# RO: So what were you doing while your 13 month old son was alone in the tub drowning to death? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342 "2011-01-20T16:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/81 "2011-01-22T17:47:43Z")
> [@xoferew](#): > > There’s a life-saving product here just waiting to be invented. Maybe like a giant colander with a spring in a double-boiler kind of set up? The baby is suspended in the colander above the baby tub full of warm water which is placed in a regular bathtub. When an adult exerts downward pressure the colander goes down into the baby bath, and when no pressure is being exerted the baby remains up, like a dead-man’s brake on a train. Except, wait, if the adult lets go suddenly the baby would be catapulted out of the colander… Okay, maybe if the adult simply watched the kid in the tub! That sounds like an online game that I would be eager to play. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/82 "2011-01-22T18:10:35Z")
You would need some safety nets around the colander thing, so the baby would come to a safe landing. But then the baby’s head might get caught in the netting and start to strangle… ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/83 "2011-01-22T18:48:20Z")
It’s not just infants. I saw on a show once a 12 year old boy describing how he almost drowned because he put his head under the baby ring with the suction feet and suctioned it to the bottom of the bathtub. He was able to free himself but, sheesh, kids are stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/84 "2011-01-22T18:50:58Z")
For dumb shit kids like that, I would strengthen the suction cups. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/85 "2011-01-22T20:29:20Z")
> [@xoferew](#): > > There’s a life-saving product here just waiting to be invented. Maybe like a giant colander with a spring in a double-boiler kind of set up? The baby is suspended in the colander above the baby tub full of warm water which is placed in a regular bathtub. When an adult exerts downward pressure the colander goes down into the baby bath, and when no pressure is being exerted the baby remains up, like a dead-man’s brake on a train. Except, wait, if the adult lets go suddenly the baby would be catapulted out of the colander… Okay, maybe if the adult simply watched the kid in the tub! After the second sentence I was picturing something like a giant-sized salad spinner. I like mine better, catapult or no catapult. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/86 "2011-01-22T20:36:50Z")
A baby catapult has endless potential for fun AND death. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/87 "2011-01-22T21:46:13Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A baby catapult has endless potential for fun AND death. I think I feel a new sig line coming on. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/88 "2011-01-23T02:29:21Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > She loves her crops. Treats them like her children. Hope she’s growing rice, then. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/89 "2011-01-23T02:36:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That sounds like an online game that I would be eager to play. 🙂 So go write the “Angry Babies” iPhone app, and start waiting for the bucks to roll in… ---
**Author:** ![xoferew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/e9a140/32.png) [@xoferew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xoferew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/90 "2011-01-23T03:08:38Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A baby catapult has endless potential for fun AND death. Speaking of fun and death, may I offer the “preschooler catapult.” Some children in my preschool class have discovered that by using two blocks in a see-saw configuration they can slam down the higher end and send a hot wheels car flying at great velocity into their own faces. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/91 "2011-01-23T03:27:03Z")
Wait til the 8th graders figure out they can fire the first graders entirely off campus. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/92 "2011-01-23T09:16:07Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > The stupid thing is that one of the articles I read about this said she was on a LAPTOP. It would be easy enough to watch videos and play games while keeping the kid in your line of sight. It’s also easy not to use it for 20 minutes while you tend to your child, especially when he’s in a precarious situation; or at least it should be to a responsible parent. Oh but wait: > [@](#): > > …saying he was an independent baby and that he wanted to be left alone… And after much deep discourse with the 1-year-old (!), they agreed the infant should move into his own apartment. The (ex) mother seems too intellectually immature to be responsible for another life. (duh) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/93 "2011-01-23T10:53:58Z")
But it’s not her fault! The fake babies they made you take home in health class didn’t need to be bathed. How could she have possibly learned? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/94 "2011-01-23T17:44:22Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So go write the “Angry Babies” iPhone app, and start waiting for the bucks to roll in… Yeah, baby. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/95 "2011-01-23T23:21:07Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > What are a Doper, a soaper, and a screen for a porn stroker? I’m sorry, but I could not let this gem go by unnoticed! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/96 "2011-01-24T09:23:33Z")
Yikes. Our little boy is almost exactly 13 months old. When he’s in the bathtup I’m almost always in there with him (most weeknights it might be the only time I get to spend with him) - but if for some reason I’m not, I’m mildly neurotic just turning my back on him to pick up a towel, let alone leaving the friggen’ room. Since he’s now more than able to climb up chairs, tables, and toilet seats on his own, we don’t even leave him alone with water in the bathtub. Jesus, if you needed to be on the PC _that much_ get a laptop with wireless already. My days of under-estimating the stupidity of the human race are certainly coming to a middle. How long before we hear about a baby drowning even when the idiot parent was in the same room, but on an iPad? ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/97 "2011-01-24T09:36:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > There was some article similar to this that specifically mentioned Farmville. I don’t think it’s the same person, though, as I seem to remember the person being Korean. There was a Korean couple that neglected their infant daughter while they were off tending to a character in a virtual reality online game. (They didn’t have a computer at home so had to go out to an internet cafe.) She ended up dying of starvation. ETA: I just remembered - there was a Korean women who [strangled her baby](http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/114388/video_game_addict_mom_strangles) so she could play Farmville. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/98 "2011-01-24T10:08:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m mildly neurotic just turning my back on him to pick up a towel, let alone leaving the friggen’ room. I turned my back on my 14 month old grandson today, and he ate some dried dog-food, from the dog-bowl…with added slurpy dog-slobber as extra flavour. And when I pulled the pellets out of his mouth, he plunged his hand back into the bowl for MORE. What pissed me off most was that the little scroat wouldn’t eat his damned lunch that I had lovingly prepared for him. The dog food was tastier apparently. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/99 "2011-01-24T12:37:47Z")
Ahahah - memories. My little brother (seven years younger than me) literally grew up with our dog at the time. And he absolutely _loved_ the dried dogfood the dog ate - to the point that he’d cry non-stop unless he got some! Got to the point where my mom asked one of the doctors and then a vet if dogfood and milk bones were bad for him. Not really, was the answer. Maybe the calcium in the milk bones are even good for him? Thankfully, he grew out of it in a month or two - but for a few weeks visitors got quite a shock when she’d take two treats out of the bag, say ‘Sit!’ and both dog and baby would promptly sit down and then get a milk bone a piece! ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342/100 "2011-01-24T13:30:42Z")
I’m against drowning babies, but that’s just my opinion. You are entitled to your own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-so-what-were-you-doing-while-your-13-month-old-son-was-alone-in-the-tub-drowning-to-death/568342.md?page=6)