Big-girl bath
I mentioned before that I was trying to think of ways to make bath time more fun, and that Liv was hinting that she was getting too big for her baby tub. She kept trying to climb out, and would sometimes look up at me like, “Really, mom? I’m way too old for this plastic thing.”
So, per your awesome suggestions, we transitioned to the regular bathtub a couple of nights ago.
The verdict?
She LOVED it.
I think she loved having the freedom to crawl and splash around (she’s a splashing machine!), and kept looking up at me in wonderment. Initially, we were going to use the guest bath as her bath, but I just put all the kiddo stuff in our bathroom. I never use the bath -it was great right after I had Liv, but I’m more of a shower girl- and figure that this way the guest bathroom will always be ready if we have company.
Here are some of the bath essentials I picked up:
(they had great reviews and are BPA-free)
2. Kneeling pad <– not the hugest fan of this one. It’s kind of hard and painful to kneel on- I’m better off on the tile.
3. Boon ladybug pod and suction cups
5. Sassy bath toys – Liv figured out how to make the toys squirt right away, she thought it was hilarious
What we already had on hand:
6. Lots of washcloths and towels (after I wrap her up, I sing the “burrito girl” song haha)
7. California Baby shampoo/body wash
9. Rubber duckies galore
Are there bath essentials that you love and would recommend?
xoxo
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We love the sassy bath toys!! Lainey will turn one next week and I still haven’t put her in the big tub. I’m so afraid she will slip. I was thinking about doing it next week though.
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What a bummer about the kneeling pad. I too was looking for some cushion for my knees to help with the pain during bath time but thought all the ones at the store were so over priced. Instead I went to the dollar store and picked up one of the cheap gardening knee cushions and it works perfectly.
good to know- i’ll look there
I had a gardeners mat that I liked, but now I just use a nice fluffy beach towel – works just as well in my opinion and super easy to throw in the wash!
Target has a great kneeling pad in their garden section. I think it was about $14, but it’s very cushy and had a rubber bottom so it doesn’t slide around.
Make sure to clean the alligator mat after every bath because it gets gross super quick!!!
Why on earth would you need a water thermometer?
It was for the very beginning to make sure the water isn’t too hot. Now I’m good at guessing, but I always check it before putting her in
My little guy is still using the plastic tub but I know he’ll be in the big tub before too long. He’s gonna go crazy for it!
Right now, he doesn’t play with a lot of toys because he’s too busy belly laughing while I wash him. He’s SO ticklish! It cracks me up every time.
I’ve always just folded up a towel and used it for my knees. I keep one with his bath stuff. It’s just habit now to lay the towel down in front of the tub. Cheap and really comfy!
that is so cute!!!
and i should have just used a towel. womp womb haha
we just transitioned from infant plastic one to a blow up snug tub that looks like an innertube. better for us right now if he falls backward. the alligator thing is cute. will have to remember for the next stage. i love mustela bath products. i also use the infant sponge to lay him on with the towel after the bath so i dont have to carry him naked to the changing pad.
Wow, who knew bath time could be so expensive?? My son is the same age as Liv and I couldn’t imagine having to fork over money for all these ‘essentials’!
one of my friends just bought a $70 bath mat, so i guess it’s all subjective. you just have to do what works best for your family.
Oh ok got it. So a $70 bath mat and a water thermometer (?!) aren’t good enough for my family I guess. We will have to make due with a rolled up towel and my hand to check the temp for now I suppose.
Again, do what works for you…. These a few of the things we like for liv and our future kids
Same – I was feeling a bit guilty as we never bath our six month old, he just hops in the shower with us! We live in a hot country though so we need to shower him a fair bit, playtime is for the pool.
That alligator bath mat is too cute! By the way – you do an excellent job of protecting Liv’s privacy and allowing her to grow up without posting every little moment while still being the “mommy blogger” that I will turn to most for advice when I have kids. 🙂
thank you so much, laura- that means a lot to me
A folded bath towel makes a great kneeling pad (and it’s free and water absorbent!). Better than tile, for sure!
totally right
baby bath time is so much fun!! i love the alligator bath mat too 🙂
My five year old son has always loved playing with cups in the tub. I’ve always tried to avoid squirty toys because they get so mildewy; I’ve never found a good way to clean them. He now loves to wear goggles and go “scuba diving” – lol!
I was gonna comment the same about the squirty toys; they are so fun but I’ve heard they mildew super quickly and there’s just no way to fully clean them! Bummer.
Do you have the foam letters/numbers to stick on the walls of the tub? My older daughter LOVES those!
ohh i do- they were a gift. it says 2 years old but i figure it’s ok since i’m always right there with her?
I am sure they would be fine to use now, since you are obviously right there supervising her. (-: Have fun!
My 7 month old is the same way. He has a few fun little bath toys but honestly he has more fun with simple things like the cup I use to rinse him. Kids have good imaginations so they can usually have a fun time without all the “specialty” stuff.
The scuba diving sounds too funny. 🙂
that’s true, i haven’t really thought of that. love the scuba diving idea!
I just sat on the edge of the tub with my feet in the water. That’s not a chore I miss!
Evan is still way too young for the big tub but I SWEAR by babo botanicals. We have the mild and sensitive and LOVE it. We also have California Baby but I haven’t used their soap or lotion yet but love the calendula creme. Evan loves bath time.
