Bath safety for young children is a serious matter. Year after year, bath time horror stories circulate the news. Babies drown, children slip and fall, and significant injuries occur when children are left unattended. While sometimes these instances are insignificant, the smallest amount of water can be extremely dangerous to a young child under the wrong circumstances.
Our goal is to provide you with the information you need to make bath time safe and enjoyable for everyone. There is simply too much at stake not to do everything you can to protect your family. Let us share four tips for bath safety with young children.
1. Always provide bath time supervision. With just an inch of water young children can slip, fall or drown. While minor accidents can happen, the best way to prevent anything serious from happening is simple supervision. Be there. Do not allow your child to bathe alone. Even the most mature young children should be supervised in the tub. When it is not bath time, keep your bathroom door closed and create rules against turning on the tub without a parent. If you have a babysitter, remind him or her to stay in the bathroom while your child bathes even if your child appears old enough to bathe alone.
2. Teach your child how to properly adjust water temperature. While adults can handle very hot water temperatures, small children cannot. To prevent scalding, test the water with your wrist or elbow to ensure it is warm, not hot. Do not test the temperature with your hands. The skin on our hands is made to handle temperatures better than other parts of our body, and therefore the hot water may seem cooler than it actually is. When your child is old enough to turn on the faucet, teach him or her to start with cold water and gradually make it warmer.
3. Install no-slip strips on the bottom of the tub. Children are very active. The best way to help avoid slipping and falling while entering and exiting the tub is to install no-slip strips on the bottom of the tub. These can also help them with balance and allow for a much safer bath time experience.
4. Keep toys within reach. One of the best parts of bath time for children is playing with toys. While you might prefer to keep them out of reach to make the bath process quicker and your bathroom more organized, children tend to grab them anyway. To avoid slips and falls, keep the toys within their reach so they do not have to stand up or climb to get them.
This National Bath Safety Month make sure your children are protected from harm! While these seem to be easy to manage tips consistent implementation can seem hard to follow when things get busy. Keep yourself and your family safe. Do you have questions? Need help? Don’t wait to contact us. We are your Tallahassee attorneys ready and here to assist you.