Bath Time is now Play time!

Bath time for my son used to be a nightmare.  He would start screaming once his little toe hit the warm soapy water.   When I say screaming, I mean like he was in severe pain going to die screaming.  Sometimes he would open his mouth real big and no sound would come out.  Both my husband and I would bathe him in various ways trying to play with him while he was in his mini bath tub.  Because he would scream and fidget in his bath tub, bath time became a dreaded chore for us… but we both knew we had to do it.  In fact after each bath…we were sooo tired out, exhausted from trying to keep him in the water, playing with him, and  making it fun.  This went on for the first 3 months! I remember initially I would constantly check the temperature of the water, scratching my head why he was screaming all the time.  I even bought bath toys to keep him preoccupied while he was bathing…but he was still screaming.

When I came back to work, I started talking to a friend of mine who has two kids of her own.  She has a lot of experience under her belt so I asked her for some advice.  She told me she also had the same problem and ended up placing the mini bath tub in her kitchen sink and using those dish sprayers while bathing her kids when they were babies.  The spray of water helped keep her babies preoccupied and made the bath a fun experience. 

I decided to try her advice.  I set up a bath station in my kitchen sink.  Placed his mini bath tub in the sink, filled it with water, and started running warm water through the sprayer.  Once everything was perfectly set up, I carried my son to the bathing station and placed him in his mini bath tub.  I can see his eyes were getting drawn to the sprayer… and he slowly reached his hands trying to feel the water coming out of it.  To my surprise…my son did not scream the whole time he was getting a bath.  Sure he was fidgeting while I was giving him a bath, but at least he was not screaming.  What a joy it was to my ears to hear just water splashing during bath time.  After a few times, my son finally stopped fidgeting and now enjoys taking baths!  He loves splashing in the water and playing with his squirting toys.  Bath time is now  playtime in my household.   Both my hubby and I no longer dread bath time with our baby.  In fact, I can give my son a bath by myself!  No need for hubby to help me keep him down. I now look forward to his baths…spending time with him and seeing him laugh and smile. What wonders a simple sprayer can do to bath time!