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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to leave DD unsupervised in the bath?

69 replies

redskyatnight · 11/04/2013 19:21

She is 7. I'm quite often moving about upstairs so hear her chatting to herself or sometimes have a conversation with her.

This came up in conversation with a friend who was horrified and said she thought this was far too young for DD to be left alone in the bathroom.

OP posts:
peachypips · 11/04/2013 19:22

I think it's fine!!! Flippin helicopter parents!

DecAndAnt · 11/04/2013 19:23

Yes fine

crikeybill · 11/04/2013 19:23

No ? She's 7. Yanbu.

trinity0097 · 11/04/2013 19:23

By that age I was walking to the shops alone and crossing a couple of local roads, a bath is fine!

Smartieaddict · 11/04/2013 19:24

YANBU. I leave my 5 year old on his own in the bath. Mind you he never stops talking so I always know he's ok.

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 11/04/2013 19:24

Yanbu - my 7 year old will spend hours in the bath, I can't be sitting with her all that time!

freddiefrog · 11/04/2013 19:25

My DD is 7 and I leave her alone in the bath. She hates me hanging around while she's in there. She likes to wear her goggles and pretend to scuba dive in private!

peeriebear · 11/04/2013 19:25

DD is 6 and perfectly capable of having a bath on her own. Sometimes she gets out by herself but she usually shouts for me to swathe her in warm towels :)

squeakytoy · 11/04/2013 19:25

7??? bloody hell I used to go swimming on my own at that age.. never mind sit in the bath.

KobayashiMaru · 11/04/2013 19:25

seven! Of course you don't need to be there, what does your friend imagine will happen?

sensesworkingovertime · 11/04/2013 19:25

I think it's fine she's in the bathroom alone as long as you are upstairs and can hear what she's up to. At that age my DC could be getting up and dancing a jig in the bath which isn't the safest thing to do!

OutragedFromLeeds · 11/04/2013 19:26

YANBU

TooYappy · 11/04/2013 19:26

I send my DS2 up to run his bath now we have a valve to cut of the heat at a certain temperature, he takes his toys in and sits for an hour or so topping it up. I still have to go visit him or he would come out with dirtfy face Grin

I detest the valve most of the time as I miss normal HOT water for my baths.

YANBU at all.

TeddyMercury · 11/04/2013 19:26

I have never understood that thing about how A Child Can Drown If Left Unattended In A Bath Even For Thirty Seconds rhetoric.

Surely at worst they'd just...get a bit wet?

MooMooSkit · 11/04/2013 19:26

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

nethunsreject · 11/04/2013 19:27

7?!?Goodness, that's absolutely fine at that age!

OTTMummA · 11/04/2013 19:29

I think 3/4 and under it's non negotiable, you must supervise, but 5 onwards I think if you are on the same floor it's ok.
My DS is 5 and never shuts the fuck up so I know he is ok if I'm putting Landry away etc.

5madthings · 11/04/2013 19:30

My 8 and 5 yr olds ran a bath and then had a bath this afternoon. I checked the temp etc and then i got on with doing dinner. I can heae them and i checked in on them etc. They were fine.

Yanbu

OTTMummA · 11/04/2013 19:30

*laundry

Meglet · 11/04/2013 19:33

YANBU.

Once DS reached 5 I decided to chill out about baths and not watch him. I don't even watch 4.6yo DD like a hawk anymore, I can hear her playing and often potter about on the landing sorting laundry.

TBH they have showers nearly all the time too, less stressful.

ShowOfHands · 11/04/2013 19:34

5yo dd has just run her own bath (uses a thermometer), got in, washed, wallowed, built a cup wall, sung 867 songs, made a bubble beard and hat, washed her hair, scooted up and down screeching about olympic gold medals for bath scooting, got out, emptied the bath while dressing, wiped down the bath and wandered through looking for a book to read.

At 7 supervised baths will be a distant memory.

jenniferturkington · 11/04/2013 19:35

Yanbu my 5 (nearly six) year old and 4 year old bath together and I use it as an opportunity to run around tidying their rooms while they are confined Grin they never shut up though so I always know they are ok.

CrapBag · 11/04/2013 19:36

YANBU, I would happily potter away upstairs if just DS (5) was in the bath but DD (2) is in there as well so not yet, but 7 is certainly fine. Like others said I used to go out for hours with my friends at that age, a little while in a bath with a parent nearby is not going to hurt! What age does your friend think its appropriate to stop? Puberty!

jenniferturkington · 11/04/2013 19:38

SoH your dd is almost exactly the same age as my ds (remember you from the antenatal thread!) and she always sounds so much more advanced at these sorts of things- my ds still asks me to put his socks on Grin

StuntGirl · 11/04/2013 19:38

Small children can drown in the bath due to small amount of water it takes to fill their lungs.

7 is fine though, I'd leave her on her own to bath at that age.

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