What age can a child bathe alone?

LoCarb

H and I had an argument over the appropriate age a child can take a bath by him/herself. He thinks 3 is the magic number. I disagree 100%. But I'm unsure of the correct answer? I know it's not necessarily an age but also a maturity, height, skill level (expert swimmer)? Our neighbors have 8 yo triplets and they are not allowed to bathe unsupervised; not sure if that is norm.

 edit: I have shittygrammar.

MarSamWhitney

I dont think its 3..my neices would probably turn the hot water on or something. I would lean more towards 6 or 7. But im a nervous nelly.

+SMACE+

Your H is on crack. 3? No f?cking way. 

When I nannied, the 7 y/o was just starting to shower unattended.  

[Deleted User]

My 4.5 year old niece takes baths alone.  She's a pretty mature kid.  8 seems pretty old to take a supervised bath.  I took solo showers at 8.

saraboston

Once they're old enough to shower rather than bathe. IMO.

synchrosally

Definitely not 3. I'd say 7 depending on the kid.

isacdimi10

between the ages of 4-6 my parents began phasing out their involvement in bathing of my sisters (they're currently 7).

They take baths still and my dad runs the water and then lets them do their thing now. My mom checks their hair afterwards and if its not clean or still soapy she redoes it in the sink.

LaCally4

The closest we come with my DD who is almost 5 is to let her bathe in our bathroom while one of us is in the bedroom with the door open.

skio

Certainly not three. I think it varies by kid, but sometime over five fo sho. 

Aaaaand I just realized I'll be bathing DD every night for at least another four years.  Oh shiz.  

Wufroggy79

Not three.  I'm trying to remember when I took a bath alone.  I think somewhere around 1st to 2nd grade my mom got it started, washed my hair, and then let me play alone for awhile.  She would come to check on me every few minutes or so.

thisplaceisawesome

When they either stop pooping in the tub or can at least clean it up themselves.

tarebear9891

Your DH is crazy! My DS is almost 4 and no way would I leave him near any sort of water unattended. Maybe 6-7? Who knows it depends on maturity level but that would be a minimum.

If you want to hammer your point in, a friend of a friend lost her 3 year old daughter because she left her in the tub and sat in the living room where she thought she could hear her. 

grr_aargh

+SMACE+:

Your H is on crack. 3? No f?cking way. 

When I nannied, the 7 y/o was just starting to shower unattended.  

My elder children were directly supervised until about 4, indirectly supervised from 4 to 6, and then on their own-ish after that.  We pop our head in to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to a couple times a week now. 

 

Seriously.  I wouldn't leave a 3 year old unattended in the bathtub.   

anneimal98

saraboston:

Once they're old enough to shower rather than bathe. IMO.

I think this. So 5-7ish maybe? Prior to that, maybe some decreasing bath supervision but not totally unsupervised.

septemberdreams

DS is 5 and I think around 3.5-4 we started doing parts alone.  We still do baths. Now, we run the water, watch him wash his body and hair and then leave him to sit/play in the tub.  DS is a constant talker/singer so we can always hear him. 

winomom22

DD1 can shower independently and she just started this recently. She is almost 6. She prefers baths so she ends up taking a bath with DD2-which she actually prefers to bathing alone. I would feel comfortable with her taking a bath by herself. I would still check on a lot especially if she was quiet. 3 is WAAAAY to young IMO to bathe alone.

ETA She has been independently washing herself for a couple years now. If we are in there, we are bathing DD2 and might have to cue DD1 what to do next but she does it all herself.