Bathtoytastic! (Safety 1st Bath Toy Bag)

Member Name: ButterBear

Product:	Safety 1st Bath Toy Bag
Date:	14/06/08 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps bath toys tidy, allows them to drip dry

Disadvantages: Suction cups could be stronger

I remember when Christopher was really little thinking I wouldn't get too many bath toys, he probably wouldn't play with them anyway and all they'd do is make a mess of our tiny bathroom. 4 years down the line and that idea has gone well and truly out of the window, in fact it did that by the time he was about 3 months! Our bath was soon decorated with all manner of toy boats, plastic fish and rubber ducks and I was quickly fed up with having to move them all every time I wanted to clean the bath, they also didn't allow for relaxation in my own baths, being surrounded by all that colour is hardly calming, so the time came for a toy bag.

Safety 1st bath toy bag is a mesh bag suitable to be used within the water as well as out of it to store all your little ones bath toys. It comes with 2 suction pads, one in each of the top 2 corners, which are stuck on the side of the bath or on the bathroom wall tiles and the idea is to keep all the bath toys together in one place. The bags cost in the region of £3.99 each and can be found in stores like Mothercare and Toys R Us. The mesh netting effect allows for the toys to drip dry, all the water draining away with the bathwater rather than gathering in stagnant pools on the side or leaving you with wet surfaces.

The concept is a simple one and for the most part it works, the bag holds a good amount of toys, the net effect seems to take the strain of holding them really well and it's waterproof effect means it doesn't get eaten away over time. It's great to be able to keep the toys together tidily and means a lot less work for mummy when she's trying to tidy them bathroom up. The netting is widely enough spaced that there is no concern over little fingers getting trapped and the fabric is very strong and durable.

There are a few problems that arise with the bag however, firstly certain toys like plastic books need to be drained off separately on the side of the bath before putting them in the bag otherwise a rather unpleasant black residue collects between the pages, also you need to make sure certain squeezy toys are emptied properly otherwise the water within them will go stagnant. The other complaint is that the suction cups aren't particularly strong, I'm fortunate enough to have a handle on the side of my bath so we thread the bag through there and then attach the cups, this gives a little added strength and allows us to store more in the bag as a result of this added strength, instead of it being pulled down by the weight and coming loose from the side of the bath.

I keep the bag attached to the side of our bath all the time, usually hanging on the inside of the bath, and then when a grown up wants to use the bath we simply flip the bag over to the other side. I can certainly recommend them as a great way of keeping all the toys together but I'd be happier if they could improve the suction cups and make them just a little more effective.

Check out the Safety 1st range and the current bag design at- http://www.safety1st.com/product/detail.asp?ID=104

Summary: Brilliant for keeping the beth toys tidy