Baby Bath Time Safety

Bath time can be great fun for you and child. You can keep it fun by allowing your child to play with toys in the bath, such as squirters or toys that float like boats. Safety is the main priority when bathing a child, so make sure you always stay close to your child at all times especially if your child is under five years.

Water temperature is probably the most important part to remember, you certainly don't want to scold your child so check with your elbow. Why your elbow you ask? Well remember that babies skin is very sensitive and not as tough as adult skin, so it reacts to temperatures differently. So if it feels nice on your elbow your baby will find that temperature perfect.

There are risks to bathing a child. The two main risks you have to worry about are scalds which we covered in the first part of this article. If you prefer you could always check the temperature of a bath with a thermometer.

The second one only really applies to newborns or very young children and that is drowning. Newborns are at more risk as they are "Top Heavy" and constantly need their head supporting. We don't want to put you off bathing your child, we just want to make you aware of the dangers. They key thing to do is take your time bathing a child and the try not to be distracted.

So remember our top tips for safe bathing are:

1. Always supervise children of all ages at bath time.

2. Check the water temperature using your elbow or use a thermometer.

3. Get everything you need ready, and place it nearby to make it easy to reach so that you never have to leave your child once they are in the bath.

4. Make sure you rinse the bath out once you have finished to keep it clean.

5. Make sure you or your partner remain with your child throughout the whole time. Don't let anything distract you. If you do find you need to do something, or have forgotten get something, make sure someone is able to take over.

6. Distractions can be trouble so if you think you could be distracted turning your mobile phone off or taking your landline off the hook will help. If you are bathing your child and the door bell goes or the phone does ring, ignore it! But if you do have to go and answer the phone or the door for any reason, take your child out of the bath, wrap your child in a warm towel and take your child with you.

7. Check the water temperature before putting your child in the bath, using your elbow or a thermometer.

8. You can always add more water to the baby bath, check the bath water constantly and add more hot or cold accordingly. To get the bath to the perfect temperature we recommend running the hot and cold water together, at the same speed. This will make the bath 50% hot and 50% cold. If you need to increase the temperature, add more warm water. If you do need to add more hot water fill a jug up and add it gradually, as this reduces the risk of your child getting burnt when you add water directly from the taps.

9. A great tip to remember when using a baby bath is to fill the baby bath up to belly button height (roughly 8 cm) which is plenty for a child who can sit un- supported.

10. Make sure both taps are turned off tight and if you have mixer tap, for safety, point them to the cold setting. If your child manages to turn the mixer on, he or she will just get a cold shock, rather than a hot scald.

11. Keep a watchful eye at all times on your child, even if you are using a bath seat or cradle. They are not guaranteed to keep your child safe unsupervised.

12. Remember to empty and wash the bath out when you have finished to keep it clean, especially if your child has an accident.

We hope you have found these baby bath safety tips useful, and it has made you aware of some hazards you may have not thought of. Baby bath time can be a great way to bond with your child, and both of you should enjoy it.