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Parenting

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Original poster

at what age can you leave them unattended in the bath?

74 replies

grumplestilskin · 07/09/2011 19:56

when is it okay to pop in and out and just keep an eye rather than always be in there with them and never leave them along in the bath for a second?
thanks

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Octaviapink · 20/09/2011 19:58

I admit to being slightly mystified by the number of people who say they leave to 'get a towel'. If DCs are going to have a bath, surely it's reasonable to suppose that a towel is going to be required at some point in the near future and therefore taking one into the bathroom might be a thought.

RitaMorgan · 20/09/2011 20:06

Leaving to get a towel (or do anything) when you have a small child in the bath is bizarre - bathing them doesn't take long, the need for a towel is pretty predictable and there is a risk of death ffs!

I'm pretty lax in general but leaving a child under 3 in a situation where they could drown is out and out neglect. I have never seen a reasonable excuse for it.

kenobi · 21/09/2011 10:15

Octaviapink - you'd think so, wouldn't you?! Bathtime happens EVERY DAY, yet I manage to forget the towel about once every ten days.
I also used to be thrown every single month when I couldn't work out why I was so emotional and irritable - it was my DH who had to tell me that I was due for my period. God knows what that says about me...

Fortunately the towel is about 3 steps away (the bathroom and her bedroom are next to each other) but it still makes me nervous. But clearly not nervous enough to make my brain function properly.

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RitaMorgan · 21/09/2011 10:48

I still don't get it - if you forget the towel (and there's no other towel in the bathroom?) then the obvious thing is to risk the child being chilly for 30 seconds while you take the child to the towel. Instead people would rather risk their child drowning.

kenobi · 21/09/2011 16:43

Speaking for myself RitaMorgan, DD's room is at the end of a corridor. The bathroom is on the right-hand side of the corridor.
If both doors opened the same way they would bang into each other.
DD's towel is on the back of her bedroom door, so it takes me 3-4 seconds to grab the towel.
If I were Mr Tickle I could probably get the towel without leaving the bathroom, but hey ho.
I choose to leave her for those 3-4 seconds because I reckon the odds of her drowning in 3-4 seconds are severely outweighed by the annoyance of taking DD out of the bath, carrying her to the door to get the towel, then putting her back in the bath in those 3-4 seconds, particularly as I'm pg and she weighs 16kg.

HTH

RitaMorgan · 21/09/2011 17:18

Why would you put her back in bath once you have the towel?

perfumedlife · 22/09/2011 00:03

Just read this in horror, I still sit with my ds and chat to him in the bath and he is 7! How time flies

It is one of the rare times he really opens up and chats about what's happening at school though, so I find it useful and we bond.

kirriemummy · 14/10/2011 21:49

my wee one is 22 months and I wouldnt go out of the bathroom at all - I feel nervous turning round to get a towel or a toy that she's thown or something, but that's probably my neurosis talking! However, I have had her in the bath a couple of times and she's slipped and dunked under the water momentarily as a result- that convinced me not to leave her on her own for any length of time whatsoever for at least a few years.
I agree with perfumed too - it is a really good time to relax and chat with them with nothing else to distract you. I can tell she really enjoys having me or her dad around too.

StarlightMcKenzie · 14/10/2011 22:09

Mine are almost 5 and just turned 3. I would not leave either for a second.

If I have forgotten a towel I take them to it when they are finished. If I have forgotten soap, I make do with shampoo or something.

They are little children.

KatharineClifton · 14/10/2011 22:15

About six or seven here. I had it drummed into me how silent drowning is as my mother had a friend who drowned as a child (not in her presence) and respect how dangerous any body of water can be.

But I loved bathtime as we chatted and got along.

KatharineClifton · 14/10/2011 22:18

I would like to have a bath unsupervised by children though.

SilentBob · 14/10/2011 22:25

I had a conversation with my daughter about this exact thing this evening. I used to sit with her for every single bath until she was past 7 years old. It never occured to me that I didn't have to. Unusual, seeing as I was always pretty laid back about most other things, child-wise.

She now rips the piss from me for doing it. I think her friends were about 3 or 4 when they were left unsupervised.

mybrainsthinkingcookyou · 14/10/2011 22:42

Erm...my 10 month old baths with her nine year old big sister but i am always being bossy present: baby is a wriggle-bot. Hell, she nearly drowns when I am in the bath with her! Left older one alone when she was about 7.
At 9 alone she still has door open - ostensibly to hear radio but have found her asleep in bath at least three times...

Shakey1500 · 14/10/2011 22:49

Ds is 4 and, as others have said, I will pootle about upstairs popping my head in every couple of minutes but keeping a constant stream of chatter and singing.

Grumpla · 14/10/2011 22:55

If I have forgotten the towel I will SPRINT to DS's room to get it rather than get soaked lifting him out without one - he is 2.

Until he was about 1.5 I wouldn't even do that.

I'd never leave him to do anything else like answer the door / phone etc. Never ever ever.

Okay, maybe when he is a teenager.

Beamur · 14/10/2011 23:02

My DD is 4, and I'll potter about tidying up while she is in the bath but check on her frequently - she talks almost non-stop though, so there is usually a constant stream of noise and splashing! Our bath has shallow sides and a non-slip bottom and she can get herself in and out (long long legs) but I wouldn't leave her to answer the phone or door.

frightstick · 14/10/2011 23:05

DS is 2 and has bath with DS1 (5) so I rely on ds1 if o nip off.

Word of warning though, I thought DS2 was more than capable of not driving but he went through a phase of sitting across the width of the bath with his feet up. One day he slipped, submerged widthways with legs in air and couldn't get up. I was there to lift h out but was a bit

flakemum · 15/10/2011 09:23

I would be far too worried to leave them in a bath! It's just not worth the risk at all. I agree it's good bonding time. Mine were 8yrs but no door locked and I am around putting washing away ect. If you too busy I used to get mine to have quick shower instead. They both prefer a shower anyway now they older.

MrBloomsNursery · 15/10/2011 13:06

Until they can bathe/shower themselves? I really wouldn't take the risk.

Iggly · 15/10/2011 14:07

What are all these things people are popping out to do during bath time? Get a towel fine, anything else? I'm confused!

When I bathe DS I make sure I have everything to hand. Am too paranoid otherwise.

scarevola · 15/10/2011 14:10

I was actually bathing them, or pottering in the bathroom until they were 4+.

Even now for the youngest (age 7) I stay within earshot and chat (she likes the en suite bathroom, and I'm usually in the bedroom).

Beamur · 15/10/2011 15:41

I'm no further away than the next room, putting away clothes, making beds, that sort of thing.

Meglet · 15/10/2011 15:45

I've been leaving DS since he was 4.5 so I can read DD's story.

I do yell out for him every minute or so though. And I'm only a few feet away so can hear what he's doing all the time.

Shinyshoes1 · 15/10/2011 16:10

My DD is 3.10 yrs and I leave her in the bath whilst I'm in the bedroom folding clothes, she constantly natters and sings and I ask if she's ok even though I can hear her.

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