'How' do you bath a six month old?

[wastingmyeducation]

Ok this is almost certainly a very stupid question, but what is the procedure for cleaning a baby as they get bigger?
I learned how to bath him when he was tiny obviously, and what I've always done is - clean his face with cotton wool pads - 1 for each eye, one for the face, then 1 for each ear and side of chin. Then I put him on my lap, with his head over the bath and wash his hair, dry his hair, take his nappy off and wipe him off and then pop him in the bath and wip over with a flannel.
I have now stopped with the expensive cotton wool habit, and use a clean flannel for his face.
Of course he is now too heavy to hold over the bath while I wash his hair, but what do I do? I've just been wiping his head with the flannel, but it's not really cleaning it well, and we were starting to make headway with the small patch of mild cradlecap.
He sits quite well, but not completely unsupported yet.
Apologies for the very long, and unimportant post, but I am at a loss!

xx

Can you get him a bath seat so he can actually sit in the bath, or get in with him and sit him between your legs.

I've always just sat mine in the bath and laid them back to wash their hair-the way you describe sounds like quite a palava! It is easy enough, just support them with one hand behind their shoulders and use the other to shampoo/rinse.

My baby has baths in the big bath with mummy or daddy alternated - said parent sits lo on their lap and the other washes him and his hair! simple!

You can put them in the bath with most of the weight on their bum/back, and lean them back with a nahd under the neck/shoulders to shampoo and rinse their hair. Obviously they get a bit of shampoo everywhere else too, but it's just like a bit of mild bubble bath.

I used to sit them in a bath seat when they were not able to sit up themselves.

When they were able to sit, I would support them at all times and wash them gently with a wash cloth. I put the baby soap in the water not directly on their skin.

When they were well used to sitting, DH used to get in the bath with them and they would hold onto his leg while he bathed them.

For hair washing I used to pour the water over their heads. DTD1 did not like that at all. I think you can buy visors to direct the water away from their faces but not sure if they come small enough for 6 months. The other trick is to get them to look at something straight down so the water runs off the top of their forehead and not onto their face at all. Or, can you let your DS lie back in the bath in very shallow water and gently rub his hair in the water with your hand?

I'm fine washing him in the baby bath, it's that I don't want the water to go in his eyes. [pfb] Do they just have to get used to it?

xx

Well with my two until they could sit unsupported I had one of those bath supports for them, though I didn't always use it.
That way you can wash them hands free so to speak.

I have also found a non-slip bath mat great as once they can sit up you can support them with your arm and they don't wizz off to the other side of the bath iyswim.

As for washing hair if he doesn't mind then just lay him back in the bath.

Hope that helps.

I just used to lie mine down in the bath before he could sit up in it - but he was a real water baby - lay there and splashed water everywhere and laughed when it went in his face. Dreadfully irresponsible I suspect...

Hmm, bath mat for a baby bath? You can get those shapes can't you, that act like tiny bathmats. He does slide around a little, now that he can move. I shall try pouring water over his head later and see what he thinks!

xx

As above, but I used that milky stuff in the bath - what's it called? Something like Emolia but not! Sorry, mind is completely blank.

I have the plastic reclining bath seat puts their head at a perfect angle for hair washing.

Once they can sit up I have one of those plastic seat things from about 8 months until a year when they just go in normal (as soon as they can walk) I use two bath mats so theres nothing slippy in the bath.

DD3 is 4 months and as a third born has never had the separate bit of cotton wool per eye treatment, she gets dunked before her sisters go in.

I used to put DD & DS in the Bumbo in the bath..... which meant I was hands free (but v much there) to shampoo and do things with toys etc.

imo they don't need shampoo at this age, water is enough to get even dried on weetabix out!

I used to tilt dd3 back in the bath so she was semi-lying and then pour the water so it ran away from her face. Now she is 19 months I just chuck it over her head as quickly as possible and mop up afterwards! It's not a daft question to ask though - handling somebody slippery, fidgety and totally unable to help themselves in a bath full of water is a vey challenging thing!

Yeah, I felt very silly when I realised I was doing the cotton wool thing with a six month old. You know how you just get into a habit?

xx

Another trick for the slipperiness is to bath them with a vest or tshirt on, as you can get a better grip of that than you can with slippery wet skin.

Please don't put a bumbo in the bath they are not designed for it and are not fixed down so could allow bub to fall/slip out!

You can get proper bath seats with sticky feet that you can use from about 6 months. I'd ditch the baby bath, especially if its on a stand for similar safety reasons.

We have 2 bath mats in the bath and cover the tap with a sponge and elastic band.

I would also encourage him to play with the water and be happy with it on his face - makes learning to swim alot easier and you can put your hand or a flannel over their face/eyes while you rinse any shampoo.

I would sit dd in and hold under her furthest away arm, then use a beaker to pour the water over her head. She didn't like her hair washed whether I poured it over or did it really gently so I would pour it as it was quicker. (Still do )

Pheebe - Sitting the baby in the Bumbo meant I had two free hands to rescue her/him as they toppled and slipped underwater (which they never did by the way) It's probably more likely that the baby would slip out of your hands. A Bumbo is a good solution for the shower or the bath so long as your bath is flat bottomed-ish and you don't overfill it so the bumbo floats.

Its one thing to do it, its quite another to recommend others do. Its totally irresponsible to recommend something that you know to be dangerous and that the manufacturers specifically advise against. Bumbos float, they are not designed to go in the bath OR the shower. Please do not do it.

Pheebe - Are you in Health and Safety? I am telling the thread how I bathed a six month old. I'm a perfectly sensible mother of 4 but clearly I don't have your over-heightened sense of danger.

LOL I am with you Pheebe. Did the same thing and it worked well.

The bath seats are fab and really cheap - i got mine from tescos for £10. They are great once they are sitting up as it gives you free hands. I just tipped water over ds, and now he is 16 months and loves having water poured all over him.

we always bathed the children in with one of us from newborn. One adult on standby to take baby out, one to have 5 mins after the baby got out to top up with hot water and chill! Much less faff.

Whatever swedes. I am pointing out the quite significant dangers of using a unfixed seat in a bath, something which the manufacturers specifically recommend against. What you do with your kids - as I said - is your business. The fact remains its irresponsible to recommend something dangerous to other and I'm quite at liberty to point that out.