Where do you store the bath plug? Mum shares son’s close escape

By Casey De Farria, CPR Kids

This post has been shared with permission from CPR Kids – read about their online classes at the end of the article.

We often share the tip to always remove the plug from the bath once kids are finished bathing, so that water doesn’t sit in the bath, posing a huge drowning risk. But what about the plug between baths? Toddlers often surprise us with what they are capable of.

Here is the story Illi shared with us last month:

“At 4am our 4-year-old son came running down to our bedroom shouting that his brother was in the bath and needed urgent help. We found our cheeky, adventurous 2–year-old in the bath fully clothed with nappy and everything on. He had pulled up a stool to climb in (he’s never climbed in on his own before), put the plug in, turned the tap on and the bath was overflowing and the bathroom was flooding.

The scariest part and something I feel deeply traumatised by is that he had clearly been trying to get out for a while and had given up and was tired… he was kneeling on his knees and falling asleep in the water. I just can’t believe what a close call this was.

This situation is not something I ever would of thought of and it’s led me to think what other serious dangers are there that his little 2-year-old mind thinks of but I definitely haven’t.

I’m so incredibly grateful my 4-year-old woke up as we would never have heard (our room is at the other end of the house) our 4-year-old is such a heavy sleeper too so it’s honestly a miracle he woke up.

We had Archie (cheeky 2-year-old) checked by a medical professional and thank god he’s absolutely fine! A few minutes more and this could have been a very different story. Obviously, there’s been a lock put on the bathroom door now and the plug is also in a locked cupboard. I have purchased an alarm sensor to put on his door.

I posted what had happened in a mum’s group and so many parents shared that they never would have thought of this either. I hope this story can educate other parents because honestly, I consider myself to be REALLY on top of child safety, every effort is taken to ensure the safety of our kids at all times but I honestly just never thought of locking away the plug.“

So a reminder – put the bath plug somewhere that little ones cannot access.

We are so glad that Illi’s little ones are okay – although everyone was very shaken after the event. We are also grateful to Illi for sharing this with us so that we can spread the word about this little-known danger.

As a result of the current lockdowns, CPR Kids is running additional online classes. These cover essential first aid, as well as a special class on baby & child CPR and choking. Find out more here.