As the snow melts and thoughts of the warm, sunny days of summer enter our minds, we also should begin preparing our children to be safe swimmers.

Nationwide, 300-400 children younger than five years old drown each year. In Missouri, drowning is the second leading cause of death for children five years old and younger. In addition, 77 percent of these children drowned after disappearing for five minutes or less.

How can we prevent such tragedies? These four prevention steps can help:

1. Enroll your child in a swimming program and continue with lessons until your child is a strong swimmer. Children who have been involved in swim lessons not only have less chance of drowning, they have more respect for the water.

Make sure your program teaches essential skills, and is not just a play-program. Its best to go for a program that doesnt put "floaties" on your children, so they will learn the proper swimming positionhorizontal, not vertical. Many life vests keep the childs head out of the water, but children need to learn to glide on top of the water to really swim. Check your local yellow pages under "swimming" or "swim instruction" or call the local American Red Cross office for help choosing a swim program.

Two essential skills all parents can teach their children are standing up in shallow water and climbing out of the pool. Sadly, preschool children have drowned in as little as 18 inches of water. Teach your children to draw their knees to their chest to get their feet under them so they can stand.

2. Supervise, supervise, supervise. Its always fun to go to the pool and chat with your friends, but dont leave your children in the care of a lifeguard with a crowded pool to watch.

Obviously never leave a child alone in or near a swimming pool, spa or other body of water, including bathtubs for young children. Let the doorbell and the phone go, if you must, or ask your children to leave the pool while you are away. Remember, most drownings of young children occur within five minutes of having been seen by an adult.In addition, most child drownings are ominously silent. Unlike adults, children rarely splash or scream when they are in trouble.

Also, dont allow older children to supervise younger children in the water without an adult. If you have a backyard pool, make sure you have a clear view of the pool from the house. Remove vegetation and other obstacles that might block your view. Also, keep toys or tricycles away from the pool. A child retrieving a toy could accidentally fall into the water.

3. Provide layers of protection. Prevent a childs access to a pool with locks and fences. Make sure the fence surrounding your pool cant be easily climbed from the outside. Gates should be self-closing, self-latching and should open away from the pool.

Also, arm your doors and windows with alarms to alert you when your child leaves the house. Keep a phone and rescue equipment close to the pool. A ring buoy with an attached line is fine, but dont let children play with it. Most importantly, never assume your fences and barriers are 100 percent secure.

4. Learn CPR and rescue training. Know how to act in an emergency situation, especially if you have a pool in your backyard.

Here are four steps to follow if an emergency situation does develop:

1. Yell for help and get the child out of the water.

2. Check for consciousness and breathing, open airway and send someone to call 911.

3. If the child is not breathing, make sure airway is open and give one slow breath every three seconds.

4. If there is still no breathing or pulse, begin CPR if you are trained. Repeat sets of five compressions per one breath.

Swimming is a great part of summer we all enjoy. Just remember to keep your little ones safe this season. An easy way would be to enroll your children in swimming lessons right now, so they are as prepared as possible for their summer adventures in the pool, lake, river or ocean.