How do you shower with a baby?

[kiana2015]

My DD is 9 months, I used to shower when she went down for her naps when she was newborn as she would nap for 3/4 hours. I'm not a single parent but DP works until 9:30pm. My DD naps half an hour max. I can't leave her in her bouncer unattended. How am I supposed to wash my hair? Please give me tips on what you do/did

Shower in the morning before your DH

Shower in the evening once she’s gone to sleep

Bouncy chair in doorway of bathroom with toys and lots of singing (from me) - when young enough

When too old for bouncy chair I had to shower in the morning before DH left for work, or put in cot with toys.

Get super fast at hair washing in the shower. Save any other personal care (shaving/waxing, etc) for weekends or evenings once she’s gone to bed

I could until he was mobile. Now he'd been climbing in the shower, putting his toys in the toilet etc 😂

Yes to quick shower while she naps, if your DH works such long hours is he only doing 3 days a week? If so time hair washes and blow dries around that, you don't need to wash your hair every day and showers are quicker when you don't

The cot, surely they can’t get out of that at 9m?

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve had to make an undignified dash out of the shower to save a toy from being thrown down the toilet - luckily that phase was quite short lived.

Now she likes to smush her face against the glass and pull faces at me 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

But he will learn! My eldest was like this for a bit. Mobile but senseless. 😂 Just hide the loo roll and skip the toys for a month or two… Or stick him in the bath if that’s separate from the shower (and make sure taps v tightly turned off)!

You put child in a safe place (cot, playpen etc) and you go and shower). You ignore any crying and then come and get baby when you are done.
Surely this is common sense.

Put her in the cot with toys and be in and out within 10 mins.

Mine is now 10months old and hates the cot though. She can also crawl so usually I just bring her to the bathroom with some toys and sing baby shark to her whilst I shower very quickly. Longer showers only happen late night/when DH is home.

Sometimes when she naps I prioritise showering over putting away laundry. I leave the bathroom door open and the bedroom door so I can jump out if/when I hear her cry

Just a word of warning...

If you take your crawling/toddling child into the bathroom with toys, make sure there is nothing in the bathroom that could be knocked over (like a laundry basket) in front of the shower door (that obviously opens outwards) so you are trapped in the shower for a good hour, until your toddler manages to knock it further away and you can finally escape as a shivering wreck.

I always showered in the evening when they were in bed.

I only shower after my son is in bed for the night, in the evening.
When he was one I occasionally positioned the cot so that he could see into my en suite and watch me there.

Could you let her crawl around bathroom floor while you wash just your hair over the bath? Or get in the bath with her if she has a bath seat and do it then?

This

We used a playpen at that age. Kept them safe whilst we cooked, did laundry, changed the beds etc.

Yikes.
You?

Brought the bouncer into the bathroom and showered as fast as humanly possible. It's harder now she's 3 - she no longer naps and is terrified of the shower! I have to get up extra early so I can shower while she's still sleeping and before my partner leaves for work in case she wakes up early. When he's away I shower in the hour between finishing work and picking her up from nursery (I work part time but pick her up after lunch).

I wouldn't leave mine in the cot either, I think it depends on your child's temperament.

Mine are feral and only 16mo apart. It's just chaos but you get used to it.

I have a shower in 5 minutes, the kids play with just nappies on and are often in and out the shower (it's a walk in) making a mess and being terrors. I don't blow dry my hair mon-fri.

I have my proper showers at the weekend.

The safety advice is not to leave them unattended in high chairs, bouncers or walkers. That's why a cot or playpen is safest.

Can you still get door bouncers? We had one which we hooked onto the door of the bathroom and the baby went in there whilst I showered. Mind you, I only did it once with DC2 when DC1 was in the house as she enthusiastically swung him it in, he smashed into the door frame,
I raced out of the shower, skidded and crashed into DC1 who was already upset about the fact she's hurt DC2. We were all in tears!

Take the bouncer in the bathroom with you, that's what I do/did with mine.
(By bouncer I mean the small rocking chair kinda thing).

Ah I think that’s where I’ve got confused! Would definitely not call that thing you posted a bouncer! To me that’s a jumperoo 😂

And yet on another thread people attacked me for having a nanny. I think 15 mins is a long time to let a baby/toddler cry. I couldn’t do it. I also wouldn’t risk whilst asleep as she woke so frequently. I do have a quick (<3 min) shower with my baby in bouncer. But hair washing I only do when my partner or nanny has kids

I personally couldn't leave my kids to cry that long, and I would not find that shower relaxing at all, but that's a safe option too.

My baby is 9 months and has been mobile since 6 months. We have a travel cot in our bedroom filled with toys, so I drag that in front of the en-suite door so he can watch me. It’s helped me massively to have a safe space on each floor of the house/room we use often. Play pen in the kitchen and living room and travel cot upstairs in our bedroom with toys in. It means I can get bits and pieces done around the house.

Even though he’s been crawling since 6 months I haven’t done without a daily morning shower since he was born. I used to put him in a bouncer and after that on his playmat with toys just outside the bathroom door (door open so I could see him).

Most people don't need a nanny to wash themselves regularly. If you want to be unhygienic unnecessarily that's entirely on you.
That's to champagnelassie.