While some babies enjoy taking baths, others are apprehensive or even afraid. Both of our kids were afraid of the tub, but have come to enjoy bath time and even get excited at the prospect of taking a bath. (We’re enjoying it while it lasts, knowing that eventually they will probably turn around and start hating baths again soon enough.) Here’s what we do to make bath time more fun for our babies.

Play Music – Fun, upbeat music sets the mood for fun. Try a bath related CD or any other cheery music to help kids get ready for a good time.

Blow bubbles -  For babies of all ages, seeing bubbles is a joy. Blow bubbles, being careful not to get them in baby’s face, and watch baby laugh and smile. Caution: the popped bubbles can make bathroom floors slippery – be careful and make sure to dry the floor or put down a rug.

Make a bath time book – While you are bathing baby, have someone take pictures of the process, such as putting him or her in the tub, face and hair washing, and drying off. Have the photos printed and write a story to go along with them, then put it all together and read the book with your baby during the week to prepare for bath time.

Give baby age-appropriate toys – For young babies, a wash cloth or a rattle can be enough to stimulate his or her senses and entertain him. For older babies, try a set of stacking cups or bowls, or utensils such as a whisk, wooden spoon, and colander to play with in the water.

Make sure you’re comfortable, too. Consider washing your baby in the kitchen sink – not only will it save your back, but baby might be more comfortable in a smaller space. Place a towel on the bottom to prevent slippage. Some parents opt to bathe their babies while holding them in the tub; if you choose this route, be sure to practice safety measures and have someone nearby to safely hand you the baby and help when needed. Bath time need not be boring; try these tricks to make taking a bath more fun for baby – and you.

Most young babies dislike baths. I?ve always found this to be slightly ironic because babies spend 9 plus months in a water bubble before they are born!

When my children were a few days old, I found it was best to give them their sponge baths in sections. I?d start first with their head and face, move down to the upper body, and then their lower body. When bathing their upper body, I?d keep their lower body covered with a towel and vice versa. It seemed to make the bath more bearable for them.

When their umbilical cord fell off, and I could put them in water, I had to come up with a slightly different game plan. I found that the two most important things to keep in mind when bathing a young infant were water temperature and routine. Getting the water so that it is neither too hot nor too cold really is important! I also found that while my children didn?t like the bath at first, the key was to not give up and continue on using the same routine every day. Eventually, they began to tolerate bath time pretty well.

After the children could sit by themselves, bath time became a fun time. The colored foaming soap was always a hugely popular thing at our house. When my older children were toddlers and were learning their colors, I?d dye the water using food color! If you decide to try this, be sure to mix the color very well into the water or it can stain! Also be sure to rinse the tub well after bath time.

One thing that my older children disliked was getting their hair washed. I was never able to figure out a trick to make that part of the bath to be more tolerable, however I see now that different stores sell hair washing hats for children. The hat is shaped so that water and soap run down the back of the head instead of getting into the child?s eyes. I have never had a reason to try the product because my son doesn?t really mind having his hair washed too much?plus his hair is cut short as per his Daddy?s wishes. Perhaps this is why it isn?t such a big deal for him? My girls always had long hair which made hair washing that much more difficult.

I?ve also found that my stress levels really have an affect on my children. If I was tense or upset during their bath time, it seemed to make the whole experience much more traumatic for them. On days when I was really stressed, I would ask my husband to take over bath time duty.

After months of slogging through the nightly bath time routine, my son now loves his nightly bath time. In fact, he loves it so much so that our big issue right now is stopping the bath time fun so he can get ready for bed and go to sleep. Isn?t that ironic?

Michelle from CoolMomsCare posted an interesting alternative to rinsing her daughters hair at bath time. She said that due to her baby’s long hair, she was struggling to effectively rinse while keeping the shampoo suds out of her baby’s eyes and ears.

She suddenly had the idea to wash out a ketchup bottle so that she could focus the water onto specific areas and at a high-concentrated velocity. Turns out it worked like a charm.

Do you have any clever-but-simple-tricks to share that you use at home to make your job as mommy easier?

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