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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

First unsupervised bath?

18 replies

quinne · 05/04/2009 08:42

How old was your child when you first let him / her take a bath without you there/ out of earshot? DS1 is 6 and he really doesn't seem to need me to be even for anything except hair washing. But I've been supervising his baths since day 1 (obviously!) and its a bit of a habit tbh. (One I want to break though). I'd hate to find out the hard way that he wasn't ready for it yet.

(then when i've cracked this one, its the biggie next: letting him out of the garden without supervision!).

I am being over-protective?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

compo · 05/04/2009 08:47

well since about the age of 2 I went to get PJS, milk ready, never fill the bath tub very full anyway
maybe you could start by lying on your bed reading a magazine so you can hear him splashing?

my 4 and 2 year olds go out into the garden alone whilst I'm busy in the kitchen, I can hear them and i know they can't get out of the gate.

sagacious · 05/04/2009 08:48

ds is 7 and mainly has showers now but if he's in the bath I still keep an eye on him

I don't know if its over protective but he likes a chat and it seems a good time to do it.

He goes in the garden (fenced in, no way out) with his sister (aged nearly 5) and I listen out for yells

We live in a cul de sac but I still go outside (and pretend to do the garden) if they're out on bikes.

hercules1 · 05/04/2009 09:04

DD is 5 and I never leave hr alone upstairs in the bath. IF I have to nip downstairs I get ds to keep an ear out from his room. I think they have to be a bit older to be unsupervised.

RumourOfAHurricane · 05/04/2009 15:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MintyyAeroEgg · 05/04/2009 16:09

My 8 and 5 year olds bath together still and I pretty much leave them to it while I put clothes away or tidy up upstairs. But I never send them upstairs to do it all on their own. I need to check the water temperature for one thing, and I don't really trust 5 year old DS to wash his bum properly so I'm always there at the end to do that bit for him! . And to help them get dry properly too.

They play out in the garden alone and have done for years tbh!

MayorNazeNotWithChoccyEggs · 05/04/2009 16:13

if i am upstairs then i let dd2 play in the bath by herself. if she is in there with dd1 or ds then i am happy to potter downstairs. dd2 plays in the garden by herself but it is very enclosed and i am always in earshot and pop out every few minutes or so...

supergluebum · 05/04/2009 16:17

Never, but my DC are younger than yours. DS is nearly 4 and fiercely independant. If he wants to hop out of the bath and get something or reach up while in the bath I know he will. I know someone who's son drowned in the bath around the same age reaching a shelf to get bath toys. He slipped and in the intervening time between his father leaving him and returning to the bathroom the unthinkable had happened. So whenever I feel the urge to get something, I am halted in my tracks because of that tragedy. Sorry to give a downer, but I think that they need to be a lot older.

MollieO · 05/04/2009 16:23

Bathroom is ensuite so I sit on the bed reading whilst ds (4) in the bath. I wouldn't want to be out of earshot at this age.

izzymom · 05/04/2009 21:42

DSS's are 7 & 8. I leave them in the bath if I go downstairs, they have the door open and I stay within earshot. I've been doing this for last year or so. Last summer they seemed to reach a point of wanting a little more privacy, and I was happy to let that happen.

DS is 4 in August, DD just 2.Only go as far as bedrooms if they are in bath, but am lucky that they like to sing in the bath so if singing stops, I go straight in to check!

Claire2009 · 05/04/2009 21:45

DD & DS (2 & 3) are put in the bath & I will potter about close by ..am no further than 2 metres away at the very most and in/out checking, washing etc.

They play in the back enclosed garden when the weather is nice, have been out there on/off today on their own while I caught up with housework.

clayre · 05/04/2009 21:47

dd is 6 and she likes a long soak in the bath, if time permits i let her be in the bath alone but im always upstairs and can hear her, i wouldnt let her run the bath herself

applepudding · 05/04/2009 22:50

our bathroom is downstairs. From when DS was 3 or 4 I've left him in the bathroom with his toys whilst I've got on with stuff in the kitchen. However, he made such a noise that the minute it went quiet I'd be looking what was wrong!

He has played in our back garden without me since about the same age (he's now 7) but I don't let him out of the front unless I am out there too, mainly because although we live in a culdesac there is no pavement and cars do use our road as a turning point.

Claire2009 · 05/04/2009 22:51

applepudding, do you live in my street?

Sounds v v v v v v similar!

applepudding · 06/04/2009 18:15

Don't think so! There is nobody here with 2 and 3 year old!

Claire2009 · 06/04/2009 21:31

Biglips · 06/04/2009 21:35

mine was 3 and a half before i left her in the bath on her own whilst i was in the bedroom (usually putting the laundry away).

Original poster

quinne · 06/04/2009 21:40

Thanks for all your replies. its good to hear that I'm not being over-protective. I always wonder off and sort clothes etc but sometime between now and when they are 15(!) I'll have to let them bathe alone without even listening for them. I'm not sure when that is, but its reassuring that all the other children haven't being bathing alone for ages, so maybe I will wait a while longer.

When do children get to leave the house alone to go on short journeys? I was doing this when I was 6, but times have changed (I'm thinking cars not paedophiles).

OP posts:

applepudding · 06/04/2009 22:20

I'm not sure that I will be happy letting DS walk alone until secondary school. The cars on the road at the end of my street can go quite fast, and the curve of the hill and parked cars make for difficult visibility when crossing.

I'm planning that when he's in Y5 I will walk him half way to school so that he only has to cross one road with the school crossing.

As you say, its the cars that is the worrying factor really.

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