We are big on routines in our house. Three bites into dinner, daily, Piper looks up and says “tubby-tubby?” It is one of her favorite parts of the day … and on some days (the messier) it is a mental maker for me, that bedtime is on the horizon. Once Ceci was about 4 weeks, I began to bathe the girls at the same time. It made the tub even more fun for Piper, and made that time of my day (which we refer to as ‘rush hour’) much easier. I thought my routine may be helpful for new Moms of two.
What You’ll Need with You/Prep:*
A Small-er infant Bath-tub (one that leaves roughly half of the bath-tub open)
Fun bath toys for the big sister/brother
A Small Cup (We used the smallest of these … which are great for the bath and kitchen)
Bouncer Seat w/in arms reach (or Bumbo/Exersaucer, if your 2nd baby is over the bouncer)
Baby’s PJs
Baby and Toddler Towels
Adult Towel (for the floor)
Baby’s Diaper & Diaper products
Lotion
We have the Safety 1st Space Saver folding tub. We love this tub. Here’s what I would do: from the highchair, I’d take off Piper’s clothes and let her run “Nuuuuuuuuie!” to the bathroom door. This gave me enough time to undress Ceci, and follow. I would then fill the tiny-folding infant tub with water, IN the bath-tub, while Piper threw herself climbed in ‘back’ of the ‘big’ tub. When the tiny-tub was full, I pulled it away from the direct stream of water, put Ceci inside, and give her the ‘first’ bath, while Piper played next to her, in the ‘big’ tub. I would even have a small cup for Piper to ‘help’. Once Ceci was bathed, which usually took about 2minutes, I would pull her out, wrap her in her towel, and place her on a folded adult towel, on the floor. I would then lotion, diaper and PJ (yes, I made all 3 of those nouns into verbs!) Ceci, and place her in the bouncer seat, while I gave the ‘second’ bath to Piper. Once Pipe was done, we ‘raced’ from the bathroom to put on our PJs, and play with Ceci- who was washed, warm and waiting for us in the bouncer.
It looked like this:
P & C
Doing it this way may not be that much faster than 2 separate baths, but my girls are so close in age that I couldn’t leave Piper alone while I bathed Ceci, and the first (and only) time that I tried to bathe Ceci first … Piper threw herself climbed in with all of her clothes on and said “SPASH!!!!” Now that Ceci is older, I bathe them both in the big-tub together. It is such fun for everyone that some days I literally have to uncurl Piper’s pruned fingers from the edge of the tub to put on her “jimmies!”
*I tried to make sure that I always had everything I would need in the bathroom, before starting dinner.
JoliBebe 