Baby bathtubs buying guide
Forget about the towel-lined sink you might have been bathed in as a baby. Although that's certainly still an option, there
are plenty of portable bathtubs on the market these days that make bath time a whole lot easier and more fun for you and your
baby.
- Safety
Safety strategies
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association has certified two brands of baby bath seats: Safety 1st and Learning Curve/The First Years and there is a voluntary industry safety standard. Even so, we don't recommend them or any other bath seats.
Based on Consumer Product Safety Commission data, 138 deaths and an estimated 650 hospital-treated injuries linked to baby bath seats occurred between 1994 and 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. Baby bath seats can tip over, toddlers sometimes slip through the leg holes, and kids often try to climb out of or over the seat. In addition, the suction cups at the bottom of a baby bath seat must be attached to a smooth surface, and if the tub is a slip-resistant or nonskid model, the suction cups will not adhere and the bath seat will slip. Even if the seat seems to be secured to the bottom or side of the tub, it can dislodge and tip, and keep a helpless baby's face underwater. And despite warning labels, the seats can induce a false sense of security, leading parents to think that they can turn their back on the baby for a short time. In many drowning cases, parents had left the room only momentarily.
Given the troubled history of baby bath seats, we continue to believe that parents should avoid this product. Avoid using any baby bath seat, including the kind with a support "arm" that attaches to the side of the tub.
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