How to bath 9 month old

[PlumSquid]

I'm really struggling with bathing my 9 month old daughter. My partner and I both are present bathing her and at the moment she just sits in the bottom of a bath on a non slip mat. In tonight's bath she hit her head (sounded quite hard, but she seems fine so far), cried for a bit and had a cuddle then popped her back in to let her play so she doesn't have a bad experience. But in doing this she slipped again and had another small bump!

I got very upset and left the room to get her duck to cheer her up and on returning my partner tried to shut me out the room because I "slammed" a door. We live in an old house some doors just don't shut without some force. Which made me angry and upset because I just wanted to do something nice for her but ended up shouting and among her cry with fear. I completely regret this but in the moment after being scared of her hitting her head twice and the normal stress of bathtime I couldn't control my emotions.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make bathtime easier for everyone as I don't want this to happen again but she's so determined to keep standing in the bath it's impossible to keep a hold of her and keep her safe!

We had the shnuggle toddler bath, my boy used it for years and saves on water too.

That’s sounds stressful, my 8 month old is just starting to pull herself up in the bath too and hit her head this evening falling down so I get it.
could you bath with her? Then you can keep her occupied playing and also are right there to grab her / help her if she tries to pull herself up?

Is it possible to give her baths in the kitchen sink while she's still little? Would make it easier to keep a hold of her too

I'm sure we used a bath seat when my kids were wee. They are suitable from 6 months

We had one of tyese

Seconding a bath seat. The angelcare one that suctions to the bottom of the bath is good.

Bath seat

Angelcare bath seat was really good for us till they were comfortably sitting unaided.

Another vote for the shnuggle bath, we had the baby size and now still using the toddler size at 2

We had a bath seat a bit like the ones linked to above and that was 25+ years ago .

With my DD I use a non slip mat on the bath. I fill the bath water only the height of my hand. Any more and she starts bobbing and slipping. I have a toy duck that she holds and is fascinated with. In the past I used a hairbrush. The only time she doesn't try and climb out is when she is holding something. The distraction gives me enough time to wash her hair and body and two quick songs. Then its 1,2,3... Out we come no hanging around. It definitely got easier for me at 9 or 10 months when she really became interested in her toys. Sticking with exactly the same routine helped a lot. I also try to make sure she's not too tired or hyper before bath time. If shes too wriggly or you are feeling stressed, it's okay to cut it short or just skip a night. I also think it would be a lot less stressful if one person does bath time. If you are worried about the baby slipping, keep your hand on their back?

Another vote for the Angel care seat. We didn't need it for long, but it really helped take the stress out of bathtime.

Just get in the bath with her? She will love having a parent there to play with and you can keep her safe easier. Does she have some bath toys? The duck isn’t in the bathroom?

We've got lots of use of an IKEA baby bath for DS and DD. Much easier, and much less water needed.

Thank you for your suggestions, bathtimes are just so overwhelming but she loves them! She has rubber ducks and cups with holes in to watch the water pour out but she instintant on trying to stand. I think getting in the bath is a good idea but just seems like getting dried and dressed after would be rushed? She has a bath then straight to bed and can get grouchy if we're not quick enough!

I found it much easier when I moved bath time earlier. So it was eat dinner at 4:30, get messy. Straight from high chair to bath. Quickly into pyjamas (warm room and songs as a distraction because noone likes getting out of a warm bath and into the cold. I'd by grouchy too!), brush teeth, an hour playing on the floor to burn off that last bit of energy. Dim lights, a few bedtime stories move from living room to bedroom. Milk, sleep. When she's tired she goes into wriggle escape artist mode but when awake, is happy to sit there with a couple of toys. 🤷 Of course every baby is different. I had a baby bath until 6 months but after that just putting her on regular bath has been just fine.

Do you both need to be there. It sound like a too many chefs situation with you getting in each others way or both assuming the other one has hold of her. I also go for quicker bath in smaller container (either kitchen sink, baby bath or small padding pool pushed into one end of the bath), and do longer water play type activities at a different time.

I bathed mine in the kitchen sink at that age, although I do have quite a big sink. So much nicer on your back because you're not bent over. I miss being able to do that now! It's the only time bathing wasn't chaos.

I never understood the advantage of the sink. It doesn't make any difference to how much you have to support them before they are sitting happily. The only thing that made it easier for me was a bath seat like the angel care one so you can actually have them supported and have both your own hands free.

Around this age, I bought a laundry basket (the rectangle ones with holes all over) and he sat inside that inside the bath. Kept the toys from floating away too. Google it and you'll see loads of examples of people doing it.

A bath seat is a sensible answer, there is no way I'd bath my 9 month old without one. I got it for £5 on Facebook marketplace

PSA
You can read advice and if you don't agree just scroll on and add your own advice. You don't have to say .. xyz advice is wrong. Only mine is correct. Different things work for different people ☺️ I'm glad a bath seat worked for you, I hope it does for many others reading this thread.

Also at 9 months the baby will be sitting happily so a kitchen sink meant I could stand in front of it with a cup of tea using less water and it was way quicker to fill up.

I had a 2 bowl sink in my kitchen and my two girls used to love playing in them together side by side . It will put the fun back into it OP the sinks are at waist level too so it's much easier for you .

Blimey, bit of an overreaction. I never said it was wrong.

A baby bath seat or bath in the sink until she is older, mine loved the bath seat.