das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten
idiom: to throw the baby out with the bathwater
This idiom literally means ‘to pour/dump the child out with the bath’. It actually refers to a mistake, which is avoidable, where you lose something (valuable) while trying to get rid of something you do not want.
Wir sollten das Kind nicht mit dem Bade ausschütten, indem wir diese erfolgreichen Programme jetzt abschaffen. = We should not throw the baby out with the bathwater by abolishing these successful schemes now.
A baby sitting in a bath. Photo: Henley Design Studio via Pixabay