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?

mine is 8 weeks and much prefers being held ,i sort of learnt to quickly pop him in the pram asleep. Then rub his chest to belly till he settled down again and tuck him in ,he likes a weighed blanket .Not a big weighed blanket but a cotton pram blanket .sometimes rock the pram a little

For heaven’s sake. You put down somewhere safe and you do what you need to do. Neglecting your personal hygiene is gross..

just read he is quite sicky, reflux baby's are happier being left in a bouncer chair as its a more upright position .They dont like being laid flat due to reflux usually ,mines the same

It’s hardly the same and you know that.

Pop them in a moses basket and have your shower. You don't need to feel guilty for not having them next to you all the time.

Put them down on the floor on a changing mat/bouncer chair by the shower and just get it done. I used to set up black and white cards next to the mat to look at, or sing while in the shower.

If I wanted a longer shower with hair washing etc I'd do it in the evening. Not my fave, but better to have the time to do it when DH looked after baby.

Sorry to state the obvious but just leave baby somewhere safe and have a quick shower. Do it as part of your routine before going downstairs and it will be easier.
I had a baby who would only nap upright and it didn’t resolve for many months. I had to make it work and couldn’t wear a sling all day either

I suggested something similar and was told that was akin to leaving a baby in a Romanian orphanage!

• Now they believe that it’s not necessary the baby believing that the baby is self settling it’s more that the baby learns to not to cry as there’s no point as nobody comes.

Romanian orphanages was an example of a room full of silent babies.*

Oh COME ON. This isn't the same and you know it. Stop it with the guilt trip.

This is what I did. My eldest started school when ds was 2 months old so I had no choice but to put him down somewhere while I got her ready and got myself ready. He was a much more relaxed baby probably because I wasn't fussing around him all the time.

Thank you. My baby DID learn to settle himself, as did my younger son. Romanian orphanage my arse

Exactly this

Unless it’s an ensuite with the door open absolutely not. A baby cannot be left in a different room when they are a newborn ( under 6 months)

I had a Moses basket on wheels which I wheeled to the bathroom door, then a bouncy chair which I carried into the bathroom and put on the floor. Hair/face mask/pedi sort of stuff was reserved for evenings. Actually, I signed up to 8pm Aqua class at local pool and my routine was to drive home in a throwover and turban and have the most lovely hair wash/condition/face mask/feet pamper when I got home. It became my Thursday night ritual.
Babies are not designed NEVER to cry.
And Mums operate much better when feeling fresh and clean.

Or, what, the baby will instantly expire?

The guidance is about having their sleeps in the same room, and it's concerned with the baby spending hours in a room alone, not five minutes awake while the mother has a much needed shower.

If oh was at work I'd put the baby in a bouncer in the bathroom with me x

Unless it’s an ensuite with the door open absolutely not. A baby cannot be left in a different room when they are a newborn ( under 6 months)

Why, will they dissolve? Spontaneously combust?

Of course they can. God, no wonder so many women suffer from PND if they're expected to entirely sacrifice every aspect of their existence.

I think many women have been guilt tripped into massively neglecting their own needs...of course totally ignoring a crying baby repeatedly and for very long periods is unacceptable...but popping baby somewhere safe while you have a two minute shower is not the same thing. I remember reading a thread on here a while ago from a new mum who was scared to even use the loo when she was alone with her baby...she thought she could only pee when her partner was there to watch the baby.

Of course they can for 5 minutes whilst mum has a much needed shower.

Don’t be so ridiculous , how do you go to the toilet or do anything at all .

Of course they can be left. Much safer to put them in their cot or playpen than a baby bouncer in the bathroom or en-suite.

People on MN are batshit crazy. I do wonder how their relationships stay together with their ridiculous behavior.

Sorry but this is bullshit. I've had 4 children and was a single mum with the first 3. You can leave them in a secure place for short periods of time. I had to if I wanted to get us all out the door on time.

I know! Crazy eh x

Crazy and filthy.