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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to bring my baby in the shower with me?

181 replies

Flingmoo · 09/02/2015 22:02

He's 8 months old and I am fed up with being stinky and greasy where I seem to have no time for baths and showers these days, he sits, crawls and climbs things so can't just stick him in a bouncy chair for the duration. He's a light sleeper so can't make noise showering or bathing while he's asleep.

DH and I usually bring him into our bath but won't be practical if I'm home alone. Wondered if shower would be possible though as it's an enclosed en suite shower so maybe he'll just sit down while I shower? I could sit down with him... Anyone else done it? Or am I being completely crazy?

OP posts:

Patsyandeddie · 10/02/2015 13:07

That's what play pens are for - why are you making such a drama out of it!

DisappointedOne · 10/02/2015 13:08

sharonthewaspandthewineywall Amongst other psychological research, yes.

15 minutes (or more) every day, at a key age and where needs absolutely cannot be met in a timescale understandable to a young baby most certainly could impede it, yes.

DisappointedOne · 10/02/2015 13:09

Patsyandeddie The OP isn't making a drama out of it. They showered with baby this morning and it worked well for them both.

squoosh · 10/02/2015 13:12

Fine to bring the baby in the shower, also fine to stick the baby in his cot and shower solo. No hand wringing required.

squizita · 10/02/2015 13:14

On a slight tangent does anyone have a bathroom design they regret now they have kids?
My "designer" one which I used to love has a tiny sink, a very deep bath with taps and shower encased in a big round cubicle.
Such a pita to fill a baby bath, get in with baby (deep sides are longer than my arms!) etc and sooo bloody massive no room for a chair or jumperoo!
Thanks to the PP who suggested a high chair though: she will be able to see me over the top of the hulking great thing from her anti lope!

SuperFlyHigh · 10/02/2015 13:17

I misread cot for cat!

Do you have a cat who could babysit?! no seriously what's wrong with cot/jumper thing or playpen? Do babies have playpens these days?

DisappointedOne · 10/02/2015 13:18

We didn't have a playpen.

SuperFlyHigh · 10/02/2015 13:22

Disappointed I can never work out in my mind if playpens are cruel ideas (a bit like a cage) or a boon for parents.

diddl · 10/02/2015 13:35

We had a playpen.

It had been mine!

not sure if I would have bought one though.

it was handy for being able to nip to the loo, cook, clean, answer the phone, shower...

Fabulous in the garden tbh!

museumum · 10/02/2015 13:40

I locked my ds in the bathroom with me at that age. We had a shower over the bath though so it was kind of half open so I could see him and he could see me, not sure it would work with an entirely enclosed cubicle.
I laid his bath toys out on the floor and some towels and stuff and he just pottered. I was pretty quick.

Now at 17mo he can toddle around the flat ok on his own for a few minutes and I leave the bathroom door open and he knows where I am and usually comes in to watch.

OstentatiousBreastfeeder · 10/02/2015 14:11

I was referring to the general sentiment on this thread that unless you leave your baby on their own regularly you're disadvantaging them in some way.

Madamecastafiore · 10/02/2015 14:14

Dd has showered with me since she was tiny but only recently without dh there just in case I slip (they are v v slippery too when wet). If I had to shower when home alone I just stick her in her cot. She has got to the stage where she wants to shower every time we do now which isn't too practical.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 10/02/2015 14:19

Gosh is this still rumbling on? I saw the thread yesterday and couldn't quite understand all the angst. I used to put DS in the shower with me - it was a shower bath. And also dd but she didn't like it as much so I didn't bother and learnt to be quick with her in the bathroom with me - but she wastnt a climber unlike ds.

A friend recommended it and suggested using baby shampoo. I never bothered with that and it worked very well.

We also had a playpen. It was a godsend for about a 3 month period for each of them and then we sold it on.

Artandco · 10/02/2015 14:21

This thread really shows how consumerist people have become in regards to the sheer quantity of stuff for babies.

You all seem to say oh just pop into playpen/ bouncer chair/ buy a baby jumper/ strap into highchair etc. Really? Where do you keep it all? Are your houses mansions or just full of baby stuff?

