How am I doing bathing my son?

On Nov 28, 4:14 pm, Psalm Nuclei wrote:

See I'm so used to washing dishes with a soapy spunge (to where you
see bubbles when you squeeze it) that I half expect the washcloth to
be the same. And when I don't see a lot of lather with the washcloth I
felt it wasn't soapy enough.

Bubbles are made mostly of air, as in my washcloth blowing trick,
which shows that a given amount of soap can make either a large or
small volume of foam, depending on the amount of air. Does the
washcloth feel slippery? If so, then it has enough dissolved soap.
If not, then it doesn't; if water is "hard", the lime soaps (which
have no detergency) formed in the water on the washcloth won't be
slippery; only dissolved soap is slippery and has detergent
properties.

Robert

Psalm Nuclei wrote:
DW and I bought a fisher price tub but i didn't care for it. We used
it once.

Ever since I've been in the tub with our son. For the first 3 or 4
months he was small enough where I would lay him on top of my legs and
bathe him that way.

Now that he's 6 months and growing, and can sit up on his own, he sits
between my legs and faces fowards (his back to me).

I fill the tub to where the water comes up above his legs so that when
he gets slippery and slides down his face doesnt get in the water.

i also don't like using a washcloth because they dont seem to get
lathered up. i prefer putting a dollop of soap in my hand then
lathering my hands and washing him that way, rinsing him with a cup.

am i doing what most people do that bathe with their child(ren)? any
other tips or advice much appreciated!

he seemst to enjoy it. he splashes or grabs at the water with his
hands i guess he's still exploring the bath since he just started
sitting up in it.

We used a plastic baby's bath with a wire and cloth ramp that functioned as
a third arm; the stainless steel kitchen and larger laundry sinks (sinks
were great for my back and always had a changing surface immediately
adjacent; the bathroom handbasin when they were tiny; in both the shower and
bathtub - with and without us or a sibling in there too. A bucket of water
when we were camping was excellent, as well. We'd need two of us for the
shower swish for safety's sake when they still had to be held and the parent
outside would pass the baby to the one taking the shower.

We'd use a little soap sometimes on their bottoms if necessary and rinse
them with fresh water so they didn't have soap residue left on their skin. A
washcloth is usually enough on its own without soap, by the way, babies
don't get all that dirty. We made a point of not being careful about keeping
water out of their faces and they never minded that or having their hair
washed while sitting up and having water poured over them.

Your baby is past this stage but newborns should have their neck creases
wiped out carefully, it's amazing what can accumulate in them! At 6 months
(and younger) you can have the bath water deep enough to let the baby float
with just light support to keep him from going under. This is much easier
and safe to do when you're in there with him as you like to be now.

I found that if a baby was having a hard time settling at night a warm bath
in dim light would usually soothe us both, even if the baby was the only one
in the water.

My kids were water babies and loved their daily washdown however it
happened, and I recommend introducing showers and other variations that are
practical in your home early because it can be inconvenient when the family
is travelling if the babies and young children are comfortable only when
bathed in one manner. Besides, it's just plain good fun for them and from a
very early age they love being able to choose how they'll be washed tonight,
in my experience.

I have some teenagers now and they've never gone through a refusing to bathe
stage, it's hard to get them out and stop them from wasting water!

"Psalm Nuclei" wrote in message
...
DW and I bought a fisher price tub but i didn't care for it. We used
it once.

Ever since I've been in the tub with our son. For the first 3 or 4
months he was small enough where I would lay him on top of my legs and
bathe him that way.

Now that he's 6 months and growing, and can sit up on his own, he sits
between my legs and faces fowards (his back to me).

I fill the tub to where the water comes up above his legs so that when
he gets slippery and slides down his face doesnt get in the water.

i also don't like using a washcloth because they dont seem to get
lathered up. i prefer putting a dollop of soap in my hand then
lathering my hands and washing him that way, rinsing him with a cup.

am i doing what most people do that bathe with their child(ren)? any
other tips or advice much appreciated!

he seemst to enjoy it. he splashes or grabs at the water with his
hands i guess he's still exploring the bath since he just started
sitting up in it.


