A terrified mother has issued a warning to other parents after her two-year-old son fell asleep in the bath after filling it up himself in the middle of the night.
In a story shared on Instagram by Tiny Hearts Education - a team of experts creating courses and products based around baby safety and infant first aid - the anonymous mum-of-two opened up on the heart-stopping moment she feared she'd lost her youngest son, Archie.
"At 4am in the morning our 4 year old son came running down to our bedroom shouting that his brother was in the bath and needed urgent help," the social media post read.
"We found our cheeky, adventurous 2 year old in the bath fully clothed with nappy and everything on.
Advert
"He had pulled up a stool to climb in (he’s never climbed in on his own before) put the plug in, turned the tap on and the bath was overflowing and the bathroom was flooding."
The petrified mother admitted that the 'scariest part' of the incident that almost killed her son was that he'd 'clearly been trying to get out for a while'.
She says it was clear that the tot had 'given up and was tired', adding, "he was kneeling on his knees and falling asleep in the water."
Advert
"If our 4 year old hadn’t of woken up I can’t even think about what we may have woken up too," she went on.
"Obviously there’s been a lock put on the bathroom door now and the plug is also in a locked cupboard.
"So many parents shared that they never would of thought of this either and they too have their plugs left on the bench or close to the bath."
The scarred mother continued by expressing her gratitude that her eldest child had woken up, being that she and her husband would never have heard as their bedroom is at the other end of their house.
Advert
"Our 4 year old is such a heavy sleeper too so it’s honestly a miracle he woke up," she went on.
"We had Archie (cheeky 2 year old) checked by a medical professional and thank god he’s absolutely fine! A few minutes more and this could of been a very different story."
The mother revealed she'd since purchased an alarm sensor to put on his door to alert her and her husband if he left his bedroom.
Advert
She also hopes her story will serve as a warning to other mums and dads who have bathtubs and plugs in their homes.
"Honestly I consider myself to be REALLY on top of child safety," she insisted. "Every cupboard is locked, every piece of furniture is anchored or mounted to the wall and every effort is taken to ensure the safety of our kids at all time but I honestly just never though of locking away the plug."
She warned: "All it takes is a few cm of water and 20 seconds for a child to drown. Please keep bath plugs safely out of reach of your little ones."
Rhianna Benson