Letting Kids Play in the Bath

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't leave a child in the bath who can't swim. I often tidy up the bathroom while they're in the tub or sit just outside the door and read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't leave a child in the bath who can't swim. I often tidy up the bathroom while they're in the tub or sit just outside the door and read.

All kids are different, but in general I don't think this is necessary. Kids can't swim in the actual sense of the word until they are 5 or 6, right? It's not the same to leave a kid in a bathtub as it is in a pool. It would be very difficult for an able bodied toddler to drown in a bath (a slip and fall head injury is the only possible way I can imagine this happening). 3 year olds are strong enough to move their heads away from water otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once he really started talking, around 2. I could easily hear that he was doing just fine.

Same. I’m close but not in bathroom.

Or make them sing!

This is what I did when my oldest (now 4) was 2. Now she and her now 2 year old brother play in the bath all the time while I do other things on the same floor (of our tiny row house). They splash a bit too much, but she immediately tattles on him when ever he astands up and I come check in, castigate, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel comfortable stepping away from my 2.5 year old as long as I stay within earshot (maybe I tidy up her bedroom or go put on my on PJs.) She talks to herself incessantly so as long as I can hear her talking I feel fine. When she goes quiet I check on her. I'll probably wait until she can swim / hold her breath before I'd actually venture away.

This is is. Almost three and I will step into the hallway and nearby rooms to grab jammies, or tidy up. My child narrates his entire life, so I can hear home the entire time. If he stops talking I just call his name or peek in quick. I’m never more than five or six steps away, due to the design of the second floor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't leave a child in the bath who can't swim. I often tidy up the bathroom while they're in the tub or sit just outside the door and read.

You must have a much bigger tub than we do!

[Anonymous]

I didn’t feel comfortable leaving until age 4, and even now at 5, I mostly stay with her when she’s in the tub. She cannot really be trusted not to do stuff that might result in hitting her head, etc. I just read a book or play on my phone while she bathes.
I think the people leaving 2 yos alone in the bath are playing with fire. The PP above saying it’s hard for toddlers to drown is incorrect.

[Anonymous]

I am an outlier, but no way would I leave children under 5 alone in the bath.

[Anonymous]

No way would I leave a kid under 5 in the bath alone either. It takes 18 seconds to drown. Drowning kids in the bathtub don't make noise. You aren't going to hear it from the next room.

If you need to tidy up from the day, let your kid play independently in their room or elsewhere -- not in the bath. I clean up the bathroom while my kids take a bath or catch up on emails on my phone while sitting in the bathroom. A shower is a different story because I'm not so worried about drowning. I still wouldn't let a kid 3 and under be in a shower alone for more than a very short time, but an older kid could maybe do it.

[Anonymous]

2. The playroom is across from her bathroom so she plays in the tub and I clean the playroom or do laundry as it is next door and fold on the table in the hallway her bathroom is off of. The door is open and we often talk the entire time

[Anonymous]

I used to clean the bathroom too. But when she was a bit older I used to. Just have her sing the whole time I was leaving the room (to put laundry away, etc). I figured I’d she could sing I was fine. The changes in tone would sometime soon correspond to changes in position too. That being said our upstairs is upper small so it was easy to hear her.

[Anonymous]

^ pp here. Sorry! Phone typing!

[Anonymous]

I leave my 4 yr old, but the door is open and I’m always within earshot. Never on a different floor.
Read a story the other day of a 3 year who drowned in the bath bc his dad went out to have a smoke.