Bathing Alone - Boston,MA

My friend's 3 1/2 year old died in a bathtub. She was older and capable as well. She hit her head on the side of the tub while playing (I think she slipped) and slumped under the water and drowned. She was only alone in the tub for about 3 minutes.

Also, some children get sleepy in the tub, I knew of another mom who walked out for a moment to answer the phone. She she walked back in, her 4 year old had fallen asleep and slipped under the water. Fortunately, the mother pulled her out before too much damaged happened.

Just isn't worth the risk at such a young age. Drowning is one of the most common deaths of children.

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I think mine were 4 or almost 5 when I would leave them alone for longer than a few minutes. I bring laundry to fold and the laptop to work to the bathroom with me so I feel productive while baby bathes. You can do so much while sitting in there! Organize your baby books, organize your recipes, read, fold laundry, plan your weekly meals, cut coupons!

*I have a 6 year old and a 7 year old - they take showers and I am in there about every 5 minutes checking on them and "hurrying" them along. =)

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It was between the ages of 4 and 5 depending on the child. Never younger than 4. 2 is awfully young. He could slip and fall or something...

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The issue isn't so much about whether a child can swim, or if they're comfortable putting their face in the water, as it is if they were to stand up and slip and fall. They could be seriously injured that way, and even drrown as a result of hitting their head and possibly being knocked unconscious. And I don't think we can ever be 100% sure a toddler won't stand up in the tub.

My son is 5 1/2, and I'll leave him in the bath alone for brief periods, but our house is so small that the entrance to the bathroom is pretty centrally located in our home, which means that I am constantly back and forth across the bathroom door, checking in on him. I am also so close that if there was to be a slip and fall, I'd hear it immediately. The other factor for me, is that our tub has a good textured bottom, that really renders it NOT slippery. That's not to say that the stars couldn't align and something serious couldn't happen. That's why at 5 1/2, I still check on him every couple minutes, or I'm calling out to him to check to make sure he's ok.

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My older kids are my helpers, and help keep an eye on the baby in the tub... like yours, my son will stay in there until the water turns freezing and he's all pruney!!... If not, I wouldn't leave him for more than a few seconds at a time, like to grab a towel, or a washcloth... or a book for yourself ;) Busy yourself by cleaning the sink or toilet or whatever while you're in there, so you're still watching him, but being productive at the same time.

My older girls and 6 and 7 and shower now... THAT'S when I completely left them alone. I don't think I ever just flat out didn't watch them at all when they were still tub bathers. No real reason I suppose, other than it just made sense to be in the same room as them.

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Oh SNAP! Definately NOT that young my dear! I rember starting to let them shower-while supervised- alone when they were 6 years old, I would literally sit on the toilette with my fav magazine-no I wasn't using the bathroom lol!- and just walk them through what they had to do, at times I still had to scrub their hair with shampoo and scrub their body with soap. At age 7 I think is a perfect age, I was always freaked out from all the stories I would hear about kid's having "accidents" in the tub so I was always paranoid.

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NOT at that age, at all.

Kids, can drown in only about 1" of water.
They also slip and slide in the tub.
Its slippery.

AND remember that drowning can be a 'silent' situation... you CANNOT 'hear' a person drowning or making a lot of noise.
So how do you discern, their tub noises???

My kids are 8 and 4 (almost 5), and I still am close by or there, when they are in the tub.
Or they take showers.

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I'm another bad parent... I left mine alone for a few minutes at a time when they were little. They usually made alot of noise and a mess lol. I was afraid of them slipping too thats whay I had lots of those sticky no slip things o the bottom of the tub... i noticed no one mentioned those...

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Never. But I make mine take showers -- you just never know. Even my 2.5 year old takes showers -- I still supervise but can put laundry away with door open (our bathroom is attached to bedroom). I only do that for a minute at a time, then come back and check on him. I also will bring my laptop into the bathroom while he showers and check email, pay bills. You can also bring laundry into bathroom to fold, or pluck your eyebrows, paint your toenails, do some sewing, go through the mail, etc. if you want to do something productive.

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Mine are 3 and 1 and I wouldn't dream of leaving them alone for a while yet. Can't you slip, hit your head, and sink into the water at any age?

I think I would consider letting mine shower alone starting at 5 or 6. I would still probably hang out really close and listen in until they were older yet. Maybe by 10, I'd be comfortable sleeping or watching tv.

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I think around 3 or so I was comfortable leaving the room for short spurts, like going down the hall to put clothes in the dryer, or to do some light tidying up. I told my kids to sing when I left the room (boy did they love that!) I knew to run right in if the singing stopped :)
And yes I was always just steps away and the bathroom door was open.

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My children all shower. They are 3, 5 and 6. I leave them alone with door open. I'm not so worried about the older two, but I check on my three year old frequently.