My best friend bought colorful glow sticks for her 18 month old, and put them in the tub for bath time with the lights dim, it was a “glow bath” – turned out awesome and I’m totally stealing the idea 😉 I wish I could have glow bath time, haha. He loved it!
ohhh my goodness, that’s an awesome idea!!
This mamma blogger has lots of great ideas, including an outer space bath:
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/03/outer-space-themed-bath.html
and a Rain Forest Sensory Bath:
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/05/rain-forest-sensory-bath.html
or a Love themed sensory bath (real rose petals in the water!)
http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/02/love-themed-sensory-bath.html
Lots of cute stuff!
Just make sure to clean out that faucet cover regularly. I don’t have one (she’s never close enough to the faucet that she needs protecting from that and I’d certainly never leave her alone) but I hear of a lot of people forgetting to clean those and they can get moldy pretty quickly.
As for the squirty toys, I saw a tip on Pinterest to glue the hole shut with a hot glue gun. I know it defeats the purpose of them being squirty toys, but at least you won’t have to worry about mold.
Avery actually still likes her waterproof books. I love them too because they’re really easy to simply wipe off and they keep her sitting still long enough to get a good portion of her clean pretty quickly.
ohh those are awesome tips- thank you friend!
when are you getting to tucson?
Mid November…So excited!
yessss! i can’t wait to see you and finally meet avery 🙂
All things I haven’t thought about yet! It’s too bad the kneeling pad wasn’t so good, I’ll probably really want one.
yeah it wasn’t worth it to me
I love that alligator bath mat – soooo cute! I can’t wait for Luke to be out of his baby bath chair… A few more months yet!
Thanks for the ideas….I always look forward to the family posts 🙂
Thanks for the ideas….I always look forward to the family posts 🙂
I just roll up a towel under my knees. A knee pad seemed like an unnecessary expense to me.
Plastic cups are a big hit in our bathtime. He loves to pour out of them and put his toys in them – and I already had some that we didn’t use.
What’s the burrito song? Sounds cute! We had a ton of bath stuff too. My kids are 8 and 6 and we’re finally down to a cup for hair washing and an airplane for our boy. 😉 I LOVE bath crayons, though. I think it’s so cool to see their little drawings when I walk through the bathroom. The wee ones will try to eat them, but I know you hang out with Livi at bathtime. 😉
I just got the Boon Dive bath time appliqués http://www.booninc.com/products/Dive/922 and Zoe loves them! she’s almost 3 months old and loves to look at them on the wall. she’s just getting to the point where she can hold them too although they are also meant for an older baby. I noticed they also have a cool octopus that you throw rings on. They other fun thing we got was the skip hop stacking fish cup set.
Skip hop also has a whale shaped knee pad for the bath which we have in case you need a different one. have fun with bath time!!
Loving all of your bath accessories! The ladybug to hold everything is genius! That way all of the toys are accessible but not cluttering the tub when not in use.
My sister didn’t have a kneeling pad for a while so she used her volleyball knee pads. It totally worked haha and she looked great 😉
My niece had these foam letters, shapes, and numbers for the bath and she loves them! Then once she got older they used them to teach her how to spell her name and she had a blast. They stick to the side of the bathtub too when wet.
A water thermometer is essential!! Maybe not so much for us parents, but when my daughter was about 2, her grandmother gave her a bath with water that was too hot. She didn’t realize because she is a little “older,” and her hands couldn’t feel the water temperature as well. The water wasn’t hot enough to scald (thank god) but it was a very important lesson for all!
The knee mat is a MUST! I had some old funky blue foam mat thingy from who-knows-where. It lasted through 2 kids!! But towels will do in pinch!
Even though bathing the babes wasn’t the most fun (end of day, everyone exhausted, they don’t want to get in, then they don’t want to get out, lol) those are my most treasured memories! I had to help my 8 year old son get soap out of his eye the other day, and he looked up at me with those wet, long eye lashes and said, “Mom, do you want to just give me a bath?” It was fun and silly for both of us. Wish he was still a baby 🙂
You are doing a great job with Liv. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty about what you give to/buy for your child! You will discover on your own what is best for your family.
thank you, lovely!
i’m also really glad i had the water thermometer in the beginning. it was only $5, and i take SCALDING hot showers, so my view of what feels good is skewed. this way, i can gauge it with my hand but double-check before putting her in, even though now i know what the safe zone is. in the beginning, i had no idea
I’ve been debating about whether or not to post this comment, especially after some of the previous comments have been less than polite. Please know that the reason why I am posting this is because you clearly love Livi with all your heart, and anyone can see what a sweet, happy baby she is…. So with that in mind: Gina, you don’t need all if this STUFF. From before Olivia was born, you’ve posted about thousands and thousands of dollars worth of baby gear, all with the disclaimer that you have to “do what is right for your family.” But the not so subtle message that you’re sending is that these things are important if you want to be a “good” mom. In some cases, thing that you’ve purchased have never been used or used very little, simply because you bought them before you really knew what you would need. You are sending a message to your readers that all of this “stuff” is what the best moms use, even while saying you have to do what is best for you. You are obviously a wonderful mom, which is why I wanted to close this very long comment by saying that YOU are enough. Babies need your love and time, and you are giving her both.
Settle Kristen.