Showering with baby?

[flagger]

I have seen a few posts on bathing with their baby, but has anyone showered with their baby for cleaning them up? Is it too difficult to hold with one hand and get baby and yourself clean or do you manage it? I know the temp would be much lower than my normal shower, but is there a medical reason not to?

[brubeck]

I don't think there's a reason not to unless you can't hold onto the baby safely enough. I remember once in my Mommy N Me group we digressed into this topic and it turned out that all the Daddies showered with their infants, but the Mommies preferred to bathe with them. We never figured out why.

I've never done the showering myself, just the bathing, but that's more a time consideration on my part. :-)

[Andrea S]

We have just recently b/c Andrew crawled up to shower while dh was in there and he pulled himself up and opened the shower curtain so the water was sprayed on his head. Other than turning the temp down we did not do anything different. I have heard about people with young
babies using a mesh sling.

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

[Karenn]

I tried it and either Colin or I was always cold because I couldn't get the warm water to be on both of us at the same time. And, washing my hair and holding him was way too difficult.

[Melanie]

Dh has showered with Ds, but I don't think Dh gets much of a shower out of it. He'll do it after swim class so Ds' skin/hair doesn't have chlorine in it longer than necessary, but Dh still always smells like it!

If at home, Dh will then hand Ds off to me while he finishes.

I don't think I ever have...kids are slippery when naked and wet!

[ATJ71]

As a kid I was afraid of the water whether tub, shower or pool. I am determined to not have my son be afraid as well. Since he was probably 1 month old he has gone in the shower, with both my husband and me (NOT AT THE SAME TIME). He is now 8 1/2 months old and still loves it. Manuevering is always careful, we never put him in there when we are rushed for anything. He absolutley loves it. We are also fortunate to have a large shower stall, so we have a duck tub in the stall as well. So sometimes our son will sit in the tub while one of us is showering. I think with us the key was starting him early and getting him comfortable with the water. He tolerates the water on his face. Good luck :)

[August Mom]

I have showered with DS numerous times. It works best IMO if you get done bathing yourself before your baby gets in the shower too. Thus, DW could hand Cocoa to you or Cocoa could sit in a bouncer until you're ready for her, etc. However, you can clean both yourself and Cocoa at the same time if you really put your mind to it. I'm getting much better at it now that we're on our seventh swimming class. Babies do get slippery, but I've never felt like I was going to drop DS. Another mother drapes a towel over her shoulder so that there is not slick skin on slick skin. I don't know of a medical reason not to shower with Cocoa once her cord falls off. I would reduce the water temperature, either use baby shampoo for my own hair or rinse my shampooed head well away from Cocoa and reduce the water pressure a bit in the shower head (those really hard sprays seem to bother DS). Have fun!

Edited to add: I find that it is easier to wash DS in the shower if I use the J&J cleansing cloths (cloths that have the baby wash already in them). Then I don't have to mess with a bottle of shampoo or baby wash and a wash cloth, etc.

[parkersmama]

We have often showered with our babies. I love it! I usually only do it when dh is home so that there's another set of hands if needed. We usually bathe and play with the baby first in the shower and then hand them out to be dried off and diapered by the other parent before washing ourselves. I think that bathing/showering with your infant is one of the best ways to bond with them. They really enjoy it if you start doing it early enough that they aren't frightened by it. My boys always seemed soothed.

[daisymommy]

Jst be very careful if you ever decide to shower with little Cocoa! I tried it one time with DS, and he was only wet--no soap--and I dropped him face first onto the shower floor! :'( (Okay, that's my terrible confesion for the year). I couldn't even grab a limb in time to get ahold of him before he hit. It just happened so fast. He ended up with a mild concusion and a large purple bruise on his forehead! :( I'll never try to shower with him again unless I have a mesh water sling. Babies are just too slippery.
That said, Joshua has always loved taking baths with me. I bent my knees so my feet were flat on the floor, laid a towel over my lap, adn laid him on it. This made it less slippery, and when the towel was wet and draped over him, it kept him from getting chilled. Taking baths with him has been so much easier than bending over the tub, that's the only way I have bathed him since his 3rd bath, 8 months ago!

[AngelaS]

I shower w/my almost 1 yo about once a week and have been doing that since she was about 3 months old. She LOVES the shower and doesn't mind water in her face.

Before she could sit, I would take her in with me, wash her and then put her right outside the shower on the floor, wrapped in towels while I finished. Now that she's bigger, I sit her on the floor of the shower while I finish. It works GREAT! :D

[Rachels]

Showering with babies is fun, but scares me. They get incredibly slippery. A mesh sling sounds like a great idea. Another option that works when they're littler is to keep a small towel folded over your arm while you hold them. It keeps their skin from slipping on yours. The only time I've ever come close to dropping my baby was in the shower, and my heart pounded for about a week afterward.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[egoldber]

I agree. I only shower with Sarah at the pool. When I use the water sling it's fine. If I don't use the sling, I leave the swim diaper on her so that I have something not slippery to hold on to. I have done it a couple times in hotels when I could hand her off to DH when I was done, but it wasn't real fun for us.

[mamahill]

I actually showered with Ainsleigh this morning, but only because I had already taken care of myself, and she was pressing her face up against the glass door. So I opened it, stripped her down, and brought her in. For cleaning purposes, we've only done it when the other parent is there to take her and dry her off, allowing the other to shower. We have brought in a hand towel and laid it on the floor for her to sit on, but it just isn't as convenient. And besides, the shower is the place I go to be by MYSELF, most of the time. This morning I humored her because she is sick and I'm running out of things to do to make her feel better. She loved it. Oh, and she generally cries after being taken out of the bath, but was just fine with leaving the shower and being wrapped in a big towel while I dried off.

[MKH76]

DS (9 mos) loves to hang out in the shower with either myself or DH. It's sooo much easier now that he stands up holding onto the tub. He likes to just stand in there and play and I can get cleaned, get him cleaned and then we both get into my big terry robe and snuggle.

[sweetbasil]

DH showers with DS on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays (ie. when he's home). I tried it once but, as said before, he was more slippery than ever and it was really tricky. DH passes him to me when he's done, then showers alone so the adult soap won't get in DS's eyes. By the time DH is done, DS is diapered, clothed, and ready for daddy to brush his hair :)

[parkersmama]

How frightening! I may rethink showering with baby unless I get a mesh sling (which I have been considering!). Thanks for the reminder that this can be so dangerous!