Please teach me how to give a bath

Seraph

Tue, Oct 06 2009, 3:54 am

Second time mother here and I feel like a first timer.
With Uriel, I gave him a bath in the bath seat contraption I posted on the other thread.
But Shmaya doesnt like that bath seat, so I have to figure out how to give him a bath some other way.
Here is all the parts I can't see to fit together:

I need to either hold him or put him down on something.
I need to be able to bathe him on a surface that isnt as low as my big bath tub. (That would make my kitchen sink be most likely.)
What do I put him down on? I tried putting him on a thick towel in the sink, so it would be comfortable and that there would be a high enough part to hold up his head. Only... he is so long that when he straightened his legs (which he does while crying) his head was pushed against the side of the sink. His body straightened is longer than the sink (and my sink isnt tiny).
Ok, so I can not put him down and I can hold him in the crook of my arm while bathing him- only how to I prevent from getting soaking wet? Do I strip down to nothing?

I need some advice. If you can give me step by step instructions how to bathe a baby in the kitchen sink without getting myself soaked and without using that bath seat, I'd be very grateful.

freidasima

Tue, Oct 06 2009, 4:58 am

Seraph, this works for babies until around four or five months.
Strip them.
Put a big bathtowel around your front, the corners around your neck.
Stand up against the sink.
Turn on the water until right temp.
Put washcloth in the sink.
Pick up baby
Put baby under running water as you hold baby in your hands
hold baby up to you (you have a bathtowel around you so you won't get wet)
wash baby with other hand and liquid soap that is in a dispenser
wash baby's head
baby either laughs or screams
you ignore baby and try not to drop baby
if you drop baby there is a washcloth in the sink anyhow
turn baby upside down so that other side gets washed with the running water
whole exercise should take no more than 60 seconds when you have it down pat
you can do it five times a day during the warm weather after each diaper change, that's what I used to do.
When finished wrap baby in the towel that was around you and toss on bed.
If baby survives thatk they will survive anything ( I had big babies).
dry baby, diaper baby.
dress baby, or not depending on mood.
Enjoy baby.
No big deal.

shosh

Tue, Oct 06 2009, 5:31 am

Freidasima, did we live in the same house? I used to hate baby baths and used to bathe all of my little babies in the bathroom sink in exactly the same way you describe.

Your description just brought back a lot of cute memories ...

freidasima

Tue, Oct 06 2009, 5:40 am

Hey Shosh, it's just that when you deal with a lot of babies you realize that (1) they aren't as delicate as you think they are, just don't drop them on their head in the sink and (2) your grandmothers didn't have baby baths and (3) you don't have room for a baby bath and they are a pain in the neck and (4) you want to be able to do it often, cheap, get it over fast and at the same time be able to scream out instructions to the rest of the kids who are milling around.

The minute they could sit I would bathe them together (girls with girls etc.) I have a plastic baby bath to this day, looks like a big blue torpedo! and I would set it in the bathtub and fill it with water and sit the kids down in it to play. After ten minutes of playing in soap I would take the telephone, tell them to stand up in turn, splash them down and then would then be lifted out to dry off. Saved tons of water, and only when the started making faces at being bathed together (like around five or so) did I begin to shower them separately.

grin

Tue, Oct 06 2009, 7:00 am

freidasima wrote:

momomany

Tue, Oct 06 2009, 8:40 am

I use the kitchen sink. I fill it as high as possible with very warm water & line it with a cloth diaper. I put the baby wash & lotion in the water so they will be warm. I prepare everthung I will need on the counter including a hooded towel placed on a thick,soft blanket. I roll up my sleeves & undress the baby trying to keep my warm hands on his skin the entire time so he doesn't feel cold. I place him in the sink, trying to keep him under water up until his chin to prevent him from getting cold. As soon as I put him in, I wrap the wet diaper arounnd him so he is sort of swaddled in it underwater. After I wash his head, front, I flip him over my forearm into sort of a sitting position leaning over & I do his back. Again, I try & keep as much of his body underwater as I can-including his back as I wash it. When we are done, I quickly put him on ther towel & wrap him in towel & blanket to get cozy & dry in my arms. The lotion bottle stays in the bath warmig till I need it. My fussy baby loves his bath & actually calms down in it every time. We no longer need the diaper in there.

