Parents of small children can help keep bathtubs from being drowning hazards.

This suggestion is in response to the recent tragic deaths of two local toddlers who were able to run water into a bathtub and get into it [“Twin boys die in tub mishap in Stafford,” Oct. 26].

When taking measures to childproof their homes, most people would not foresee that children so young could have taken all those steps by themselves.

Most modern tubs have pop-up drain stoppers that children can operate. Remove the pop-up stopper by grabbing it and pulling it out, then put it out of children’s reach until they are older.

Measure the drain opening and buy a rubber stopper that will do the job, at any hardware store, and put a small finger loop of bead chain or strong string on the stopper to help you pull it out of the drain. The loop should be small so a child cannot get a hand or foot tangled in it.

When not in use by an adult, the stopper should be put in a medicine cabinet or other high location where small children cannot reach it.

Sam Overman

Dahlgren