I *hated* bathing the kids when they were small. So DH showered with them. I
clucked with concern that he would drop them. He told me he was not a retard
and was as concerned with the child(ren) as I was. So I chose not to watch.
He got clean. The kids got clean. The Dad and the kids had "their time." The
kids giggled.

The thing about the baby stage is that we want to do everything sooooo
right. You read all those baby books. You feel so strongly about
breastfeeding or bottle feeding. You feel so strongly about cosleeping or
independant sleeping. Or whatever it is you feel so strongly about. But in
the final analysis, a baby's needs are simple. So Mom's and Dad's wind up
fretting about things that make no difference, and waste a bunch of energy
on the fretting. MAN you should have seen me. What a case I was!

Bath. Does the baby occaissionaly wind up clean with no bodily harm done?
Then you have done your job. As gravy, if you had fun together doing it, so
much the better.

Best of luck!

On Nov 28, 4:14�pm, Psalm Nuclei wrote:
See I'm so used to washing dishes with a soapy spunge (to where you
see bubbles when you squeeze it) that I half expect the washcloth to
be the same. And when I don't see a lot of lather with the washcloth I
felt it wasn't soapy enough.

Nah, their little faces tend to dry out very easily from soap, so a
soapy-residued cloth works just fine. I used more soap on hands, bums,
and boy and girlie bits and in all chubby creases. With less soap
though, you can run the washcloth right over their eyelids, lips, and
nose and ears and wipe throroughly. My mom's family has the tradition
that grandma gets to give baby their first bath at home when they are
still like slippery limp noodles. I'm grateful for that tradition too
because once I saw her do it, it was like "If she can do it, so can
I." Plus she had techniques that meant no crying for baby at all until
you placed them on the towel for that mere couple of seconds to wrap
them up in it. lol. She said those baby tubs were for wusses. lol. I
have to say I would find those an annoyance after doing it her way,
and baby had more warm water over more of his/her body and they
actually seemed to think it was pleasant, until the towel-wrap part.
lol. She also had many useful tips for the afterbath care that were
helpful...no cradle cap, no gunky ears, etc. lol. I also had the wire
and mesh material tub device and loved it so much that I kept it
through all 3 of my kids (over 10 years) and made myself a new cover
when I could no longer find them in stores. lol. I bought everyone one
for shower presents too while they were still available. They have
some new complicated-looking ones that don't look usable for toddlers,
but the rectangular one with only an incline was the best. I laid the
kids back for their hair rinses up until about the age of 3 when they
could look up at the shower themselves. lol.

Well again thanks everyone for your input, I do enjoy hearing how each
of you have handled your bath times.

I'm going to start giving him a bath every night, not necessarily
using soap all over but at least on the important areas and look
forward to more bonding and giving him something else (the bath
itself) to enjoy, relax and have fun before bed.

:-)

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:07:38 -0800 (PST), Psalm Nuclei
wrote:

Well again thanks everyone for your input, I do enjoy hearing how each
of you have handled your bath times.

I'm going to start giving him a bath every night, not necessarily
using soap all over but at least on the important areas and look
forward to more bonding and giving him something else (the bath
itself) to enjoy, relax and have fun before bed.

:-)

I loved the daily bath routine with my babies. I did find that their
skin would get just a bit dry so I'd massage baby lotion on them
afterwards. Just an idea for you if you don't already do it :-)

Nan

My kids don't get a bath every night. We have a weekly bath night and
some weeks we have an extra bath or two. They love bath night. They
cannot wait to get into the tub, sometimes even before the water.

Both kids get the same treatment from us, but they respond
differently. Monkey Boy always has disliked water in his face,
whereas Monkey Girl doesn't care. Monkey Boy likes getting his hair
shampooed but he resists the wetting beforehand and the rinsing
afterward, lest any water get in his face. Go figure.

Pologirl
2004 Monkey Boy
2006 Hungry Girl