A bathroom with a small child in it presents risks that are specific, well documented and largely preventable.
Drowning Is the Serious One
The point that has to come first. Young children can drown in a very small depth of water, quickly and silently.
The guidance is consistent and absolute: never leave a baby or young child alone in the bath, not for a moment, not to answer a door or a phone. Take the child with you if you must leave.
Bath seats and supports are not safety devices and do not make it safe to leave a child unattended.
Empty the bath immediately afterwards, and keep the bathroom door closed or a toilet lid latch fitted where a toddler can reach.
Slips
Children run on wet floors, and a bathroom floor with a child in it is wetter than one without.
A mat that grips and does not slide matters here, and covering more of the route from bath to door is worth doing. Backings that hold on wet tile, of the kind at tyuu.net, are the relevant property rather than softness.
A non-slip surface inside the bath itself is a separate and equally worthwhile item.
Scalds
The second major risk. Hot water burns a child’s skin faster and at lower temperatures than an adult’s.
- Run cold water first and last when filling a bath
- Test the temperature with an elbow or a thermometer before the child goes in
- Thermostatic mixing valves limit the maximum tap temperature
- Keep children away from taps once in the bath
- Hot drinks are the more common scald cause and do not belong in a bathroom
What Else Is in the Room
Medicines, cleaning products, razors and anything electrical. All of it belongs locked away or out of reach rather than on a shelf.
Cleaning products in particular should never be decanted into drink bottles, which is a recurring cause of poisoning in children.
Electrical
Bathrooms are regulated for good reason. Water conducts and wet skin has dramatically lower resistance.
Nothing mains-powered near a bath, no extension leads into a bathroom, and anything permanent installed by a qualified electrician.
Door Locks
A child who locks themselves in is a common domestic emergency. Locks that can be released from outside are worth having.
Wash the Mats More Often
A bathroom used by children needs its textiles laundered more frequently, and mats large enough to cover where feet actually land.
Supervise Rather Than Equip
The measures above help. None of them replaces an adult in the room.