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- A net bag hung above the bath is a good investment as it keeps the toys away from the water when not in use.
- Squeeze all the water you can out of them before putting them in the net.
- To clean, wash them in hot soapy water first to get rid of dirt on the outside.
- Then put three cups of vinegar into a bucket of clean water, squeezing the rubber toys to make sure the vinegar water goes inside.
- Leave them overnight, then shake them well, empty and rinse in clean water.
- Many children’s toys can also be washed in the dishwasher – but you’ll need to check the packaging first.
But at 6am, Baylor’s eye had swollen that he couldn’t even close it – and the terrified parents raced him back to hospital.
Fearing her son was going to lose his eye, Eden wrote: “His eye was so swollen that the white part was bulging out from between his eyelid and his iris was being obscured.
“He felt hot to the touch and a temperature check showed that he had a raging fever.”
When they arrived back at A&E, Baylor was immediately given antibiotics and had to have a CT scan to check his retina wasn’t damaged.
Eden continued: “The next week was pretty scary. He had severe cellulitis that eventually spread down his face and to both eyes.
“They warned me that he may lose vision in the worse eye, but in the end, thank the Lord his eyes healed.”
According to the NHS website, Cellulitis is usually caused by a bacterial infection and is a painful condition which mostly affects the hands, legs and feet.
Urging other parents not to make the same mistake, Eden added: “But tub toys? THROW THEM OUT. You cannot clean them, you just can’t.
“I don’t have any mouldy tub toy pictures to show here, because there was never any visible mould to take a picture of.
“You can’t see bacteria and I’ve known that since 6th grade science class but I thought I was better than dirty tub toys. I was wrong.
Eden’s post racked up over 21,000 “likes” on Facebook and her followers were grateful for the warning.
One replied: “That’s terrifying! I don’t think I have any tub toys and my kids haven’t played in the bath for a while but I’ll check and they’re going on the garbage.”
Another added: “Oh that poor little face! I’m so happy to hear his eyes healed completely! Thank you for sharing! I’m sure there are parents out there that didn’t know this!!!”
Meanwhile, others recommended using a hot glue gun to cover the hole in bath toys to stop them ever getting water on the inside.