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I would say 6 or older. SH is right, drowning is a silent death. They can slip, hit their head and thats it, you don't hear it. Same thing when they are in the pool or even those little plastic ones. When my kids were older, they would keep the door cracked and my son talked to himself the whole time (lol) so I could hear that he was ok and for my daughter I would just yell in there every few minutes and ask if she was ok. You can take a book, laptop, bills, etc in there with you while she is bathing to keep you busy. Do not risk something like this. Good luck.

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Not til she's 6 or so. It doesn't matter if they can swim (reading other responses), they slip or hit their head have a little shock and are kinda like a turtle on its back or just can't get their footing, that's how they drown. I mean, shoot, I've taken showers before in different showers and slip and fall and when I try to get up I fall again b/c it's slippery... sometimes it is like that for the drowning child, they slip under and then when they try to get up they just keep slipping and they drown. I'm kinda sad that moms choose to put their two toddlers or toddler and baby bathing together, what a huge responsibility to put on a young child... how horrible they will feel if the younger drowns while they are in there. A lot of parents whose kids have drowned in tubs only left for a few mins or was folding laundry right in front of the door watching every couple minutes. Water is nothing to gamble with and it makes me sad when parents do.

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I haven't read the other answers, but I wouldn't recommend it until he's about 5 or 6 and responsible enough to be left alone for short spans of time. Even then you should be checking on them regularly as you'll be amazed at the stupid "ideas" they can come up with when in the water. (Once caught my oldest playing Spider Man and was trying to scale the shower walls. YIKES! ) If he can't get in and out by himself safely, he's too small to be left alone.

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At 5, I was keeping my ears open, calling to him, checking in etc while I put away folded laundry in our bedrooms near the bathroom...

Why not take a book with you & do some reading? Or read to him?

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I have a 10y and a 4y. I don't let them take baths by themselves. I take stuff like laundry into the bathroom. The 10y is allowed to take a shower alone, with the door open, and the 4y has just started taking showers with us standing right there.

My neighbor let her 6y take a bath with the door open while she was down the hall watching tv. To me that was careless and lazy.

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Between 4 and 5. My daughter always seemed to want me there, to talk to or play with, but I started insisting that I could be gone for a few minutes at a time.

When my daughter hit about 8 1/2, she went from wanting my company to wanting her privacy, which I found to be perfectly normal. She was starting to see changes associated with puberty - breasts. Time for privacy!

Sorry, but watching a 10 year-old in the bath is not only unnecessary, but almost creepy, in my opinion.

My 4 year old does pretty well, and I have been slipping in and out with the 2 year old since she was just over 2 (she does better than he does :). They bathe together, so there is always plenty of noise to make sure both heads are above water :) I wash them up to start, and they get pulled out when there is too much fun (aka water all over the BR!) It depends on the kids. I am always within earshot. The goal is independence so I am not sure why a 10 y/o needs bathtub supervision unless they have a medical condition. Better to be out of the bathroom within earshot to hear how they do when they think they are on their own.

i feel lucky, my 2 year old and 8 year old girls shower together.

I would say at about 3 or 4 depending on the baby

Well then I guess according to the other responses I would be the bad parent. My daughter has been bathing alone for since she was 2(she just turned 3). I have always kept a pretty close eye on her though. The door is always open and I go in a check every couple mins. There is so much that I can get done while she is not in my way, laundry, dishes, vaccuming, ect. I guess it really just depends on the person. My daughter has only fallen once in the tub and that was because she tried to slide down the back of the tub and bonked her head. Hasnt done it again.

I hope this helps. I just think that some people are toooooooooooooooooooo over protective of their kids. Just my OPINION.

My kids were in swim lessons from age 18 months to now....so I think about 3 years old I did not worry to much. I put away laundry and cleaned the room the bath tub was in....but seemed like she was just fine because she could go under water and up again with no problems. I checked on her about every 5 min if I did not hear NOISE of playing in there. They are 8 and 11 now.

My girls 5 and 3 bathe alone. I should mention they bathe together. I mean I come in the beginning and help with the washing or watch over it to make sure it gets done. Then I let them play, but my ears are constantly focused on hearing both their voices, if I don't I go check on them. I check on them when I walking about through the house too, our house is not huge, so its very easy to keep an eye on them when not in the bathroom.

I let the 7 yr. old girl play in the tub by herself but I am NEVER out of hearing range. She also knows if I call out and ask her a question she is to answer immed. If not she is out of the tub and can only take showers for several days.

The 4 year old is not mature enough to stay sitting down or not get water on the walls, the ceiling, the hallway walls, in the cabinet under the sink, you get the picture, he plays totally wildly so he won't be alone for some time.

We left our 1st daughter when she was around 4.5 or so. The bath is right off the kitchen so I was doing a little pick up of things while she played. She much like your child can stay in there forever too! Sometimes I use bath time as a chance to clean the bathroom. Two birds with one stone!!