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- Dr.Joni Redlich PT,DPT, PCS
Bath Safety, Positioning, and Fun!
by Katherine Maloney, PT, DPT
January is officially National Bath Safety Month! We figured what better excuse to bring you some tips for safety, positioning, and, of course, fun!
Bath safety is really important, and so it’s good to have a few reminders to stay on top of safety during bath time. Did you know that as little as 1 inch of water can be hazardous for babies according to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital. But bath time should be a fun, regular activity! Remember:
- Always supervise children
- Always check water temp with a temperature sensing toy or your wrist
- Set water heaters to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent accidental scalding
- Put no-slip mats in your tub
- Keep any hazardous materials (cleaners, razors, etc) safely stored where children cannot reach them
- Consider taking a CPR/First Aid class for emergencies
Positioning for bath time can not only help with safety but make bath time easier and more enjoyable for you and your kiddos. One tip I learned from Joni was to put a laundry basket (the plastic kind with holes) in the tub for toddlers; this creates a smaller area for them to be in, making it easier to watch them, yet still allows them to play in the water. For infants there are plenty of bath seats available for use in the sink or tub, just remember to make sure your baby is seated upright properly in these for safety!
Finally, here are some tips to make bath time fun for all ages!
- Bring everyday toys in the bath: legos, cars, beach toys, and gardening tools are all great in the bath and open up lots of imagination play for your kid
- Create a water wall: using funnels, water bottles with holes, tubes, and anything else you can think of to build a “track” for the water to flow down the wall of the bath. This really encourages building and engineering skills in a fun way!
- Fishing: get some toy fish, put them in a small round laundry basket, and let your kids go fishing with a net or just their hands! One twist from this that I’ve seen online is to freeze the toys in ice cubes first to make it “ice fishing”!
- Target Practice: use bath letters, or magnets of any kind, stick them to the wall of the bath and fill a spray bottle with water (bonus: you can dye the color with food dye for more fun!). Then just let your kid try to shoot each target with the spray bottle. You can make it more complex for older kids by having them spell out words! I’ve also seen people place coffee filters over the target so the kid can see the filter getting wet from their spray bottle. Either way this is a fun game that also works hand-eye coordination!
It’s the time of year when everyone starts talking about their big New Year’s resolutions. But did you know that less than 25% of people keep their goals past the month of January? Keeping goals and following through is a hard task for anyone, so what can you do to make this process easier? Writing SMART goals is a great first step!
You want your goals to be relevant to you. So making a goal about running might be great for me because I love to run, but you might hate running and so it doesn’t make sense for you. Or on the other hand, maybe you already run consistently. In that case it wouldn’t make sense to make a goal about running consistently because you’re already doing it; instead your goal could be about speed, distance, races, or not related to running at all! If the goal is relevant to you, you aren’t going to do it. You want to be excited to work towards your goals!
Mental health can also be positively affected by yoga practice. Yoga is proven to decrease anxiety and stress, increase mindfulness, and help bring calm and a feeling of being centered. We sometimes forget how stressed our kids can get, even babies! Yoga is a great way to help them figure out ways to calm themselves and to be more mindful. And it goes without saying that parents are often stressed and overwhelmed. The focus on breath and the smooth movements can help bring our nervous systems back into the “rest and digest” zone instead of the “fight or flight” zone that we often live in when stressed out. This in turn helps our physical health (breathing, digestion, sleep, etc). 
But how can you incorporate yoga at home if you don’t want to join a studio? Youtube has tons of good yoga videos for all different levels. There are also plenty of apps that are all about yoga. And honestly you can just play around with different poses and flows at home, it doesn’t have to be perfect! Just remember to go at your own pace and to not push into pain!
Joni did not have to think hard when I asked about her favorite Fall activity: Creature Fest at Duke Farms in Hillsborough! This is one of the few times that the farm is open at night and they have an incredibly interactive nature walk set up where you can see different plants and animals around the farm. 
Wendy, one of our amazing Physical Therapists, says her favorite Fall activity is simply to be outdoors. She loves the changing leaves and the crisp, cool air. Her favorite place to go for a nature walk this time of year is her hometown, Clinton, NJ. She says everyone needs to check out Clinton in the Fall! And she said they also have a really good haunted house for those who are not faint of heart. 
Callie told me that her favorite thing to do this time of year is to go pumpkin picking! She loves to pick out her own perfect pumpkin to decorate her house with. She says she goes to 
Stephanie has also recently joined our team as an intern. She is a senior in high school and looking to go to PT school in the future! Her favorite fall activity is going apple picking at 
My favorite fall activity is going to a local Fall Festival; I love pumpkin picking, doing the corn maze, seeing farm animals, and getting delicious Fall flavored treats! Bonus points if I can bring my adorable doggie with me. Living in Virginia we had several options, but with moving to NJ this year I am planning to check out the 
“A parent’s job is never done!” SO true! A parent changes ‘hats’ all day long…chef, chauffeur, calendar keeper, housekeeper, personal assistant… the list of all the things we do in a day can go on and on. One of the most important roles we have as parents is teacher. Children watch our every move and learn by example. I think we have all seen a piece of ourselves when our toddler repeats a phrase they have heard from us or our child’s mannerism resembles our own. That can be humbling at times! Our teaching is sometimes more direct and changes as our children grow and learn and gain independence. We first teach children to hold our hand to cross the street, then to look both ways, and eventually give them the freedom to walk to the school bus or a friend’s house alone. Although not always on the forefront of our minds with these teachings, the truth is all of these skills learned at home will lead to the independent, self reliant person your child will be in the future.
