Help!

[sunriseiz]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I could use some input. DD is almost 8 months old and VERY mobile and fast. Good news/bad news, right?! She is happy in her exersaucer for all of 5 minutes which is not long enough for me to grab a shower or anything else. The pack-n-play is much too small. Our bathroom is too small for me to take her in there with me. I need somewhere/somehow to be able to keep her safe (and maybe happy too!) while I do something as simple as going to the bathroom. ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Sunny
Mom to Ellie 10/28/03

[Marisa6826]

Do you have Baby Einstein? You can put her in front of that for 20 minutes, or wait till she's sleeping and bring the monitor into the bathroom with you.

The other alternative is to take a shower at night when your DH is home.

As far as just going to pee, your daughter will have to get used to not seeing your smiling face for five minutes. I was paranoid at first, but you'll get used to it ;). She can survive in the PnP or her crib (if she has one) while you run to the bathroom. I promise ;).

-m

[Jen in Chicago]

I kept the exersaucer in the bathroom for a long time, then used the PNP FILLED with toys. Now I take a QUICK shower with him closed in the bathroom with me peaking in the shower. When I pee he plays with toilet paper, the garbage can,... anything he should leave alone.

Funny story, last week he was playing with the dirty laundry in the basket (normal) and fell it. I laughed so hard at his reaction.

Sorry, I am not a big help, but you can do it. Would the Exersaucer in front of a video help? That was an old trick, before it was too big for that WONDERFUL invention. Take advantage of it while you can. We sang happy songs in it while I showered.

One more fun bathroom thing, his toothbrush. He will sit and try to brush his teeth for a while.

[deborah_r]

How about crib or Pack n Play in front of the TV with a video on? (Sounds bad probably, but really we're only talking 5-15 minutes here, right?)

Or crib / PnP with toys she hasn't seen in a while, or toys she only plays with at those times?

[candybomiller]

Just get used to taking her to the bathroom with you. Once she hits about 18 months, you don't get to go by yourself. Nope, she'll be right there, glued to your side. The good part of this is that she'll get your toilet paper for you and flush for you!

[boys2enough]

The combo of super saucer and a tape works for me.

No flaming please: but I still put DS in the super saucer sometimes when I need to take a shower. He's of course way too old for the saucer, so I now also need to put a tape in for him.

Cheers, Lin
Mom to 2 wild boys
D 3/98
G 11/02

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pnoodles.gif

[sunriseiz]

LOL!!!!!!! You guys are great! I hadn't thought about the saucer PLUS a video...could be brilliant! I think we must have exceptionally small bathrooms...I can't really take her in with me and close the door, but if I dn't close the door, she'll "escape"...she's FAST! Something I didn't mention is that my 88 year old grandmother lives with us, so if dd cries for more than a couple of minutes she thinks something must be terribly wrong...otherwise I wouldn't be so concerned about leaving dd in the saucer/crib/pnp for a bit. Sigh. Thanks for the ideas and the laugh! :)

Sunny

[jbowman]

My Ellie is a bit younger than your Ellie (LOL!), but the bouncy seat still keeps her pretty content when I take a quick shower--of course I have to sing "99 Bottles of Beer" at the top of my lungs the whole time!

As far as using the bathroom, I just sit Ellie on the floor near the bathroom (on the carpet) and play peek-a-boo with her--in fact, I always say, "let's play peek-a-boo" when I need to go! Sorry if that's too much information, but it works.

[sunriseiz]

LOL, our bath song is Old MacDonald. Our Old McD has a lot of cows 'cause I can only think of so many animals that make a good sound fo the song! Enjoy the bouncy seat while you can; it lasted about a month for us (dd never really liked it to start with) and then it was on to the saucer which lasted about 6 weeks. She is growing so fast!!!! Sigh.....

Sunny

[August Mom]

Have you ever showered with Ellie? DS generally liked/likes doing this. It's a little bit slower for you, but it kept DS occupied.

[Jen in Chicago]

How do you do this? I tried it once and he was slipping around, so I picked him up and thought he was going to slide out of my arms?

[sunriseiz]

I have thought about it or perhaps putting her in the little bath-seat ring at the end of the tub, but I've been afraid that the water might be too hot. DH thinks even my lukewarm showers might be too warm. How do you shower with ds and what do you think about the water temp?

Thanks!

Sunny