Help settle an argument please

[peachyrose]

Person A says it’s completely safe it’s plastic and will cause no harm

person b is horrified at how silly person a has been.

2 year olds been bathed and then with wet hands has been held up to turn the light on in the bedroom when person b asked if the 2 year old has wet hands person a says yes we always do it when I do bath time but don’t worry it’s completely safe because it’s plastic
will try and add a pic of the switch but who is right in this ?

Not safe. If it was safe you wouldn't need different switch style in bathrooms.
Parent should dry child's hands first.

YABU to think this is safe. Bathrooms have pendant switches for a reason.

Are you person B? The toddler shouldn't be switching the light on full stop.

Unlikely but still a possibility. You'd need a lot of water on your hands to hit the live wires behind the switch. Not worth the risk though.

so not safe ..water and electrics never a good combo

Yes I am person B.
partner ( dad of 2 year old) took him up for a bath and I was in the hall way putting washing away ( thank God I was because apparently he always does it at bath time ) I heard him say “ go on then turn the light on “ I rushed to him and asked if he allowed 2 year old to do it with wet hands - he’d literally just got out the bath seconds before !! And partner said “ yes I always let him do it, it’s plastic so perfectly safe “

hes 40 for goodness sake you’d think he would know what’s safe and what isn’t ! I’m not happy he’s put him at risk !

It's not that risky, but it is important to teach the child that water and electricity don't mix.

electric and water! Its a badic No No

It's not ideal, but where I live we have switches and sockets in bathrooms and you never hear of people being electrocuted.

My mum did this years ago and managed to trip the whole house. Fortunately the breaker switch being flipped was all that was needed.

If your hands are absolutely dripping wet, then don't do it. Otherwise it shouldn't be a problem.

Yes, the circuit breaker mitigates the risk. But it's still a bad habit to acquire - better to always avoid wet hands when operating electrical devices. Why so many YABU votes?

Yes it's a risk, but it's miniscule. How much water would need to be on hands to flow behind the switch itself and reach two different bare wires? And have the circuit breaker fail. There will have been a much bigger risk of injury walking down the stairs afterwards.

I think the same, try not too but cant be helped sometimes

are you in the U.K.?

It would be unlikely to do any harm but it's not something I would risk with a small children

person B is right.

As you describe it, this is not the riskiest behavior in the world and, more than likely is safe. Other people with wet hands have touched light switches like that, and survived.

But as other people have said, it is never a good idea to encourage carelessness when it comes to young children learning about safety in this case, that water / wetness / dampness / moisture and any form of electricity are not a good mix. It's best to teach them caution because being a tiny bit over cautious won't get them in trouble but being oblivious / under cautious could get them shocked or maybe even killed in the future someday, not necessarily on this date with that particular switch

Why’s the child being carried from room to room dripping wet? A bit of exaggeration going on here, I think.

Obviously they aren't.

Obviously not. I'm in most of the rest of the world where sockets are allowed in bathrooms.

My bathroom has switches rather than light pulls, the house was built in 2017, I sometimes turn the light on or off with wet hands and haven't been electrocuted yet.

It wouldn't have even occurred to me that this wasn't safe. How wet would your hands have to be to make this a risk? I absolutely would not be having a row over it.

Therefore with much less power/current in your domestic electricity than the U.K. eg, the States has half the power than in the UK. That’s the reason why.

I wouldn't do it (water & electricity) but it's probably low risk.
Probably best not to ve encouraged tho.

No, it’s not obvious. Plenty of U.K. bathrooms will have socket switches. Mine does.