When do you find time to shower with a newborn?!

[Poppy2421]

My second baby is 4 weeks old and overall I'm finding it much easier than last time but the thing I'm struggling with is when I can wash and get ready for the day!? I feel so much better if I'm able to have a quick shower in the morning but baby is only really awake to feed and then wants to be held while napping all the time. I've put him in a sling so I can eat, use the toilet etc but I'm often still in PJs by midday. When I tried putting him in the sleepyhead in the bathroom so I could wash he just stayed awake for hours and got gradually more agitated, so didn't seem a good solution. What does everyone else do?

I remember from about 16 weeks ish I could put her on a changing mat under a play gym (with the things hanging down that they reach out and touch/chew). Next to me on the bathroom floor whilst I showered - it felt like a real win after months of 1 minute showers!

I always have showered in the evening after dc are asleep. At that age, I handed them off to Dh as soon as he got home from work and then did whatever I needed to do in the evening (he would bring them to me for feeds). Or if during the day, just whenever Dh was around. When we went swimming, I’d bring them straight in from the car in the car seat and plop them in the bathroom only because I needed to shower then and Dh was at work.

I brought mine into the bathroom in either a moses basket or bouncer. If they cry it won't be for long until you're back out again. Won't do any harm to leave them for a few minutes especially while you are right there with them.

With our eldest I used to put him in the bouncer and take it into the bathroom with me, with our 2nd (2 under 2) I would strap ds in his pram with cartoons on tv and put dd in her cradle and I’d go for a quick shower.

In the bouncer and dancing fruit on YouTube

Put them in the cot and have a quick shower. Or if you have a partner get up and shower while they are still home.

I used to take the baby bouncer in the bathroom.

But honestly, baby will be just fine if you leave them somewhere safe to cry for 5-10 mins whilst you have a quick shower. Taking care of yourself is important for your mental health.

Either get up early before they're due to wake for a feed or as soon as they're fed, leave them in their cot and just have a quick in and out shower. Or you could put them in the bathroom with you in a bouncy chair.

Same. Musical mobile over cot for 10 mins. If they cried a bit it wasn't the end of the world.

This. But it didn't bother me if they cried, I knew they were safe, it was a few minutes.

Bouncer in the bathroom got me maybe 5 minutes if I could keep her focused on something. Often with the shower screen open so she could still see me. Getting her to sleep in the cot during the day was impossible. I think I managed to shower with her in the cot once or twice! The showering at night never really worked if I wanted to go out somewhere because the night sweats that soon after birth were something else! 🫠🤣
I very much had a Velcro baby too. I managed everything with a sling but showering is the one thing you sometimes have to suffer the crying for.

All I can say is you’ve done this before so you know it’s just a matter of time. Baby will get into sleep patterns of some sort and hopefully give you longer stretches overnight, the startle reflex that ruins a cot transfer will go, and you’ll have your chance to shower again. Right now it’s often a just an either/or choice of shower before DH goes to work or catch up on well needed sleep.

Do it during nap time (quickly) or bring them into bathroom on a playgym type thing so they have something to look at and keep them entertained.

And no way would I choose to leave a baby who has only been out in the world a matter of weeks to cry. That's very hard hearted. They are brand new and there are lots of ways to work round it without leaving them alone in a cot. Also, most women would be feeling stressed with boobs leaking the minute baby started crying, so best all round to bring them in with you so you can at least talk to them if they cry.

Boucer or moses basket, and a 5 min shower tops - and I let him cry if necessary. If he's changed, fed and warm then no harm will come to a few minutes of upset. A shower is a must for mental health each day (or it was for me). Now a very content and happy toddler! xx

My youngest is six and I still sometimes think I can hear a baby crying when I'm in the shower. Years of being conditioned (ha) of never being able to have even 5 mins uninterrupted in the shower.

I always tried to nip in while they were napping but they always seemed to wake up just as I had put the shampoo in. You just have to crack on and put your own oxygen mask on first. Life with a newborn is always going to be better if you don't simultaneously feel like a minger.

I couldn't put my DD down, she would scream herself sick at that age. I used to have to shower when dh was home - before or after work.

Me too.

Thanks for the replies! Ok maybe I just need to accept him being cross and awake a while so I can make sure I'm clean and ready for the day.
The baby is not yet in enough of a routine for me to be able to get up and ready before husband leaves taking our older child with him - wake up can be anything from 7-10am. I guess in another few months he will be on more of an early morning schedule like most kids!

Put in a secure place eg cot or pram, keep your shower short, under 5 mins, don't worry if they cry

The mental health thing only works if it doesn't really upset you to hear your baby crying 🫣😅
I had mine in a bouncy chair in the bathroom until they could move, and then I'd leave the bathroom door open with bedroom doors closed and put toys out on the landing for them to play with 😊

I am utterly perplexed by this, don't you ever put your baby down, ever? Having a shower is just one of several times during the day when mine were put down awake. In fact that was the default position. In sight - unless put down awake for a nap- and with frequent interaction but kicking away on a soft mat on the floor or in the moses basket or bouncer. In my arms to be breastfed and sometimes for cuddles but not glued to me all day.

I would put mine in the bouncer and then later in the high chair when I was having a shower.

Just let them cry a bit. I used to bring mine into the room in a bouncy chair so they could see me and I could chat/sing to them.

I regarded a shower as absolutely essential for hygiene and my wellbeing.

The baby went into his cot, in the moses basket.. 5 minutes in the shower, 5 minutes drying my hair.

Oh, how he wailed but funnily enough by day three (about three weeks), he was awake after five minutes and slept from 9am to about 11am.

Me too!

Moses basket in the living room, asleep in there to quite a pattern.

With changes of a few minutes awake/asleep per day I moved their sleeping and feed times too.

When awake, on the floor, on a mat, entertained with a baby gym or toys as they got older.

Picked up and held during feeds and put down to play or sleep as required.

Bathed before bed at seven each evening and put down to sleep too.