Bath Times They Are A Changin'

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
- Bob Dylan

Back when Sasha started having sleep problems, Nerdy and I read up on many baby-sleep theorists and realized that starting a bedtime routine was universally recommended. So we introduced bath time as a way to calm the little guy before bed. We started with the kitchen sink but found it too nerve-wracking to try to protect his floppy head. So we moved to a little plastic tub inside our regular bathtub and it was perfect. He loved being in the big white space with so many shower curtain polka dots to look at. Then he grew to the point that he would displace all the water so there wasn't much to bathe in.

Nerdy went looking for another kid-size tub and found, again, the perfect solution: a big, pink, blow-up ducky tub. This was great because he could lean on and over every side and tumble around a little without risk of smashing his head. Pink Ducky was wonderful. Sasha even started trying to stand up by holding on to the ducky's head. Soon, though, he wanted to stand everywhere, putting his hand up the faucet, tossing out toys in order to fetch them by climbing over the side, and basically causing mayhem by thrashing around on the slippery surface. After a few episodes of Nerdy and I catching his head an inch before a bathtub concussion, we'd had enough.

I tried (once) to take him back to the kitchen sink now that he could sit up by himself. Disaster. He turned the hot water up higher and higher. He splashed over the entire kitchen. He pulled himself up with the faucet spigot to have a look around. He climbed out of the sink entirely to find out what the counter had to offer: vitamins, spatula, water pitcher, etc. The next night, he got a shower.

That's where we're at now. Mama gets in the shower first and washes her hair while he stands excitedly outside the tub yanking the shower curtains out of his way so he can get closer to the water (and Mama). When it's his turn, I pick him up to hand him to Nerdy and a huge smile appears on his face and he starts kicking like an excited frog. Even funnier is that after she washes off the food and playground, she sets him down on the floor of the shower and he happily sits there under the spray talking and playing with a rattle.