel hot tub is, but I digress...)

Assuming this is cruise line policy, this is government nonsense run amok again! It reminds me of the memo the Dept. of Health issued to all Illinois camps last year about Bat Rabies. "Bats are dangerous. Bats carry rabies. Keep bats off your property." (There has been less than 10 cases of humans contracting rabies from bats in the last 30 years, but some health official felt the need to spend a couple thousand dollars in tax money to send out official memos!)

Oh, and my swim diaper-clad kids were swimming at WDW in January. So don't worry about the resorts. Like I said, this is either mis-information, or only applies to cruise ships.

[tigger]

I don't know Caver...I know that you have the training and all but the link that tjmosby posted with the rest of their post pretty much lines up with what I have always heard from public health works on the news at the beginning of pool season.

I really don't know how many toddlers or non potty trained kids you have in your pool but Disney probably get a lot.

(This past year I remember the PH worker, who worked for the CDC in NYC making a strong point about not going to the pool if you have diarrhea.)

Anyway I'm totally grossed out now and probably won't step foot in a public pool for a couple of years now.

[Pooh Fan]

Originally Posted by caver_jeffery

(Fewer people know how disgustingly unsanitary a hotel hot tub is, but I digress...)

What is wrong with teh hotel hot tubs? I probably don't want to know, but then again I do. When we go to the indoor water parks up here, DH and I enjoy spending time in the hot tub while the kids play on the water slides.

[slist]

Originally Posted by SoThisIsLove

I am not sure about the crusies, but at the pools at the All-Star Resorts, kids are allowd in the big pools. There is a kiddie pool, too, with like a whale that squirts water. lol

Last year at ASMovies, and some nice little child went number two in the pool TWICE. So twice we had to go to another pool so the lifeguards could clean it out. If parents know that kids might do that, they should go to the kiddie pool! (Don't worry I am not saying your kid will do that, it just kind of related to the post. lol.)

Same thing happened at CS about four years ago the pool was closed for an entire day when we asked why we were told that a small child did number two in the pool.

[llama]

I think the concern with respect to cruise ship pools, is in response to the Norfolk virus scare. And it really is no joke. A neighbour of ours contacted it on a cruise ship and he was never so sick in his life. Over a year later and he still hasn't fully recovered. You are constantly being reminded of it on the cruise. There are handwashing instructions everywhere. So I can honestly understand why they seem over-cautious.

[bumble]

Originally Posted by slist

Same thing happened at CS about four years ago the pool was closed for an entire day when we asked why we were told that a small child did number two in the pool.

That happened to us at CS also!!!!

[ddoll]

Originally Posted by Cincy

unless it is a Baby Ruth Bar....

ROFL!!! I was thinking of Caddyshack when I read that too!!!

[Cavey]

Originally Posted by tigger

I don't know Caver...I know that you have the training and all but the link that tjmosby posted with the rest of their post pretty much lines up with what I have always heard from public health works on the news at the beginning of pool season.

I'm just saying DPH is required to notify me of such things, and they haven't.

And remember, the "news" are the same people posting about food poisoning at WDW, and etc.

If you have diarrhea, you SHOULDN'T be in a pool. And vomit and feces do require a closure for several hours in order to "super chlorinate" a pool (At normal levels, pool chlorine is at 3 Parts Per Million (PPM). Super Chlorination takes it to 8PPM [strong enough to bleach your hair]. The moment the water hits 8PPM, EVERYTHING in the water is killed, but it takes time to drop the chlorine back down to 3PPM.)

I'm just saying swim diapers keep the feces "in," and at 3PPM, you are killing any germs not attached to solid waste.


Pooh Fan, chlorine levels are harder to maintain in hot tubs. PUBLIC/hotel hot tubs are not usually well maintained to begin with. Some don't have their water changed for years (which isn't needed in a pool, but definately in a hot tub). The heat allows germs to grow. And-especially with in-room hot tubs--many couples are known to...er...have relations in public hot tubs. My Cert. Pool Op instructor swore to never use a public hot tub.

BTW, my instructor used WDW as an example of EXCELLENT maintenance and care of pools.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by tigger

Anyway I'm totally grossed out now and probably won't step foot in a public pool for a couple of years now.

Public pools and hotel hot tubs gross me out. I am always wondering how well they manage the chemical levels, I am sure some are very well managed and others are not. We have our own pool so we will always know the water is as safe as it can be.

I do go to the water parks at WDW, I just have to keep my mind off the water. I am sure it's fine I just hate thinking about people using the pool for a bathroom!

[Erin]

We have that condo thingie in Daytona, and we go all summer long, and they have notices everywhere that the baby has to have a swimmer on. I don't see what the big deal is if they have one of these swim-type diapers on. NOTHING is gonna get through that thing! Water can't get IN, nothing is getting OUT!

I think the real issue would be if the child was in the pool withOUT the swimmer...then, that would be a concern...

Those swimmers are really quite adequate.

[Cavey]

Originally Posted by DisneyTeacher

Public pools and hotel hot tubs gross me out. I am always wondering how well they manage the chemical levels, I am sure some are very well managed and others are not. We have our own pool so we will always know the water is as safe as it can be.

I do go to the water parks at WDW, I just have to keep my mind off the water. I am sure it's fine I just hate thinking about people using the pool for a bathroom!

I have more faith in water park quality than your local hotel pool. At least in Illinois, records must be kept--and while they CAN be falsified, one surprise inspection could result in closures. A hotel can afford to have it's pool closed for a week, but your big water parks can't.