Baby won't sit in the bath

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Baby is almost 10 months. For the last month, all he wants to do is stand. ALL the time. He still needs my help, so bath time is just exhausting now. Any tips? My back is killing me. I've put non slip thing at the bottom but I can't risk him falling and hitting himself on the side of the bath.

He's trying to walk the length of the bath, pull himself up, play with the tap, slips constantly, then climbs on me, on the tap etc. Trying to then shampoo him, get the towel etc is a nightmare. It's doable, but a nightmare, he just won't sit still. He doesn't sit still outside the bath either, adding water and a slippy bath surface (there's a mat on the bottom but the sides are slippy), a tap etc brings it to a new level. My back gives in after about 2 minutes 😅

He can't hold himself up reliably. I have tried showering him after we come in from the pool and I have to hold him with one arm, shower with the other, and he tries to wriggle to walk and slips. He got his first head bump that way as he slipped out of my arms sideways. He also looks a bit scared of the shower when I turn it on.

I have a large deep sink in the utility and when I was dealing with twins I found it easier to put a towel on the draining board and child in the sink.

This way at least you don’t have to lean over. I did put a non slip mat in the sink.

Shower?

I suggested getting in the bath with him and sitting behind him, though. So, your back should fine and it doesn’t matter if he’s clambering about. He can explore and, if he slips, you’ll catch him.

Sit with your back to the taps, so he can’t reach them. If you don’t have a towel rack accessible from the bath, bring in a chair or stool and place the towels on that.

We just sat DD back down every time. She got it eventually but it did take weeks.

Ah, I understand this. I have experienced this with my kids, the falling to one side, etc. Glad to say this is quite normal and you will find it improves as they gain more confidence.

I would just continue to shower him but in short bursts and at the same time clean him very quickly. He'll soon get used to it.

I agree. DD had this issue with DGC and she just kept repeating “we sit down in the bath” and sat her down. It’s what I did with my DC when they were little. It’s one of those things that they just need to get used to. And they get used to bath seats too.

When mine went through this phase I just stopped doing baths and let him shower with me when he needed it. We have a very large shower. He would muck about on the shower floor with his bath toys and I would have a quick shower and then give him a quick rinse down. The phase passed. He’s going on 4 now and loves his baths.

So I was a single parent of a 10 month old once, so no one was coming to help with bath time. At the time I didn’t have any hot water at home, so there were two main ways we did this. First was the baby bath, the plastic tub style. I’d put it in the living room and use a couple of kettles of water topped up with cold from the sink to get warm water. Then put the baby in, they could walk around the edge to their hearts desire and I’d be sat on the floor next to them. Worked fine. The other was washing them in the leisure centre showers which was holding them in my arms and showering them in a push button shower of unpredictable temperature - and then leaving them to walk around unreliably in the plastic leisure centre playpen with a tiled floor round the corner whilst I made an attempt at washing myself.

Babies can be a pain when they are asserting their independence! But there are several things that just aren’t optional, washing is one, and sometimes we just have to do what we have to do. Like sometimes you have to pin them down and strap them in the car seat, sometimes you have to brush their teeth when they don’t want to, make them take medicine when they don’t want to, dress wounds when they don’t understand, have vaccinations and medical procedures. You aren’t being mean, you are keeping them safe.

Shower?