Monday, January 23, 2012

Becoming Parents 101

It’s time for another addition of Becoming Parents! 

Thank you sooooooo much for all your advice on strollers last time.  I read every single word and have been thinking so much about it all.  It was very helpful.

So here is what I have been thinking about lately…..

Bath Time!

We went to Babies R Us over the weekend and saw all the many kinds of tubs. 

Here are my thoughts:

1) We have a tiny house and I’m not sure where to put a gigantic tub like some of them we have seen.

2) Is it necessary to get a gigantic tub with sprayers and other fun things?

3) So, what is this about washing your baby in the kitchen sink?  How does that work and many weeks do you wash them in the sink?

4) Have I heard somewhere that you are suppose to cover your baby with a blanket of sorts while they are getting their bath?

Alright ladies…..I would love your advice!  And just for fun….and few pictures of what I believe are real baby bath tubs out there. (found on google!)

left1

Baby Eleanor in the spin cycle! hahaha!!!!!

baby-bath_6642

This could be a toy….but no one can be sure.

baby-bath-tubs-unisex-385373

Annnnnnd GO!

10 comments:

Courtney @ One Fine Wire said...

We have the whale tub from fisher price, I believe - any baby store will have it. We and Preston really like it.

Bath Luves are a must! Especially with newborns, they get sooo cold and just scream. This way, you can have a really warm, wet towel over them so they stay happy. It makes such a difference. Preston doesn't really need it now since he has more fat on him, but trust me...you want it!

You don't need anything fancy....we wash Preston in the tub and have something cushiony under our knees. Bath time is so much fun!

Emily said...

I laughed out loud at the first image you added from Google. Love it!

Jodie said...

Is the fist bath picture, the spin cycle for real? How funny!!!!

Natalie said...

Here's my 2 cents...
We have the whale of a play tub. So far we haven't put the toys on it but probably will soon now that callyn is alert and interactive. Honestly, tony does bath time so I'm no expert on the subject-up until 2 weeks ago I had never given her a bath haha! (Just in case you are wondering why, this is because when I was pregnant we met a woman who happened to be a lactation consultant and she was giving us tons of tips and said that letting daddy do bath time is a great way for him to bond with baby if mom is breastfeeding, because in our case I get to hold her close and snuggle with her all the time while feeding her. Dad gets to bathe her. So Tony really wanted to take on that responsibility and it has been great!)
I wondered about where to put the giant tub as well. we (tony) usually drain it and leave it in our bathtub until the next person showers. Then it is usually dry and we just take it out and lean it up against the wall by our towels. Certainly not super welcoming to look at but we're really the only people who use our upstairs bathroom, and well, life with a baby is not always asthetically pleasing :)
We also registered for and got one of those foam pads, which a friend of mine swears by. Honestly we have never used it so idk about that but I think it's a fine alternative.
Sink baths-we never really did. We tried it for her first bath at home before her stump fell off and it was sooo hard. Our ped. told us we could just do a normal bath after that so idk why some people only sponge bathe until the cord falls off. She didn't fit in there and it was definitely a 2 person job and she was screaming because she was naked and cold.
As far as blanket, we (again, Tony!) put a receiving blanket on top of her in the bath to keep her warm. I think when she was really little he put it in the tub first to get it wet, then wrapped it around her when she got in, then just pulled out whatever part he was washing. It worked out well, she has always loved bath time and never cried in it except the first sink bath. You don't need any fancy special bath blanket-just a receiving blanket. In the hospital, they will show you everything you need to know as far as baths. We knew nothing about bathing a newborn when I gave birth! They actually gave her her first bath and we watched-they called it a developmental bath and they put her in wrapped in the receiving blanket so that's how we knew to do that.
One thing i DO know about bath time is that our pediatrician told us at our first visit NOT to use johnson & johnson! I never knew-I thought it was the best baby stuff. All of the perfumes in it are bad for a newborn baby's skin and can make it dry out more and even break out. We have been using Aveeno and it has been great!
Hope that is helpful! Sorry I wrote for a year!

Lauren said...

