I have a 3 and 5 yr old and I stay with themin the bathroom when they bathe no matter what. I am asking this question because I heard of a 4 yr old who accidently drowned in the tub recently {removed}. When are children able to take baths on thier own without having to worry about them getting hurt in the tub. My MIL lectured me a couple of weeks ago while on vacation that my 5 yr old daughter is old enough to take her own baths. I don't have to bathe her but I still wash her hair and rinse it. The three yr old bathes herself as well but I do her hair too. They hate showers....so the tub has very little water and sometimes I just let the water run and the shower head is removeable so they are able to rinse themselves with it. I just don't feel confortable leaving my 5 yr old unattended.

my nephew lives with us, my mom wshes his hair at the sink, and makes a bath, only like a couple inches.. so he can play/clean, sometimes someone stays inthere, sometimes not.. depends.. he just has fun playing, and he yell when he is ready to get out,

how old is he?

Hi,
I really know how you feel about leaving your child alone in the tub with all the stories you hear of what could happen....My youngest son is six years old he likes to be indepentdent and bath himself...So what i do is put half a tub full of water, leave the door half way open and stay upstairs with him...I usually put laundry away close by the bathroom so i can still hear him...Every couple of minutes i check on him...At the same time i will be talking to him as i'm putting my laundry away, if he doesn't answer me i'm in there right away...He doesn't wash his hair, well properly yet so i still wash his hair for him...Sometimes i just sit out side the bathroom door that way he has his independence and i still can make sure he is alright...

my nephew is 5, lol, my mom just finished giving him a hair wash, and he just got out of the bath.

My son is almost six and he wants to bathe himself as he is a big boy now!! I just don't put a lot of water in the tub or he will sometimes take a shower and play and wash himself. I stay close by and leave the door open partially, like the previous poster mentioned too. I still have to wash his hair though or he would probably use the entire bottle of shampoo!!

I like the last post let my 5yr old bathe herself. I leave the bathroom door open and I will talk to her while doing other things near the bathroom. I wash her hair still so I do that before she bathe's. I start the water for her and I turn the water off, she is only allowed for the water to come up the her belly button.
Ralinda

Well, my oldest is 5 and yes he bathes himself (except I wash his hair) but his 2 brothers are in the tub as well. My 3 year old and 20 month old.
There is NO WAY that I would ever leave them unattended for 1 second.
I know that my oldest is very mature for his age BUT he is also only 5 years old and I don't want to take any chances of him getting hurt. Who knows a 5 year old might want to rinse himself/herself off and accidently turn on the scalding hot water causing severe burns.
Back to your question....I myself am going to continue to monitor them until my oldest gets to wear he isn't comfortable with me seeing him undressed. Then I'll seperate then I'll let him start taking bathes by himself. So I don't think that'll happen in the near future. Until then I am not taking any chances! I don't want any of my sons to be another statistic.