My Baby Drinks Bath Water!

When my daughter, now a healthy 3-year-old, was a baby, she went through a phase of trying to drink bath water. Almost every mom I know said that their babies did the same thing- - often by either dunking their faces in the water or by sucking on a wet washcloth. Babies and toddlers often try to drink bath water, but it is rarely a reason to be seriously concerned.

Here are some points to consider if your baby has started drinking bath water.

It's a normal behavior.

Drinking bathwater is a normal developmental phase that most children go through at some point. It is not a sign that your baby has a developmental or behavioral disorder. As always, it's best to check with your pediatrician if your baby's behavior seems alarmingly unusual, but bathwater-drinking is almost certainly not an indicator that there is something wrong with your baby.

Your baby won't get sick.

BabyCenter reports that, although many babies drink bath water, few if any get sick from it. Even if your child has peed in the tub, she isn't likely to contract an infection. The only exception may be if she defecates in her bathwater and somehow manages to drink bath water before you are able to remove her.

Soap isn't likely to be harmful.

Once, when my daughter ate a small amount of a bar of soap, I called a poison control center. The operator reassured me that it takes large amounts of soap to make a child sick. Therefore, it's unlikely that a bit of soap dissolved in a tub full of water could cause any serious problems in kids.

It could cause an upset tummy. A few sips of soapy bathwater could cause a mild upset stomach, but not serious complications. In an absolute worst-case scenario, excessive bathwater drinking could cause your child to throw up. If you are worried about this, get in touch with a poison control center to make sure that your child hasn't ingested too much.

Don't worry about cleaning chemicals.

Even if you've just cleaned the bathtub with strong chemicals such as bleach or ammonia, BabyCenter says not too worry much. The organization notes that cleaning chemicals diluted in a bathtub are still far less concentrated than chlorine and other compounds in a swimming pool. Because of this, it's not likely that the trace amounts of chemicals in your baby's bath will be a problem.

Discourage the behavior.

I managed to end my baby's bathwater-drinking behavior by simply taking her out of the tub -- ending the "fun" of bathtime -- each time she tried drinking the soapy water. You can also try firmly commanding, "Don't drink that," or "No," when your baby attempts to drink bath water. She will eventually outgrow the behavior and isn't likely to get sick from it, but it's a good idea to discourage it as a general precaution.