I’m bathing my son and he is joyfully squirting out water from his bath toys. I notice some dark spots on the toys, I try to see if its surface is dirty and notice that it’s not. Too tired, I ignore!

Trying to fall asleep, I type in google search, “dark spots in bath toys” and I get links related to mold. And that’s when it hit me. Opened these toys the next day and yes that’s true, there’s mold inside.

How did the mold get there? So the problem stems from the opening in the squeaky toy that traps moisture inside, contributing to mold growth. And due to the rubber material of these toys, mold easily sticks to it. Should you worry? Well the amount of mold in a toy might be very minimal to cause severe health risks if ingested, but it can be concerning for kids who may have a mold allergy or sensitivity to mold, or an immune deficiency. It’s not very common though for children under 2 to have a mold allergy since it usually requires exposure to a substance over time to become allergic to it.

There are ways to clean and sanitize these toys, but I would personally prefer to just throw them away and not buy them again! So just invest in toys that don’t trap moist inside (like the Boon Scrubble Interchangeable Bath Squirt Toy – see below).