Child Bath Safety

You can't mess around

Parents are compelled to wash their children, dirty or not. Just as Mama Bear licks Baby Bear's face clean, human Mommies and Daddies are quick to wipe the ice cream from a chocolate chin. Just as instinctual is the urge to keep children safe. We cannot ignore that urge.

No time off for good behavior

Anytime children are around water is the time to pay close attention. As a parent, you are hard-wired to be alert whenever your child is in danger. We have cleverly decorated our bathrooms, showered our babies with toys, and made bath time as fun as it possibly can be. This does not change the fact that water is dangerous. No matter how good your child is, or how important that phone call is, never leave a child unattended in water.

A child can drown in less than 2 inches of water.

Grabbing the phone or the camera gives your child enough time to drown.

Scalding water can cause serious burns, especially for children.

Slipping and falling can occur without any notice, and lead to a domino effect of injuries.

The facts do not need to scare you into a lifetime of sponge baths! Awareness allows you to prevent the dangers of bath time and get on with the business of soap bubble hair-dos. Becoming mindful of a few easy tips will go a long way when it comes to having a safe and fun bath with baby.

Can I get a little empathy here

Think of a bath from your kid's point of view. Suddenly you're naked. You are back in that big porcelain swimming pool in the bathroom and it is cold. So cold. Then the water is so hot! Oh no… here comes the soap. How did everything get so slippery.

As you plan out your bath routine, and a little planning is your key to success here, imagine the entire event with the eyes of your child. This will help you think of everything. Trial and error could probably do that too, but that is not the method you want to employ here. Not when drowning is a possibility.

The bare necessities

Here are some really important, top of the list type of considerations:

Be ready to ignore all distractions. This is no time to see what those nice gentlemen in ties have to say about God.

Have all of your supplies ready. Towel, check. Shampoo, check. And so on.

Avoid filling the bath higher than just a few inches. It should never be more than waist high.

Set your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Some like it hot but not baby.

Use no-slip decals, non-skid bath mats, and child seats that don't move around in the tub to prevent slips and falls. A wonderful low-budget solution is to use a towel in the bath. It will float at baby's side like seaweed but it gets the job done.

Learn CPR. For goodness sake, you're a parent now.

Have fun already

Baths are necessary, at least 2 or 3 times a week, so make them safe and fun. You have luxuries that Mama Bear never did. Plush towels, kneepads, no-tear shampoo, rubber duckies of all varieties, and the list goes on. Put your instincts first and then have a blast making the world's biggest soap-bubble afro.

More information on training