Bathing a strong willed 8 month old

[PeaceLily2000]

My baby has out grown her baby bath so I am kindly asking for suggestions of the best way to bath a wriggly, strong-willed, very distracted-by-everything 8 month old within the main bath.

Can anyone recommend the best contraption that will keep her safely in place while I bath her. Not sure what might work best.

Many thanks

@fatfatgirlslimmer I think yours is my favourite ever mumsnet post.

Good luck OP. I tried bathing with my DD a few weeks ago and got a 'look' (she wasn't even 1!) She's fine with a bathmat.

A bath divider! My friend uses one in their bath, it converts the bath to whatever length you want. I've seen the Baby Dam bath water divider online although not sure whether anything similar is available in the U.K.

We have an angelcare sloped bath seat which we used since birth in the big bath.
I know its only recommended up to a specific weight but DD still lounges in it now at 9 months (please dont judge).
This allows us to wash her and then once clean she sits herself up and we pop her on the bath mat in the bath.
Then all hell breaks loose as she just flips to her front and shoves her face in the water or tries to stand and climb out.
Bathtime is fun but my god, its like wrestling a salmon sometimes.

Always with the just get in with them

like it easier to get into a bath and lift a baby in after you. Hold and bath then securely… then how does getting out happen safely?

lunacy

just use the kitchen sink OP until they are steady enough to use the bath.

it will save you a lot of back ache

@PeaceLily2000 Have you ever tried putting a washing basket in the bath with a bath mat inside? My ds hated baths until I started doing this x

When people say bath mat, do they mean a rubberised non slip one or a fluffy bath mat that you’d use to protect the floor?

I’ve got an “old fashioned” style baby bath that my very tall DS (16 months) still fits in. Much quicker and cheaper than filling up the whole big bath. And if he slips backwards a bit he can’t go far.

Similiar to This

@Sleepygrumpyandnothappy

Rubberised non slip - must have cute ducks/frogs/fish though, not yet grannies beige one from 1952.

I had an accident last year. (Car not bath) and I had various body parts relaxed with man made bits, so it was imperative I didn't slip or use my arms to stop me slipping.

visiting rehabilitation team would only let me use my shower over my bath IF I bought a mat for the bath. I bought one from Amazon (judge away, absolute saviour when I could even hold a bottle of water), I thought I'd pass it on very quickly, over s year on it's still in my bath, it's aqua coloured so it makes the bath look refreshing.

it's here to stay.

I seriously considered the ducks & frogs though!!!

@twoandcooplease she's adorable!! & looks very happy. The only thing with the laundry basket is you still need a decent amount of water in the bath and for younger ones it's still quite a space to slide about until they get thinner & taller!.

@PeaceLily2000 I'd try something like the big duck @Tina8800 linked to, it's very cute & will save water & fuel (water heating) but you'll probably still need a seat for a bit.

market place & charity shops usually have them because they're kind of nikky to store & not used for very long (but fab when you do need them. And as a pp said, you can sit them in there for washing & hair washing then let them out once they're a bit bigger.

Definitely try to enjoy it all though, they do grow too bloody fast!!

We had one of those when I was a baby (53 now). Once it had done babies it became a play bath for toys, water play, then eventually our laundry basket for ironing, then a puppy bath for a while (so she wasn't scared!). Then back to ironing 'basket'. It's only very recently my mum had to let it go. After my brothers dog destroyed it 🥲 but 53 years use, you can't complain!

I chucked all my babies in with DH when he had his bath every night (always has a bath after a long day at work). Wasn't my job then. I'd just strip em down, hand them over and come pick them back out with a towel later

DH gets in with ours. We had a seat for DS2 but it was useless as kept unsticking from the bottom of the bath and we barely used it in the end. I honestly think DS3 would just stand up in it and cause himself calamity! I had given it away by the time he was born anyway.

He is now 12mo and steady enough at standing to bath him even though he won't sit down still. I have no idea how you get them to sit down XD he does not understand instructions yet and doesn't stay sitting if you place him in that position, won't make the connection if you take him out (just gets really angry!) I suspect in the next 6 months or so he might get the idea of sitting down and then we can put the younger children in together.

We have a non slip mat for the base of the bath. You can buy them in supermarkets, Boots etc.

We only do the adult + baby bath if there is another adult to do the passing in/out of the baby to! It's a luxury I did not have with DS1 when I left his dad. As a consequence unfortunately he hated baths until he was about three.

Just to report back - the bath mat worked perfectly. She can sit up without slipping, and it frees up my hand to wash her. A few toys have kept her attention away from the taps :)
Thanks again for all the suggestions