at what age did you start leaving your kids (relatively) unsupervised in the bath?

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

DH still thinks we have to sit in the room with DS while he plays in the bath. whereas I get stuff done while he's in there. (my kitchen is right beside the bathroom.)
he's 2.4
What age did you start leaving your kids to it?

[yawningmonster]

Um I don't yet and he is 3.4. Was wondering same thing though but too paranoid to leave him yet.

[biglips]

my dd is 3.3 yrs old and i do go in and out of the bathroom to my bedroom if i needed to or otherwise ill stay in the bathroom the whole time

[LoveMyGirls]

supervised is to be within sight or hearing so if dd2 is in the bath (shes also 2.4yrs) I will tidy up upstairs making sure I can hear her, i'll talk to her and pop my head round to check she's ok every few mins while i'm putting clean clothes away upstairs, I wouldn't leave her up there on her own and i'm only a max of 5 metres away from her the whole time I think that's ok but I guess you will get varied answers.

Imo if you are within hearing/ sight and are in the room next door with the dorr open i think that's ok.

I think you and dh have to agree on this so as long as you agree it doesn't really matter what everyone else does, does it?

[throckenholt]

about 3 when the bathroom and the kitchen were side by side. Now the bathroom is upstairs and a long from where I am likely to be I don't even like leaving my 6 year old on his own - so I tend to lurk around upstairs tidying up.

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

he's def within earshot. and i pop my head in every couple of minutes.
I was just curious about what other people do.
He'll happily stay in there for a half hour so I take the chance to get stuff done. (he won't nap anymore so this is my only chance)

[Minkus]

Probably at about the age time as you- (also dons the hard hat- or maybe even a bit ealier)

[eandh]

since dd was 3 we leave her in the bath playing but I am either in my bedroom or in dd2 bedroom (they bath together so I get dd2 out first and dried, pj's on etc) normally shes either playing and I can hear her or shes shouting talking to me.

She is 3.4 and has just started insisting on getting out of the bath herself and drying herself and putting pj's on, I am letting ehr do this but watch from the door to make sure she doesnt slip etc when she is getting out of teh bath. I am only required for the dreaded knot detangling hairbrush at the end

[FrannyandZooey]

we can't quite remember but we think to pop in and out, from nearly 3, working up to leaving him for up to 20 mins (mostly within earshot) now he is 4.9

our house is quite small though, so I can hear what is going on most of the time, and ds doesn't tend to stand up and muck about in the bath

[Hulababy]

From about 3yo I have left DD playing on the bath whilst I have pottered about on the same floor. I can generally hear her playing and even now, at 5y, I still keep checking round the door if she goes a bit quiet. TBH though DD doesn't have mny baths - she much prefers showers, and I tend to leave her for longer unsupervised in a shower.

[bozza]

Franny has a good point about it depending on the type of child. My relatively unsupervised I think you mean being close by but not actually in the bathroom. I have done this from about age 3 (for DD) but much older with DS but generally because of DD being there too. Also when I leave them in the bath together I can hear them. But sometimes they have showers now. I do not leave DD in the shower (she is 3 1/2) but I do leave DS in the shower (he is nearly 7).

[Chopster]

Prob around the same age, I'd be putting clothes away in the bedrooms etc (our bathroom is upstairs). I generally get dd (7) to keep an eye on them for me if I need to go downstairs and cook or anything.

[yawningmonster]

hmm I think maybe I am a little over protective

[MamaD]

Wow, this has made me feel like a rotten mummy.......

My dd has been left alone in the bath since about 18 months. I go into the bedroom next door and do some ironing - otherwise it would nevr get done! I can hear her splashing about and talking to herself so I dont think she's in any danger.

Since about 2 she has wanted to get in the shower with me in the mornings, and I leave her there as I get dressed, again I can hear her messing about.

I'm really surprised that I'm alone on this....... and of course wondering if I get a bad parenting award now.

[love2sleep]

We have left ds1 to play in the bath by himself from just before he was 2. He loves it. He chatters away to himself and we are always in the next room and pop in if it goes quiet or he makes a splash. But I completely agree that it depends on the child. ds1 is very unadventurous and trustworthy. I can't imagine ever leaving ds2 alone - neither he or the bathroom would survive for long

[ladylush]

We still supervise ds practically the whole time (he's 3 1/2), the exception being to go into his room quickly to get his pyjamas etc (his room is next to the bathroom).

[LoveAngel]

My son is nearly 3. We only leave the room to nip into his bedroom next door to get his PJs or a towel. I wouldn't leave him alone for longer than 20 secs, maybe. I am very paranoid about kids around water.

[My2Weegirls]

nearly 3 - though i get her to sing so that i can hear her all the time (and sing with her) and only for as long as it takes to close curtains etc. keep popping in and out and i don't do it every bath time.

[Rantmum]

My ds is 3 and I am paranoid about it - I run if I have forgotten something like his towel in his bedroom is literally 8 feet from the bathroom. I told dh that I will feel more comfortably once ds can swim and dh clearly thought I had lost my mind.

He may have a point (what DOES the ability to swim have to do with it - it is a bath not a pool

[bogie]

ds is 2 and i will go into the room next to him for a min or so whilst hes in the bath, but he only has about 4 inches of water in and i talk to him constantly while im out of the room.

[mustsleep]

we are simlar ds was left from being about 2.5 but with one of us being upstairs and would chat to him to make sure he was ok constantly

ds and dd still have a bath together he is 6 and she is 2 and one of still stays upstairs but they do need supervising more for the fact of that i dont want the kitchen to be floodedby the time they get out!!

[IdrisTheDragon]

DD is 2.3 and I have definitely done popping in and out for a while. Can't remember when I started, but she is often in the bath with DS (4.1) who is sensible, and so I haven't really tended to worry too much.

[maisykins]

I dont think I left mine at age 2.4 except maybe to fetch towels/PJ's or something quite quick. But not criticising others' judgments - just what felt right for me. They can easily get injured trying to climb out of the bath for example. Official advice is not to leave children under 7 unattended - but by unattended I guess that being nearby and checking on them is okay from an earlier age (probably about 3 in our house).
I think if your DH wants to stay with him that's good - not sure I would trust my DH to keep up with the checking part of it if he left them for a "minute" - he is likely to go on the computer or look at the TV and forget to check - just being realistic here that I would rather DH erred on the safe side so I always told him to stay with the DC.

[BibiThree]

We still sit with dd while she's in the bath and she's 3.3. She's not a messer, and doesn't jump around, but she's quite clumsy and does stand up to reach things and has been known to slip over, so we stay. And it's a nice excuse for some focussed time with her where we don't get distracted and she doesn't trot off to do something else. We have a nice chat and a relaxing time.
i'm sure she'll be 16 and having to kick me out of the bathroom!

[mistressmiggins]

I never left DS alone but that was cos from age of 2, I had DD too so bathed them together
Now DS(5.5) and DD (3.5) have a bath & I usually potter around upstairs but going in to check them. They are both sensible - it's more the fighting over who has action man in the bath I have problems with!

[MummyDoIt]

About age three, but with bathroom door open and me pottering about upstairs within earshot at all times. They're 5 and almost 4 now and I still won't go downstairs and leave them in the bath. Also, it depends on the child. Mine are very good about not touching taps or toiletries. If you have a child who is fascinated by taps or loves to tip your expensive bubble bath down the sink, then you'd need to supervise longer.