What’s the Best Way to Toddler-Proof Your Plumbing?

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Well, hopefully, no nightmare scenarios actually happen to you if you have a toddler or young kid, because it can already be challenging enough keeping your plumbing system healthy. But if you’re a Millennial or even an older Gen Z parent, maybe you remember that old Rugrats episode, the one called “Down the Drain,” where the babies get completely wrapped up in the idea of things disappearing into the plumbing, so they fill it up with sand, toys, and Angelica’s Cynthia doll goes down the toilet. 

Because toddlers don’t look at a toilet and see a household fixture. Nope, of course not, and they’re not thinking about pipes, clogs, water damage, or repair costs. Of course they’re not. They see a button, a splash zone, a weird little water machine, and basically, it’s just a toy for them. And that’s the thing with toddler-proofing plumbing. You already have to babyproof/toddler-proof the rest of the house, but the plumbing is an extra thing.

Plus, kids, as you know, are pretty curious, and unfortunately, they’ve got absolutely no budget awareness.

Toddlers Don’t Understand that Plumbing Costs Money

It was just mentioned, but it’s best to just circle back because all kids, especially the younger ones, don’t understand the concept of money. Well, to a toddler, flushing something is fascinating. So, water moves, noise happens, something disappears, and adults react with the kind of energy that probably seems wildly entertaining. Like, yeah, no wonder they’d want to test it again with a sock, a bath toy, or half a roll of toilet paper. Just keep in mind they’re not being bad, they’re just exploring (though it can be really inconvenient and expensive).

The Rules Need to be Simple and Repeated a Lot

You could try to explain it to your toddler, but they’re not really going to grasp the information, even with a book to accompany the talk. Plus, chances are, after the first couple of sentences, they get bored and stop listening. Well, most otddlers do at least. 

But what they need is one boring little rule that gets repeated over and over until it finally sticks. “Toilets are only for pee, poop, and toilet paper” is simple enough. “Drains aren’t for toys” works too if you want to say that too. And there might be kids’ books out there you can get to help explain it as well. And yeah, parents might need to say it 400 times. That’s just toddler life. Repetition is basically what’s normal for young kids that age, even though it gets annoying. 

Let them Watch the Plumber

Well, if something happens (hopefully it doesn’t), then to help fuel some of the curiosity, you could hire a plumber like one from Bluefrog Plumbing. While you shouldn’t expect the plumber to teach your kid, sometimes they’re open to letting kids watch while they repair whatever it is that needs to be repaired. 

It Might be Best to Make the Bathroom Harder to Access

Now, with that said, no rule is stricter than a toddler with five unsupervised minutes, so the setup has to help. But keeping bathroom doors closed can do a lot, especially during that phase where toilet curiosity is apparently the most interesting thing in the house. It can honestly be as simple as having an outside lock on the door. There are some child safety-proof toilet seats as well that make it harder to open the toilet for the toddler. And be sure to cover drains in the house, all of them.

Maybe they Just Want Water Play

Sometimes, it’s as simple as that; they want to play in the water. So you could give them bath time, you could take them outside with a water table or a mud kitchen, or even a plastic container on the kitchen counter with a couple of bath toys. But it can be as simple as this.