Bath time used to be so much fun! I'll never forget repeating over and over "Scoop and Dump" in Russia using a little fish to scoop water and dump it back into the bathtub. And I'll definantly never forget when Daniel scooped water himself and quietly said "Scoop", "Dump". I was so stinkin' excited I probably called my mom, Tro's mom, my sisters, you get the point!
But lately, bath time hasn't been as much fun. We're constantly battling the water outside the tub - (and yes we've tried a clear curtain - Daniel won't have anything to do with a curtain in the bathtub). We've also dealt with him drinking bath water right in front of us even though I've told him a thousand times it's dirty, it's yucky, it has soap in it, etc. I've lost 2 full bottles of body shampoo to Daniel and the tub and then two days ago I left the bathroom to grab his PJs and by the time I got back in (as in 5 seconds later) he was hanging on the outside of the tub with just his feet.
At Christmas we asked for several new bath toys and received several including great markers for the tub and that curtailed things for about a month, but we're back to square one.
Well, after a particularly soaking bath time last week. I declared the bath tub off limits. No more baths, only showers. We've tried showers before, but they never went over well.
Well, three days ago I put Daniel in a shower after a minor meltdown and guess what? He liked it.
And guess what? The bathroom floor and walls stayed dry.
And guess what? I was more soaked than ever, but it's easier to change clothes than clean up a soaked bathroom.
And tonight - I only got a sleeve wet!
Daniel wasn't happy when I turned the shower off, but he'll learn. We'll be saving baths for special occassions - like when Granny's here!!
Lastly - here's a silly question - at what age did you remove the baby monitor from your child's bedroom? Daniel gets up on his own in the morning and comes directly to our room. He doesn't wake up in the middle of the night and cry out (knock on wood) and the last time he was sick he ran in my room and got me immediately.
While I certainly don't mind sleeping with the monitor on in our room, I was just curious. I fell asleep a few nights ago and forgot to turn it on and I was horrified with myself. I ran into his room only to find him sleeping away angelically and it got me thinking.
Oh and by the way the location of his room is across the living area off a small hallway, so our rooms aren't side by side.
Thoughts??
9 comments:
This is kindof funny, but we did just the opposite of you guys- we took Zach to the shower with us for the first year- most often with my husband. Once he started paying more attention to body parts, we switched to baths, although occasionally he still showers with hubby if we're in a hurry. We have the benfit of two shower heads in our shower- one is a sprayer that comes off the handle and we let him hold it to spray himself or the walls, so that helps with the distraction part. As far as baths go, Zach prefers them now because he thinks he's swimming. He gets in trouble for drinking the water, if he doesn't listen to my warnings, I take him out and we're done with bathtime for that day- he looses the priviledge of bathing. Also if he's really wild I try to put a couple towels on the floor, and even hold one on my lap- I can't keep him from splashing altogether. With the baby moniter- I never could sleep when we used it- I was constantly listening to it. We live in a home without much carpet so sound travels fast. I can hear my son the minute his feet hit the floor so we ditched the moniter very early on. Don't feel bad- I think if he's not afraid to come get you if he needs something, and he can get there without getting hurt in the dark or otherwise, I'd let the moniter go by the wayside. Good luck and God bless!
Andrew is a big bath water drinker too. He gets two warnings and then is scooped up and put in time out - wet and naked. :-) (with a towel of course). That seems to help for the short period of time that he "remembers" the time outs! As for the baby monitor - I think I'll have it until Andrew moves out. :-) I love having it and on nights when he's coughing or just restless I can hear enough to know to go adjust him or get more cough medicine. It's definitely a "safety blanket" for me and not a necessity at all for us since he sleeps above us and I can hear as soon as he gets out of bed. More often that not, I hear Callie trying to terrorize him in his sleep. :-) Have a great weekend!
Our boys started showers around age 5, but they still enjoy a bath ever so often. Around age 7, they shampoo their own hair so I don't have to get wet at all. Our shower also has a separate shower head with a sprayer and that is a big plus for when I do need to help them. If I take my eyes off my 5 and 7 year olds in the tub for a second, the entire bathroom is soaked. I don't even know how they do it - water wars, diving, water polo???? I totally could relate to the "just went to get his pjs..." part of your post. (Lexi is just the opposite as she quietly plays with her mermaid Barbie dolls.)
We never used a baby monitor because when my 1st three were babies, their room was literally four feet from my room. When we moved into our new house, with kid bedrooms on another floor, Liam slept in our room until he was 4 1/2. Now, Lexi sleeps in our room. I am seriously considering moving her to her own room and getting a baby monitor. Any recommendations?
We did baths in the beginning, but they are so time consuming. Charlie had that as part of his nightly "adjustment" bonding time. We did, however, in the spirit of saving time, put him in the shower pretty regularly. He still asks for a bath every now and again, but only when there is enough time! He loves the hand held shower head and will "clean the walls". I think in Russia they must have had hime wash his own hair, because he is able to do that on his own. I still give a good rinse.
As for the monitor, never used one. I just wouldn't sleep with it on.
Ah yes, the shower or the bath debate!
I personally love when my kids take showers - like you - it's a lot less messy. This is what I do: I run the water at the bottom first, wet them, bathe them, wash hair then I leave it up to them to wash the soap off (when I then turn the shower head on) it works great and they love it.
The baby monitor is still on in Kara's room. We really don't need it because we share the same wall (and we can hear her easily). BUT if her room were farther away, I would keep it...
Thanks for your 2 cents on my post - it's good to know that we've covered all the same points that others are thinking too. Yes, we've thought about the bored part too...still not 100% positive of what we'll do but we'll re-evaluate when the time comes.
Our bathtub has sliding doors on it instead of a shower curtain which helps with water control. The bathtub also has a shower head with a sprayer attached so at the end of bath time he stands up and has a mini shower while I rinse out the tub and toys. As for the monitor, we still use ours. I think Liam would be fine without it but I have grown so used to hearing him sleep that I wake up if anything changes in his breathing pattern.
Bath time can be a particularly challenging time. But, we bought a "small child" shower held that he can actually push and get the water flowing out of. That helps some. We do still end up with water oustide the tub on occasion, though.
As for the monitor. . .good question! I was wondering the same thing! I, somewhat guiltily, admitted to my neighbor the other day that I still use ours--Aidan will be 4 in May. . .when do we stop????
Defrost slowly,
Stacy
Bath time can be a particularly challenging time. But, we bought a "small child" shower held that he can actually push and get the water flowing out of. That helps some. We do still end up with water oustide the tub on occasion, though.
As for the monitor. . .good question! I was wondering the same thing! I, somewhat guiltily, admitted to my neighbor the other day that I still use ours--Aidan will be 4 in May. . .when do we stop????
Defrost slowly,
Stacy
Tati LOVES the shower... although I usually shower with her. Some wouldn't like that... but it is what it is.
And -- I am still monitor bound, so I can't help ya!!
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