Rodent

Wed, Oct 07 2009, 4:03 pm

When I had very little babies in a sink without an insert I would hold them almost like in the crook of my arm but I would hold them under the arm on the side away from me, head on my arm. They can't just slip in this way. I'd use my other arm to wash over with a wash cloth etc and to grab the other underarm of the baby when done (this makes them face away from you).

We have a baby bath with sling type contraction this time so I only had to wash that way in hospital.

They do tend to like being on their tummy also, resting on your arm or even just the head bit with the hand cradling the chin (I never did it that way but nurses at the hospital did). The latter one they sort of start with legs in the froggy position on the bottom. I will say that once they start moving their limbs around, with their head out like that, they look VERY much like a turtle (and I know you think Shmaya looks a little turtle-ish as it is). This is how Amram got his nickname at 3 days old Wink

ETA - We used to use the laundry sink (kitchen sinks here aren't very big)

shlomitsmum

Wed, Oct 07 2009, 4:18 pm

I did not read other suggestions....

but here is MY fail proof system once I stopped bleeding...I give a bath at night in the big tub with me, the little tub was giving me a sore neck ,the sink option grossed DH out (he is like that germphobe and squimish but he always smells great) .I keep towels diaper and a change pad right there . and to make the baby feel secure I wrapped her in a receiving flannel blankie in water ,this made her less slippery ,and was used to clean neck and folds . My baby does not need the blankie now but I find that bathing toghether gave ME the chance to get cleaned up too during those crazy first 3 months .
PS I do not know if our nightly blankie bath (plus aqua nursing )had anything to do with this but my baby slept throegh the night at 2 weeks!!! B'H

Ezrachar

Thu, Oct 08 2009, 3:56 am

I don;t know if this is an option for you, but I used to bathe my newborns in a water sling in the shower with me. I had a water sling (made of mesh) and just washed the baby right through the fabric. Since I could never seem to put my kids down long enough to take a shower at that age (until about 3 months) I'd just shower along with them. With the sling, I never had to worry about a slippery baby.

Conversely, you can take the baby in the shower with you... if you put a washcloth or towel on your stomach, even wet it will keep the baby from slipping, and you can just hold the baby against your chest with one hand while you wash them with the other.

I used to do this too and keep the car seat near the shower with a towel in it... finish washing, plop the baby in and cover them up with the towel.

Voila!

Rodent

Thu, Oct 08 2009, 4:17 am

Seraph wrote:

Rodent, how do you not get your arms/sleeves SOAKED when you give a bath that way?

I probably didn't word it well, maybe some pics will help:

Zevulun's first bath in hospital.
Wrapped in a towel, washing his face and head:

Submerged. Only really my fingertips are necessary under the armpit at that age (more of fingers as they get older and move more) head on lower forearm. Not much goes in the water:

Grace

Thu, Oct 08 2009, 9:35 am

OMG his belly button is in the water!!!
A real no no in this country....

seraph: I used to fill bath tub with an inch or 2 with nice temp water and lay my baby directly in the bath tub - baby loved it. Then I would go up and down baby's body with shower head...I dont realy know why I did this but baby liked it muchly, maybe the feeling of the sprinkled water, like a massage.
Good Luck

Rodent

Thu, Oct 08 2009, 3:36 pm

I never got why in some places they don't allow baths while the cord is still attached. Here they say it's fine, it doesn't slow down the drying process and actually helps prevent infection. All my kids lost their cords between days 3 and 5. The cord was dry, still a bit moist underneath but so early that is quite normal.

Seraph

Thu, Oct 08 2009, 4:06 pm

Rodent, so I tried the bath your way today. Your way, with the addition of being wrapped in a receiving blanket at first. He still cried, but didnt howl as much as other times. I'll be trying your way again. Thanks!

ShakleeMom

Thu, Oct 08 2009, 9:14 pm

Grace wrote:

OMG his belly button is in the water!!!
A real no no in this country....

Actually, the babies that I submerged before it dried, the cord came off so much faster and was easier to clean.

EvenI

Sat, Oct 17 2009, 2:32 pm

My baby used to hate being bathed when I used a baby bath with a newborn insert in it and I followed instructions in books to fill th ebath with just a couple of inches of water. Eventually, I realized that he was calmed by being submerged in the water. Looks like that's what Rodent is doing in the pics. It makes sense that a baby would be happier if more of the body is in the water. Afterall, they spent a while submerged in amniotic fluid.