I'm thinking we have the same tub as Courtney. It is the whale tub from Fisher Price and that comes with one simple whale toy. If they don't have it in stock in Spfd at BRU, I know you can order it. We have used that for every bath except for the first one. Elyse's cord fell off quite quickly so we were able to submerge her right at 2 weeks. I was a big weinee and didn't give her very many baths in the first few days...mainly because I hated making her mad, but also because babies that young just don't stink! ha!

We just keep the tub in our guest bathtub and put it on the kitchen sink when we give her a bath. It's easier to stand up to bathe her...but once she starts playing in the bath of course we'll move her to the big tub!

We don't have hardly any bath toys yet, that will be something to buy later! I can definitely tell you that there are so many other things you will need in the beginning that those little bath toys are something that can wait until they're really needed!

We haven't ever used a wet washcloth or wet towel to keep her warm, we normally just try to keep pouring warm water over her and make sure there is enough water in the tub so that at least little Eleanor's legs are covered. The whale tub has a great little ledge for her to sit on and this puts her down in the water some which seems to keep Elyse very happy!

Good luck!

Claire said...

we had a small apartment when we had our first so I just got the Summer Infant Bath Seat http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-Mothers-Deluxe-Bather/dp/B000IZVCM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327368911&sr=8-1

Not ideal for newborns especially, but when my babies were newborns I bathed them in the sink. And as for up to how many weeks? Ha, I just bathed my one year old in the sink the other day just because! So as long as they fit I don't think it matters :) For the first few weeks I just bathed them in those tub things they give you at the hospital. It's like a tub you would put in your sink... you can pick one up anywhere... grocery store, walmart.. not sure what the technical name is for them lol. Honestly, baby baths are just another thing I think is a marketing ploy! You can bathe them in the bath starting on day 1 if you want, the sink is just a lot easier to hold on to them. I liked the seat because when they were soapy and slippery it gave me some peace of mind :)

Theresa said...

Well, it has been a while, but we used a plain plastic baby tub on our kitchen counter. They could recline in that unlike the sink. I recommend natural products too, like California Baby. They are expensive but worth it. You don't want to clean your baby with icky chemicals. As far as the towel thing, we always had a hooded towel ready for the second we took the baby out of the water. You are going to do great!

Beth Ann said...

The sponge thingy is nice for when the baby is a newborn and can't take tub baths. I put the sponge on top of a towel on the counter for those "baths." We have a regular baby bathtub and it came with the mesh positioner that helps them sit up a little in the tub and the sponge. I now use the sponge in the bottom of the tub for added comfort. ;) We put the baby tub inside our regular tub in our guest bathroom. It just stays in there all of the time...unless we have a guest over that needs to shower... which is rare. Bending over the bathtub isn't ideal...if I had a bathroom counter that was big enough, I'd probably use it there instead. Target has, in the past, had little covers to keep the babies warm in the shape of fish, etc. We have one...but most of the time I just use a regular wash cloth and just keep it over him and pour warm water over it/him throughout the bath. I do suggest a bathtub where she can lay in it and kick because I think most babies eventually love to kick and splash in the water. Holden sure does! (And he HATED bath time in the beginning.)

Brittney Galloway said...

Honestly, we used the sink to bathe Grace until she was almost 5 months old. Now we use a plain tub that sits inside of our bathtub. There are no hoses or toys attached. It is simple (and cheap! less than 10 dollars!) but Grace loves bathtime! The little foam insert was wonderful when she was an infant and could lay on it in the sink, but the tub we bought is by First Years and it has a newborn sling that can be attached. And, a tip we learned was to feed your baby right before she bathes and they are alot happier! We never had to deal with a screaming cold baby. Just a warm bath to settle her down after a big meal and before bed! Sometimes the gadgets we grown ups make complicates things so much!

Ashley said...

skip buying a bath... our son hated his! We either bathed him in the kitchen sink (from newborn on.... he's 2.5 and we still do it!) or we took him in the bath/shower with us! He had his first shower at 7 weeks and he LOVED it! Totally stopped screaming ( he was colic-y) and from then on he just came in with us. WE too didn't have room to store a big ol' plastic tub that would only get used for a few weeks anyway!

oh and if you're nervous about holding a slippery baby in the shower, they have ring slings that you can buy that are for water.