June is Water Safety Month

As a proud partner of the Kern County Water Safety Coalition, First 5 Kern encourages all community members and organizations, this month and throughout the year, to practice water safety with children of all ages. 

Drowning was the leading cause of accidental death among Kern County children under age 6 and the second leading cause of injury-related death among children in California. Between 2008 and 2010, 18 Kern County children lost their lives to accidental drowning. Even a near-drowning incident can have lifelong consequences. Children who survive a near-drowning may have irreversible brain damage after 4 to 6 minutes under water.

And it's never too early to sign your baby or preschooler for swim lessons. Make A Splash, a swim program of the Bakersfield Parks and Recreation Department and funded by First 5 Kern, offers $5 swim lessons for children ages 0-5 and their parents at all city pools during session 3 - July 15-25 and session 4 - July 29-August 8. Parent classes will be offered at the same time their child is in the water.

For more information, contact Make A Splash at (661) 852-7430 or www.bakersfieldswim.us

Now expectant and new parents can easily get the information they need through a free service on their cell phones: text4baby.  Text4baby is an exciting and innovative way for the millions of pregnant and new parents across the country to get the most important information they need to ensure their child’s healthy development. Pregnant and new parents who text "BABY" (or “BEBE” for Spanish) to 511411 receive weekly text messages, timed to their due date or their baby's birth date through the baby’s first year. The messages, which have been vetted by government and nonprofit health experts like the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics and March of Dimes, deal with nutrition, immunizations and birth defect prevention, among other topics. If you’re an expectant or new parent and want to learn more, go to www.text4baby.org.  To sign up for free messaging, click on the box above or just text the word "BABY" (or “BEBE” for Spanish) to 511411 and follow the prompts. You only need to provide the baby's due date or date of birth and your zip code. Text4baby is an educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. The is NO COST to the user, even if he/she does not have a text message plan. If the user does have a text plan, text4baby will not deduct from the total texts available.