We bought a cot bed, car seat, pram and sling. That was it, and seemed a lot! No wonder people say babies cost more now

Mine would have just climbed out of cot if they didn't want to stay there! Of course it's fine bringing baby in shower and bath.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 10/02/2015 14:23

I've been thinking that Art. We had a second hand jumperoo, DD didn't much like it. I didn't have the money or space to keep going out and buying things to keep her amused! 'Just use a playpen'. What if you haven't got one/can't afford one/have no room for one?! Far easier and cheaper to just take baby in with you.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 10/02/2015 14:28

Play pens do fold up.

But I do agree with the sentiment. We have owned at various times a cot, a bouncer, a play pen, a buggy, a second buggy, a high chairs, a sling and a baby nest but not all at once. Each child liked is different things, our house is tiny and we had a high chair that went on one of our ordinary chairs and kept the playpen in the lost most of the time. The baby nest was inflatable and the second buggy folded up small and went in a cupboard.

BeautyQueenFromMars · 10/02/2015 14:29

No, Moving, it's not really rumbling on. The OP stated quite some time ago that she did have a shower with baby in the end, and all was well.

Posters seem to have missed that and are still chuntering on about what should/could be done.

squoosh · 10/02/2015 14:31

Bouncy chairs have been around since the early 70's so I don't think they're an emblem of our voraciously consumerist ways. Playpens don't seem to be a popular as they once were, in my experience anyway.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 10/02/2015 14:37

Well I think we'll have to agree to disagree on what a thread rumbling on looks like BQFM. I would say what you have described is the very definition of a thread rumbling on!

Artandco · 10/02/2015 14:40

Sqoosh - they may have been around but very few people actually bought them, compared to now when seen as an 'essential'. No, food/ clothing/ warmth/ live are essential, the rest is optional.

When ds2 was 6 weeks, and ds1 18 months we backpacked around Asia for months. Would have looked loonies dragging a bouncer chair along!

YellowYoYoYam · 10/02/2015 14:44

This thread is a hoot! Bet you didn't think you're simple showering questions would cause such a hoo ha OP!

Here's my tuppence worth... We regularly take both of ours into the shower (2yo and 1yo) and have done so all their lives. Up until he was about 6 months old, DS would often have a sneaky snooze whilst being cuddled in the shower which was adorable. I have this idea that when they have colds a steamy shower in the morning is good for getting the passages cleared a bit, so it's usually only when they a sniffle that we do this, but if we've been at the beach or something they get a quick hose down in the shower before bed! Otherwise I shower after they've woken me up but before I get them up, they're good at chatting to themselves in their cots for a half hour or so.

You sound like you've got the situation sorted OP, thanks for starting this thread, the angst has amused me!

squoosh · 10/02/2015 14:46

'When ds2 was 6 weeks, and ds1 18 months we backpacked around Asia for months. Would have looked loonies dragging a bouncer chair along!'

Bet you were aching to get that backpack brag in!

DisappointedOne · 10/02/2015 14:52

"We bought a cot bed, car seat, pram and sling. That was it, and seemed a lot! No wonder people say babies cost more now"

DD's cot was originally my mother's, who was around 6 months old before my grandparents could afford to buy it. It was 50+ years old when DD became the 7th baby to sleep in it. We bought a pram/travel system and a car seat and base (and a new car to put them in once DD had arrived safely). DD napped in her pram and slept in our bed - no moses basket. She bathed or showered with one of us - no baby bath. Nappies were changed on beds or floors - no changng unit. We bought her a proper full sized wardrobe with drawers, not baby furniture. She was taught to come down stairs safely on her tummy - no stair gates.

I borrowed most other things for the early months. (When it became clear that I'd have to express rather than breastfeed we bought bottles, a steriliser and a double electric pump.)

trappedinsuburbia · 10/02/2015 14:58

I usually get up half hour before dd in morning and get a quick shower, if i hear her stirring before i get up i rush to shower, shes fine in her cot for 10 mins while i faff around.
At the weekend when im not in a rush, i have a travel cot with toys she gets popped into in front of baby tv after breakfast. My bathroom is on the ground floor though so im just quick and leave all doors open. Shes a climber as well, i dont think i could have coped without the travel cot at weekends.

Artandco · 10/02/2015 15:15

Squoosh - erm no, I'm saying how of cours it's possible to bring a baby up without stuff

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