to leave the room while toddler is in the bath?

[Downdog]

I leave the room while DD is in the bath? Not for the entire bath but I do pop out of the room. I'm never far away, can always hear & converse with her (we live in tiny one bed flat), but I can't always see her if I'm in kitchen getting a drink etc.

OH is furious with me for doing this, but I think he is being overprotective & just trying to get one up on me.

My decision to leave 2.5 year old alone in the bath is one I've thought about, and I can always hear her and I'm never more than a maximum of 8 steps away. I'm very happy with what I've been doing but OH is appalled & got upset. He will often leave to room when he is bathing her, to check out TV etc - but always keeps her in his sight. Whereas I go 4 steps further and can't always see her.

Am I being reckless doing this?

yes i think you are

Yes I think you are being reckless. DH and I always have DS in our sight while he is in the bath.

TBh its not something that i could ever do BUT there were times when i did leave the bathroom to get a towel or what ever, and i was always filled with utter panic, manically talking to ds to keep him talking to me, so i could hear him.

too risky and could not live with myself if some thing needless happened.

YABU.It really isn't worth the risk.

I dont leave mine alone at that age, I leave my daughter to go into the next room etc but she is 5.

Not something I'd do, would your DD make a noise if she was drowning? Why would you take the chance? A bath doesn't take long, what is so important that it can't wait til after it?

at 2.5 yes I think that is too young.

"check out TV"? "in kitchen getting a drink"?

Are either of these things really necessary whilst bathing your 2.5 year old child?

I have a 2.5 yo DD who is very confident in the water (has been going to swimming lessons since she was 4 mths old), but neither DH nor I would ever leave her alone in the bath - especially not to check out what's on the fecking TV!

Let's face it, unless your DD is in the bath for hours at a time, a few minutes dedicated to ensuring her safety is not really too much of a hardship is it?

No, I wouldn't. How long is your DC in the bath that you really have to do something else in that time, anyway - can't it wait 5 mins, just to avoid the risk?

yes YABU obviously

To check out Eastenders on TV involves standing at bathroom door in our tiny place.

Reckless beyond belief. It's not worth the risk. YABU.

I can remember when I was 8, so quite a bit older and you'd think OK in the bath, I was laying down and somehow rolled over in the water. It was very, very diorientating and I didn't know which way was up.

It happened very quickly, and shit me right up, I can see how easy it would be to drown in a bath. I was 8, your LO is so tiny, how do you think you'd feel if anything happened to them and you could have prevented it?

As an owner of a small flat also, I don't think you're being entirely unreasonable

I could watch the TV from the bathroom door if I wanted to

I wouldn't leave a 2.5 yr old in there whilst I pottered in the bedroom or kitchen, but I could confidently sit in the lounge and converse at normal volume should I want to, knowing that the child was fine

"He will often leave to room when he is bathing her, to check out TV etc" in your OP sounded a little more than just standing at the bathroom door tbh.

Anyway, YABU. Beyond doubt. And reckless.

I just don't get why you need to leave her alone, tbh. Why not wait for a few minutes until your daughter is safe before you get that all important drink. Or quench your thirst before you put her in the bath?

If I sit in a particular chair in my lounge and the bathroom door is open I can see the DC in the bath

Some living spaces are SMALL

YABU. I go into the kitchen to wash up sometimes while dd1 (6) and dd2 (2.9) are playing in the bath, but my kitchen is attatched to the bathroom. I can see/hear them at all times. I don't do it if dd1 is not there. I won't leave dd2 at all when she is in the bath alone.

Actually I don't think YABU at all with you being so close by.Not with a baby or young toddler obviously but I think at 2.5 they would be fine

I stand on the landing and often get stuff out of the laundry basket while the dc's are in the bath, again a very small house so I'm only a couple of metres away. But I can always hear them giggling and what they are playing with.

YABU. A 2yo should NEVER be left alone in water.

You say you 'converse' with her. As in, you say something, she says something. As horrible as the image is, imagine that she went under just after she spoke to you - you'd answer her, hear a splash, speak again, wonder what's going on, head back in the bathroom. And she's been underwater for 30 seconds.

A child can drown very, very quickly.

Yes I'm the only one to say the D-word here. But FFS you DO NOT leave a 2yo in water unobserved. EVER.

I don't think you are being unreasonable given the small space you live in. I sometimes leave my 5 and 3 year old in the bath together (they have a bathroom between their bedrooms so sometimes I go an lie on DD's bed with a magazine !)and have done for a while - some of my friends are horrified but both my children are very water confident and swim well, I can always hear them and can see if I crane my neck.

No I don't think you are being unreasonable either: if you lived in a big house where you could be well out of earshot and several floors away it would be a different argument. You can always have a chat while you're out of sight as well.

I have just started to do this with my 4yo, door wide open, talking to him at least every 10 secs. I think that although your toddler looks OK in the bath, they can so easily slip/start climbing.

sorry, to clarify...in the small flat the OP can chat to DD if out of line of sight.

yabu