I’ve had three babies in under five years, and yet I’ve never used an infant bath tub with any of them. Sure, I registered for one before my first son was born, and tried out the few that we received, but nothing ever quite worked for our situation.
Instead, when all of our babies were small, we used a bath sponge in the tub that looked a little like this:
$11 at Amazon.com
Before the kids could sit upright by themselves, it was just easier to lay them in the bottom of the tub on the sponge, and fill the tub with an inch or so of water.
After they could sit upright, I had them sit on the sponge for a little extra padding just in case they lost their new-found balance.
I love the bath sponges so much, I’ve had one for all three kids, and even bought them as gifts for others.
As you can see, my boys take their baths together – but three kids is just too much for me to handle in one bath, so Jolene gets her bath separate (and a lot less often.) She’s outgrown laying on the bath sponge, but I’m not quite ready for her to sit up in the tub (she’s still a little wobbly.)
Instead, I pulled out the dish pan that was used to hold my placenta during my homebirth. I found that it’s the exact perfect size to help her sit upright, and she absolutely loves splashing around in the shallow water.
They make very expensive upright infant tubs that accomplish basically the same thing I’m doing here, only they’re much more narrow. I like the depth of this because I can easily scoop water out of it and stick it under the faucet to put clean water in, with her still in it. I think I paid less than $5 for this dish pan to be used in my homebirth, and now I get to recycle it for Jolene’s own special bath tub for free.
But I think my (and Jolene’s) favorite part is the make-shift shower head I came up with. I’m borrowing her brother’s beloved play watering can to rinse her off, which works just like a little mini shower! Between rinsings, I leave the warm water from the faucet trickling into the can so it’s ready to use after I’m done scrubbing each part of her little chubbiness.
So, after three kids, I think my official recipe for bathtime at different ages is:
Under 6 months: Lay a bath sponge in the bottom of the tub, or in a large sink (sinks are GREAT! Easier on your back.)
Just Learning to Sit: $5 Dish Pan and a few fun bath toys to distract them while you scrub sticky fuzz out of their neck folds.
Sitting Up Unassisted: That original bath sponge under their toosh to give their bums a bit of padding, until they become bathtime experts.
***And in every case, a watering can is a perfect mini-shower!
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Do you have any bathtime tricks to make it easier on mom & dad, and/or more fun for baby?
We had/used a bath sponge. They're awesome. We also happened to have an oval bathroom sink that was the perfect size for our bug in the 0-3 month range.
We did eventually get her an inflatable duck bath tub... just because it was too darned cute. It did not get replaced when the cats punctured it though.
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