A couple of weeks ago, a toddler in Brisbane got her fingers stuck down a bath drain. The story made national news because of the time it took for emergency services and the plumber to release the little girl’s hand.
Kiara Hampton told 9news when she tried to take her daughter, Olivia, out of the bath, she realized she was stuck. The mum tried liquid soap to pry Olivia’s little fingers from the small holes of the drain. When she couldn’t get the little girl’s fingers out, she rang for emergency services to come and help.
It took 7 hours for the little girl to be freed from the bath – which required the plumber to demolish the bath and gain access from underneath the apartment to release the toddler’s hand.
An incident like this can happen to any parent and it happens more frequently than we realise.
Bath drains can come in different webbed styles. The reason for the webbing is to act like a strainer when the water flows through the drain. Older style bath drains tend to be more netted and have more rounder holes, which makes the opening the perfect size for little fingers to get trapped. When water is released from the bath, the suction can force those little fingers through the holes.
Most modern bath drains are more a webbed style drain, with the holes as wedges which makes them less likely for children to get their fingers caught.
But children should always be watched when in the bath and I always make it a habit to pull the plug after all three of my girls are out of the water.
To stop the girls from playing with the plug, I put the toys to the other end of the bath. I make sure there are a lot of bath toys to prevent boredom which often tempts a curious mind to play with the plug.
Another thing I do is get my oldest child to be nearest the plug and my younger two the furtherest from the plug.
If you find your child does get their fingers caught in a bath drain, ring emergency services. The emergency services will do what they can and possibly choose to work alongside a plumber to disconnect the bath drain.
In most bath drain emergencies where the fingers can’t be released from the drain, the bath will need to be disconnected which will require jackhammering of the base of the bath to gain access underneath. The operation will involve the plumber disconnecting the bath trap and drain from the bath itself. Emergency services will sometimes sedate the child to ensure they are relaxed during the rescue effort because it can be traumatic for a little one to not be able to move because they’re stuck.
The best thing we can do as parents is to prevent it from happening.
You can use my tips above and as another preventative measure, you could buy these bath drain covers – Skip-Hop Kids Moby Top Stopper or the Boon – Ray Drain Cover from Lime Tree Kids. It’s a suction cup device designed to be placed over the bath plug while your little ones are in the bath. The suction makes it hard for toddlers to remove easily which stops them from accessing the bath drain.
It’s important to do what you can to prevent your child getting their fingers stuck down the drain because it can take a couple of hours to free your child. Plus the drama and emotional toll it can have on everyone involved.
Do you have any other tips that you use to prevent your child playing with the bath plug while they’re in the bath?
Disclosure: There are affiliate links on this post. Should you choose to purchase one of these drain covers, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
We look forward to seeing your projects for this weeks Home Improvement Thursday.
As always, Nicole and I enjoy seeing what you get up to around your home. Thank you for linking up.
Home Improvement Thursday Rules For Linking Up
If you’re a DIY, home organization, building, renovation, home makeover, home decorating, home maintenance or trade related blogger we’d LOVE you to link up with us below. Here are the HIT rules for how to link up and what you need to do once you have linked up.
Linkable posts, must centre around the topics of DIY, Renovations, Home Organisation, Home Improvement, Home Makeovers, Home Styling, or Home Maintenance.
You can share 1 post each week. Please make sure they are new to the “Home Improvement Thursday” party.
Linking is simple, find the little blue button at the end of the post that says, Add Your Link, and then pop in your URL, and follow the prompts.
Your link only needs to be added once and it will automatically show up on both of our blogs… it’s that easy! Grab our #HIT button and pop it on your sidebar.
Don’t forget to share it with others. Follow the blogs of your fellow #HIT family, and leave a comment.
Please visit and comment on at least three blogs that are near you on the list.
Leave a comment on the post below so we can return the favour and comment on your post.
Don’t forget to follow The Builder’s Wife and The Plumbette.
