For most kids, the end of the day means bath time — and the more toys in the tub, the better.
But one Illinois mother is issuing a stark warning to parents after a seemingly harmless bath toy caused a devastating injury to her young son, leaving him at risk of losing his sight. What started as a routine bath turned into a nightmare when water from a squeeze toy sprayed directly into the boy’s eye, triggering a serious infection that rapidly worsened.
A Raging Fever and a Hidden Danger: Mom Warns About Popular Bath Toy After Son’s Eye Infection
What began as an ordinary bath quickly spiraled into a medical emergency for Eden Strong and her 2-year-old son, Baylor. After noticing slight irritation in his eye, Eden assumed he had simply gotten water in it — a common and usually harmless occurrence. But within hours, that minor irritation turned into something far more serious.
Baylor developed cellulitis, a fast-spreading and potentially dangerous bacterial skin infection. In just 12 hours, his eye went from mildly pink to severely swollen and infected. “His eye was protruding from his face,” Eden wrote in a now-viral Facebook post. “It was very obscured. He was running a raging fever. I cried the entire drive to a larger hospital, praying that he wouldn’t lose his eye.”
Doctors warned Eden that Baylor might lose vision in his more severely affected eye. The infection had spread not only around the eye but down his face and into his other eye as well. Thankfully, after a frightening week of treatment, Baylor’s eyes healed — but not without leaving behind a chilling warning.
The culprit: a squirting bath toy.
“I came to find out later that because the water is never fully expelled from those types of toys, they can just grow bacteria that you can’t stop,” Eden explained.
To prevent other families from going through a similar ordeal, she shared graphic photos of Baylor’s condition, sparking an overwhelming response. Her post has since been shared over 320,000 times, and hundreds of parents have replied with photos and stories of their own children suffering infections and illnesses linked to bath toys.
Eden’s message is simple but urgent: “If your child uses squirting bath toys — throw them out.”
Eden Strong said she hopes toy manufacturers will take this issue seriously and reconsider how bath toys are designed — especially those that retain water and are difficult to clean. After Baylor’s terrifying ordeal, she didn’t hesitate to toss every squeezable bath toy in the house.
“I think those toys especially are cute. They’re fun. They’re cheap and they’re easy,” she said. “But it’s not worth it.”
What started as a harmless bath ended in a traumatic medical emergency, and Eden’s story has since served as a powerful warning to parents everywhere. Thanks to timely medical intervention, Baylor made a full recovery — but not every child may be so lucky.
Please share this story to help raise awareness about the hidden dangers of squeeze bath toys, and encourage parents to think twice about what’s floating in the tub.
