7 Bathroom Safety Tips for Children

When I was eight, I used to admire my mom’s perfectly arched and manicured eyebrows, and so one day I found myself in the bathroom doing what I thought she did to make her eyebrows look nicer: I grabbed a razor and carefully glided it over my right eyebrow.

You can imagine my shock when I removed the blade and saw that all the hair above my right eye was gone. Thankfully, the only damage done was to my pride, but that day could have gone a lot differently.

In fact, over 2,200 children experience fatal injuries in the home each year. Injuries and deaths that are completely preventable.

So, in the spirit of National Bath Safety Month, keep reading to learn about the different steps you can take to make sure your home and bathroom are safe, even from the inquiring and innovative minds of children.

Bathroom Slips and Falls

To slip or not to slip? That is the question.

It’s not just sharp objects you have to be on the lookout for when it concerns children and bathrooms. Making your bathroom as slip-free as possible is also a top priority.

Why? Because slips and falls cause injuries, tending to injuries costs money, and money does not grow on trees. Slips and falls can also leave lifelong scars, and no one wants that.

5 best ways to limit slips and falls in a bathroom

1. Do not put down throw rugs.
2. Make sure your bathtub has a nonslip mat.
3. Tell children to sit while they’re bathing.
4. Install grab bars on your shower doors or in your tub.
5. Use faucet coverings to limit your child’s chances of cutting themselves if they fall.

Got a Climber?

Remember that razor that gave me the makeover from you-know-where? Well, before regret there was determination; I was willing to do whatever I had to do for that blade, meaning I had one leg propped up on the sink while my entire body stretched out to pull it from the medicine cabinet.

As it turns out, I wasn’t so different from how many children still are: pulling, grabbing, and climbing at any access point in the bathroom to go higher and higher. For many kids, stability and gravity are overrated concepts, but as adults we know better and must do the smart thinking for the little people we love.

3 best ways to keep your child or toddler from scaling your bathroom walls

1. Install a lock on the outside of the bathroom door.
2. Invest in doorknob covers.
3. Keep all sharp items locked away, such as razors, scissors, and tweezers.
4. Supervise bathroom time, and encourage your child not to climb.

Water Accidents in the Bathroom

Toddlers can be ignorant about how top-heavy they are, and young children generally can’t fathom how their imagination could cause severe damage if tested in the bathroom.

What children often find out a little too late is that water is wet, soap is slippery, and bathtub safety is no laughing matter.

Bumping heads, burning oneself, and even drowning are grave thoughts to consider but completely possible and are steadily on the rise.

5 best ways to keep your children safe from water accidents in the bathroom

1. If you must leave the bathroom, take your child out of the tub and with you.
2. Keep toilet lids down and install child-safety locks to keep children from toppling in.
3. Buy and install caps for outlets, and move all electrical appliances away from the sink and tub.
4. Install child-proof tub knobs so children can’t turn on the water without your supervision.
5. Monitor the temperature of the water to prevent a child from burning themselves.

Bottom Line

Accidents ranging from the minimal to the fatal happen in the bathroom every day. Thus, the only way to ensure that a child is safe is to prioritize supervision and keep sharp, dangerous, and tempting objects out of reach.

Children may not understand their mortality, but adults do. So, while your child may fuss and fight with you about interrupting their bathroom playtime, they’ll thank you when they’re older.