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?

Here's a link for you:

Two year old drowns

"Accident prevention campaigners have said that children should not be left alone in or near water for any length of time.

"A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said according to their most recent figures 57 children under the age of six had drowned in the bath between 1995 and 2005."

That is over 5 children a year who drown in the bath.

But of course, that risk doesn't apply to you.

Yes, you are being unreasonable, due to this my baby niece was given her last rites WITH 1ST DEGREE BURNS! , at 1 year old, all because my sister answered the phone!

so YUBU, IN MY OPINION.

Why the hell you do think it's ok to leave your child unattended in water?

Happily admit to leaving my 2.5 yo DS and 5 yo DD in the bath together with the bathroom door open while I get their clothes ready and fetch towels in their adjacent rooms. I am with them alone for a large part of the day and sometimes you just have to do what you feel is right and sometimes my mummying would fall far short of some of the 'no-no's and standards mentioned here ...

So AIBU to leave my DC in the bath whilst I am in the lounge, in a chair from which I can SEE them if I have the bathroom door open?

I don't think I am

But on paper - "I leave my DC whilst I sit in the lounge" it reads horribly

BUt I trust my judgement and common sense, and I am the only one on here who knows what my flat looks like and how small it is...

I would be furious if you were my partner. Yabu and particulary stupid.

I would say YABU - I googled this myself recently, and discovered that most deaths by drowning happen silently, in not very many seconds (I read 20-30 secs somewhere in some cases). I had always assumed that you would hear someone thrashing about, but it seems that you wouldn't necessarily hear any sounds of distress.

Aside from drowning, I can't imagine the upset if my DD slipped under the water, as she does from time to time through playing about, and I wasn't there to fish her out instantly.

Worth also emptying the bath straight away; heard horrid story of a child getting out of bed and climbing into unattended bath where the water had been left in

Falls into my "Chances are it would be ok but why take the risk when the consequences are so awful" category

See, the risk is not just that the child may drown - what if they turned the hot tap on themselves or tried to stand up and slipped? Even standing at the bathroom door is too far to catch them before they've cracked their head open on the side of the bath.

YABU not to be able to dedicate 10mins to your child in order for them to have a bath in SAFETY.

Ffs, is Eastenders really that important?

I'm all for leaving children in cars when popping in to pay for petrol but leaving them sitting in water is really silly. YABU.

Notnow, I have just been responding to the OP, who has stated that her OH is totally against her leaving their DD unattended in the bath, while she goes off and does other stuff.

I just do not get how difficult it is to dedicate 10 minutes or so to bath time. Or to be organised enough to get things together so that you don't have to leave your small child unattended.

Leaving a small child unattened in or near water should always be a huge no-no to the adult in charge. Fact.

yanbu.if you feel confident doing this then do it.if your oh is also doing this then he is being unreasonable expecting you not to and just trying to get one up on you.

I think some people have missed that whilst the OP's DH is annoyed with her for leaving the DC in the bath, it is him who leaves her to watch the TV!

I suppose my youngest DS might be about the age of a 2.5 yr old in terms of ability (he is 5 but has Downs) and I have left him fo ten seconds to get a towel or something out of the airing cupboard before, which is just outside the bathroom, but means he is out of eye sight. I can hear him playing and I would know the difference if anything happened. I wouldn't leave him to make a drink or do anything that wasn't essential though. If I have to leave him for any other reason, (phone, door) I get one of his older brothers to sit with him.

I would never do it. DP nearly drowned in a pond when he was a toddler and he was only saved when his cousin (who was only 8) managed to drag him out. This has made him understandably nervous with the kids around water.

It takes a few minutes to bathe a child - is there anything so important that can't wait that long?

I live in a tiny flat, and if I wanted to leave the room I would never be more than 5 seconds from the bathroom, but why would I risk it? How long does it take for your toddler to fall and bang her head?

Sorry, but I think YABU.

Type in burns by bth water, even more shocking rates.
When my baby niece done it, she got 1st degree burns, to her feet, hands legs and bum, as she turned the tap on and scalded herself.

she ended up with 4 super bugs (MRSA, Septicemia and 2 others) as well as having to have skin grafts, painful bandage changes and she will also have skin grafts until her skin stops growing as well as physiopherphy (sp) and 6 x creams daily.

All for a phone call, now a chance in hell after going through what she did, would I even consider doing so!

Im sure your children's well being and safety is more important then a idiotic TV program, at least you can watch said program again, but you cannot change the detrimental effects off your idioticness!

Wouldn't do it. But often I go into the kitchen or wherever to do one thing, get distracted by something else, then remember what I was there for - I could never take risk of doing that if DC in the bath! There are so many other times when you could leave DD, that would be so much safer.

Consider yourself told OP, you're an idiot.

[hmmm]

She didn't say that she was going to sit down with a glass of wine and watch Eastenders...jeez people.

littlemrshappy the OP said it was her husban who watches TV whilst their DC is in the bath, not her.

I don't know your flat but I do do stuff whilst DS is in the bath. He's 3 and 4 months, I'm not so sure I would've done the same a year ago though.

I should point out that our bath is literally one step from the bathroom doorway, our bedroom is one further step away and the doors are parrallel to each other, I can see him and hear him wherever I am and I'm in and out brushing teeth, washing bums etc.

In our old house the bathroom was enormous and just cleaning my teeth would mean I was further away from him than I am now in a seperate room.

I don't think I'd feel comfortable being out of sight of him for more than a few seconds though, that's the blessing of a fecking tiny house I suppose.

Spillage, small children can, and do, die in the bath. I would be willing to be a lot of money on the fact that those drowned children were left unattended.

So, yes I do absolutely think that the OP is being an idiot for leaving her 2.5 year old child alone in the bath.

At the moment I am sprawled on the sofa MNing while DD is watching Wonder Pets on Nick2. Hardly a model mother But there are some things that are really just bloody common sense. And there are some things that are really just not worth risking.

I sometimes leave DS, he is 3. Just to potter about tidying his room, never for long period of time, literally pop my head round door every couple of minutes. We have a rule though, if im not in the room he has to sing, loudly, if he stops singing im straight in there. TBH bathtime is a good time for me to perch on the loo seat and read a good book so I quite enjoy sitting in there with him splashing away!

YABI

DS1's Godmother's Nan lost her daughter at the same age by doing the same thing, child slipped and knockled head, drowned.

Please don't, I now its a PITA as I still ahev to watch ds3 like a hawk and probably always will (SN) when he's in the bath, but really it isn't worth it.

I have started to leave my almost 4 year olds in the bath for moments at a time, to get towels, etc. but after reading this I swear I won't anymore!

from what age would you say it is safe? are there guidelines?

YABU, I would just briefly pop out to get a towel or a nappy but would never leave my dd who is nearly 3 in the bath alone for a duration of time. I usually end up on the toilet doing my Ped Egging while dd is bathing lol