Eight Different Ways of Bathing with Newborn and How to Shower a Baby

When Teo was born, we had no idea how to bathe or shower a baby, neither we knew there were various ways of bathing with newborn. Well, we knew nothing about parenting either, it was our first child after all.

The time came bathing baby for the first time. And then I realized, although babies spend around 40 weeks surrounded in amniotic fluid, it doesn’t mean they will like to be bathed surrounded by their parents. It was our case, and actually the case of many parents out there.

So, what to do if your baby hates the bath? In this article, I will list eight super practical ways of bathing with newborn that we used to make our baby feel comfortable bathing and let him enjoy his first baby bath.

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1. Bathing with baby

A bathing baby newborn can be challenging at first glance, especially when he cries, but this is why bathing with a baby will make it so much easier for you. This is our TOP 1 method.

Firstly, it is an amazing way to spend more time with your little one and bond. It is also much easier to have control over your body and avoid sudden moves, rather than bend over the tub and maintain a weird position for a period of time. This is just stressful for the body and gives quite a bit of pressure on your shoulders, arms, and back.

Of course, it depends if you use your bathtub or you prefer the little baby bath for this matter. If the latter, you can accommodate yourself better on the chair or sit on the floor for the right posture. In our case, we have purchased the baby bathtub before Teo has arrived. We have used it zero times. I believe it was just because we had a tub, and it seemed to be way more practical for us. When we moved to London though, we had a shower only, so this is where we needed it a lot!

Secondly, it was an incredible time to stay in the bath holding our Teo on top of us. The baby feels secure and safe, he feels his mom’s or dad’s warmth and so stays calm. Then he better orientates in a new environment and adjusts to water much quicker.

2. How to shower a baby

This is one of the second greatest baby bath tips that work really well when bathing with newborn. Personally, I preferred taking a bath with Teo, while my husband used to take a shower with him. It is really important to do what you feel is right and more comfortable for you. We tended to give a bath on a daily basis, so Teo could get used to water fast. Taking showers helped a lot, as it was more about feeling the water rather than washing the baby with shampoos and soaps.

So, how to shower a baby?

To do so, my husband made sure he held our little nug on one of the shoulders supporting his little head, then he directed the water flow onto the baby’s back. (The flow shouldn’t be too strong though!) When he felt Teo found himself comfortable, he played with water by placing it over his head.

Our child enjoyed it so much that he used to fall asleep right in the process. Booya!

3. Bathe baby in kitchen sink

In the beginning, your baby is so tiny that perhaps he needs a simpler solution.

It was a good solution for the first couple of months. The thing is that for babies and toddlers all objects seem way bigger than for adults. The same goes for feeling the time: our two weeks equal to two months for a child. Now imagine the size of a tub vs. a tiny bathroom sink!

Finally, using the sink is much easier and hustle free for you. No need to undress, get into the water, again, your posture and back are relaxed. This helped us to learn how to wash a newborn. Also, this is exactly how we learned to hold our baby with one hand and wash with another.

I must tell, the first time bathing a newborn was scary for me! My hands were shaking, and my heart was pounding when balancing a fragile piece of happiness on my only arm. At least I knew that in the worst-case scenario he won’t go far being locked in one tiny sink.

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4. Breastfeeding while bathing with newborn

Getting back to point one: “Bathing with a baby”. And I guess this relates only to moms in this case. I found it super practical and here is why. When Teo used to get really upset for no reason or scared being in the water; he didn’t like the move I made or his head or ear suddenly slipped under the water; he got hungry or for whatever other reason he used to cry, I breastfed him. If we can breastfeed in public places, why can’t we do it in a baby bath? Sure, we can. I loved it. Two birds were hit with one stone. Plus, it is a perfect solution if it is your newborn baby first bath.

Besides, during the early development stage, it is extremely important to make your baby feel safe. Breastfeeding helps reach this goal. Check out the importance of breastfeeding here.

5. Keeping tap water open

This is an amazing trick bathing with newborn. It always worked for us. But why did we prefer to keep the water run?

The reason is simple – to recreate the noise our baby spent 40 weeks in. The reality is that it is so noisy in the womb that newborns often prefer noise to silence solely for security reasons. They feel safe.

6. Distracting with sponge

I loved using the sponge. We used two types: one is regular soft; another a baby bath glove.

We used the first one to show Teo how the water drops by squeezing the sponge. He could stare at this for quite a while. Also, we placed it on Teo’s belly or back, and pressed the running showerhead on top of it. This way our son always felt warm water softly moving all over his body. It helped to avoid any rashes that might have arisen due to the strength of water flow too. The second one was just for fun and playtime in the beginning. We started to really use it when Teo turned three to four months old.

7. Using bath toys

Using bath toys is not a thing you wouldn’t survive without when you have a newborn, but something we have enjoyed having around. We used a fish set of tiny toys that were filled with water and then spouted it. Same effect as with the sponge.

Later on, no toy was better than the Building Beakers Nesting Cups. This is one of the simplest and most practical toys I have ever seen in my life. Given us by my friend, I can’t thank him more.

It has hundreds of uses: placing cups into one another; building a tower, playing in the water and looking how water disappearing through tiny holes; learning animals and their sounds; playing with sand and building forms; learning how to drink milk from a real cup, and much more. In a conclusion, using baby bath toys make bathing with a newborn more entertaining and educative for both parents and kids.

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8. Using a baby swimming neck ring

It was another interesting option for us to try. Although we haven’t tried it for too many times, we were glad Teo enjoyed using it. When Teo got used to the water, we tried the baby swimming neck ring on. It was a great option in our case as Teo had more freedom in movement, he was moving from one side of the tub to another moving the entire body and feeling the water flow too.

We recommend using the ring for not more than 5 minutes at a time. Stay always close to your child and support his movements with your hand. Parenthood4ever warns: never leave your baby unattended!

Enjoy precious moments of taking a bath with your little one!

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