Like I alot of people mentioned, when Riley started walking, he wouldn’t sit down during bath and we ended up buying a bath mat as well. From Wal-Mart, made from that material that you can use to line the shelves as well. It works out great! I usually hold brace him with one hand and bathe him with the other. And we bath him standing up.

He’s starting to sit down again. And now I’m like, “Stand up so I can clean your nether regions!” What also helps is those toys that when you wet it, it sticks to the wall. It’s like cut-out or something. He loves to stick those on the wall. We also blow bubbles in the tub too. It’s fun. And if you have those bubble guns, you can make a “bubble suit” by covering her all in bubbles. It’s so cute!

And I hear ya about putting her in a seat! They either become spaghetti noodle and slips through everything or stiff as a board and you can’t put them in anything!

Enjoy the last few moments of baby-hood. I was looking at “old” pictures of Riley and Cody, and that baby stage seems so far away (and Riley’s only 14 months old!). I got all weepy. They change so fast. Even Baby C. She looks so different now from her earlier pictures!

cindy

For our bath routine, my husband starts his shower first, then when he’s done he puts the bathmat down and fills up the tub a couple of inches. That’s my queue to come in with the 13 month old in diapers, take off the diapers and plop him in the tub with my husband while I put the (usually dirty) cloth diaper in the hamper.

My kid knows the sound of the tub filling and will walk himself to the bathroom. (But sometimes he gets distracted by the kitty food bowl on the way over.)

Dad’s picks one or two toys out and starts washing the kid’s face, arms and top part of the body. Mostly the kid is wandering all over the tub that he can access at this point, as Dad is sitting in the tub with his back to the faucet. I take out my little stool to sit on right outside the tub and help with the little guy’s bottom and legs. Then I soap up his hair.
Dad’s got a little Japanese bath bucket from Marukai’s dollar store and rinses most of the soap from the kid’s hair. I make sure the boy doesn’t slip while he explores the tub and water while Dad gets the shower running, and then we do a final rinse. Dad picks up the baby and they play with the water coming out of the shower while I get the towel ready, I towel the kid off while Dad’s still holding him, then bundle him up and take him to his room, where I close the door. This was a source of many battles before. I sort of let him wander around his room while I chase him with diapers, PJs, baby q-tips, baby lotion, etc.

When Dad’s done drying off and dressing he takes the kid while I shower.

It’s all about independence right now. I’m not sure when we’re supposed to start teaching him patience.

When it became too dangerous to bathe TLE in her bathtub because she would always stand, we switched to showering. She does shower with me most of the time and she just loves it. I give her a bucket of water to play with while I’m washing myself and she learned at about 14mo to soap herself. I still have to wash her but being able to be a Big Girl and soap parts of herself up is a real thrill to her. If you’re not comfortable with showering with a kiddo underfoot, a detatchable showerhead should work just as well.

I wish I could tell you everything calms down after being two… but now we’re into the terrible threes!

Thanks for the tip! I’ll buy a bath mat and see if that works out better for us. Does someone hold him up? Have you ever had a problem with him slipping or trying to walk in the tub while you’re bathing him? So, do you just kneel outside the tub and bathe him or do you get in there with him? Sorry for the 3rd degree – I am curious since bath time has been such an issue lately. I’m hoping this will be our solution!

~Donna