Getting kiddo to SIT DOWN during bath - how?

[babymama]

How do you get your active child to sit during his/her bath? Santiago loves to stand up in the tub, and he's slipped a few times...nothing too scary so far. But I am terrified that he might fall and really get hurt. I have a non-slip mat thingy, but it doesn't cover the bottom of the whole tub. Plus even if it did, it still doesn't solve the problem of getting DS to sit down. He loves to stnd and hold onto the sides of the tub and look over the edge, try to climb out, etc. I used a bathtub ring seat a few times, but I found it to be really cumbersome. Had trouble getting DS in and out of it. Do those inflatable tubs help get your child to sit down? I'm willing to try almost anything.


Lydia
Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[JenCA]

We have an inflatable safety tub, but our DD still loves to stand during her bath. She'll sit and play until we start shampooing/washing, and then she stands and tries to climb out. We tell her, "Please sit down, Julia. It isn't safe to stand in the tub", and then help her sit back down, but this works maybe only 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time, we just hold onto her arm and wash/rinse as quickly as possible! I do think the safety tub is worth it, though, because DD has slipped before but the inflatable tub has always caught her fall.

[Bearhut]

We actually put a rectangular laundry basket in the tub and give DD a bath while she plays in the basket. The water can go in and out, she's somewhat contained, and her toys stay within her reach. We do have a MAJOR problem with her trying to stand up, but she is learning to kneel and hold onto the edge instead. It might be a little easier to control than in the big tub where he has more room to roam. We did have to put non-skid strips on both the bottom of the basket and inside where she sits so it didn't slide. Hope this helps.

Heather (Mother of K 10/16/03)

[mamaturk]

We also use the inflatable tub and it works really well for DD. She does try to stand up, or move all over the place, but I feel more comfortable letting her move around while she's in the blow up because she can't really get too far. We mostly just take really quick baths.....

[nwaddellr]

I've given up trying to make my DS sit in the bath. If he is standing, I hang on to his arm so he won't fall. I have drawn the line at walking in the bathtub. I make him sit whenever he starts to take a step. That's been fairly effective. Now he crawls or pushes on his stomach around the tub. Getting him to stop standing seemed to be too frustrating. If he's too active, I just take a quick bath!

[jubilee]

Every time DS stood up I would say "sit down or you're out!" And if he didn't sit right away, I would have to just pluck him out of the tub and end the bath. It didn't kill him to miss a bath. If he was still soapy, I'd take a wash cloth and wipe it off- while he was out of the bath. He would throw a fit, he loves taking a bath. But he learned within a week that he couldn't stand up in the tub. Now he rarely tries to stand, and sits as soon as I say to. I'm lucky that worked for me!

[Dcclerk]

I do the exact same thing as Julie, and DS rarely, if ever tries to stand. It took all of twice for him to realize that standing up was not a good idea if he wanted to remain int he bath. My DS lives for testing the limits, but honestly has no problems with the consequences, so I suspect that his is not totally typical behavior. He rarely if ever pitches a fit when I follow up on whatever I tell him the consequence will be. It's almost like he just needs to make sure that I meant it.

However, although this works fabulously for us, I don't think it would work for a kid that doesn't thoroughly enjoy the bath. If you already wanted to get out, that consequence sounds like an excellent idea!

[Saartje]

My own DS is too young for this one, but I remember with one of my nephews the solution was to let him squat, but not stand. He refused to sit, but was okay with squatting, and that eased the slip-and-fall danger.