how do you shower and take care of YOU

i feel like during the day for me to actually take a nice shower, blow dry my hair and put some makeup on is virtually impossible.
if im lucky i get to hop in and out in 2 minutes. i feel guilty leaving the kids after i eat sitting on the couch or in their swings and need to start doing it i think.

what do you do when you have to get ready?

 

I brought bouncy chairs into the bathroom with me. If your bathroom isn't big enough, maybe the hallway/doorway. Mine loved the sound of the shower running and got used to the hair dryer. I have to be honest though...I only dried my hair a few times at that stage. Luckily I curly hair that I can just let air dry.

 

at that age - bouncies after breakfast - they usually dozed after breakfast....once they were a bit older Baby Einstein and the exersaucer became my friends!

 

they LOVE baby einstein. i just feel bad leaving them in their swings in front of the tv while i shower, lol

 

At 3 months old I would give them their baths mid-morning and then I knew they were going to nap for an hour or two so I'd take a shower during that time. If they weren't napping I brought the bouncy seats into the bathroom with me. The sound of the fan in the bathroom put them to sleep!

 

i wish my bathroom was big enough. i dont even have bouncy seats. they have a swing that can turn into an infant seat. maybe i should leave one baby out in the hall and one in the bathroom. i read on here that TV causes ADHD so now im beyond paranoid! i just left them in their swings and put an HBO special i DVRed. the classical baby. its like a baby einstein. they fell asleep. i just feel like im making them couch potatos, lol.

 

No, you are no making them couch potatoes. Sometimes you just have do something to get some time to yourself. I usually did "me" things during nap times or I would put them in front of a Baby Einstein DVD (usually Lullabyes) in their swings. That would usually calm them down and either keep their attention or help them doze off.

 

I usually took my shower before they woke, but I did put them in their cribs or swings if I needed to!

 

I agree. This is how we get stuff done. Don't feel guilty about it. If their fine, then you should be to. If their not crying then try and relax and take your shower and dry your hair and get your make-up done. If you have high maintenance hair you might want to go with a different hair cut for the next 6 months so that blow drying it is fast. I do it after every birth. Get putting make-up down to s few minutes. Sometimes getting yourself pulled together can make yourself feel a hole lot better, so go for it. If the babies aren't crying, then take the time for yourself. it's ok.

 

What?? We actually get to take showers and take care of ourselves??? It is extremely hard for me to find time to take a shower when I am home alone with the boys. One day last week, I put the awake baby in a bouncy seat and brought him into the bathroom with me. He LOVED the sound of the water and was perfectly quiet and content, even through blow-drying my hair. I was so thrilled!!

So the next morning, I put both babies in their bouncy seats, turned on the shower...and listened to them cry and whine the whole entire time! I had to keep getting out the shower to calm them down. By the time I managed to get the shampoo out of my hair, all three of us were in tears and crying!

So now, I just wait to take a shower until after my husband and teens get home in the afternoon/evening. It's a lot less stressful that way. I'd much rather take my showers in the morning, but hey, I feel lucky if I even have the time and energy to take a shower these days.

Oh, before I forget, here is what I did yesterday when I needed a break from them. I downloaded a "brown noise" mp3 from http://whitenoisemp3s.com/free-white-noise , turned up the volume to about as loud as a vacuum cleaner, and GOT A WHOLE HOUR all to myself. They were being so fussy yesterday and wanted to be held all day. I couldn't believe how fast the brown noise calmed them down! They loved it...and so did I!!

 

Hey, neat Link raysNkids -- thanks for that!

I used to try and grab a shower before DH went to work in the morning but that was hit or miss because it's so crazy w/ feeds and babies either cranky or wanting to play. Soooo, now I just wait and take my shower after the kiddos are fed and down for the night, then mornings are just a quick operation to get myself dressed and ready for my day. I do prefer morning showers, but this way it's so much more relaxing and I can lollygag if I want to since DH will handle the babies if they need something.

 

In my opinion, a half an hour of a Baby Einstein DVD is not going to harm them or give them ADD. I'm no scientist but my two other daughters survived it and are fine. I think people try to make mothers feel so guilty....like we don't already have a lot of guilt anyway!! Yikes!!! Every evening our 7 month old twins watch Baby Neptune (30 minutes) while we have dinner with our 6 and 4 year olds. That's all the TV they get though. It's hard to take the time to take care of ourselves. A shower is a great thing!!!! You get nice and clean and have a few minutes to veg out and enjoy some peace and quiet!!! It does wonders for morale! So don't feel guilty. (Ha! Ha! I have to laugh because everyone always tells me not to feel guilty!) But it's true!!!

shannon

 

Make-up, what's that?! LOL...seriously though, I wait until DH gets home and then I shower. My bathroom is tiny and so is my house. We don't really have a hallway, so I would just wait to shower until later.

 

OMG!! how can you live without bouncy seats?????? LOL!

in the beginning i would take their bouncies into the bathroom with me, now i just do it when i put them down for their first nap.

 

um yeah no kidding. I JUST got rid of a girl one last week and need to get rid of a boy one (well, it can go either way) now. it's free to a good home... want it?

 

When I have to dry my hair and put make-up on, I get up before they do, but most days I just shower when they go down for the mid-morning nap. Nails (just cutting them, Lord knows that's all I can do), eyebrows, etc. I do at night, after they go to bed. I agree with the folks that said chop off the hair...I think I waited about 3 months, then donated 8 inches of it. Makes it much easier to clean up in a hurry.

 

I take a shower after the kids go to bed and my husband is home. I air dry my hair. No make up and I throw my hair up in the morning. Until the babies get older that's the best I can do.

 

My sister is into this "natural smell" thing, where a little B.O. is a-okay. She even claims her boyfriend is into it, too. We could all try that!

In all seriousness, I shower while my babies take their first nap, or before DH leaves for work. If for some reason one of them is awake, I put them in the bouncy seat next to the shower. I let DS play with a hairbrush and it keeps him occupied for 10 minutes. I put on make-up every day. I only spend 5 minutes on it and I usually put it on while they are napping.

 

I could not even feed my babies without those things...love them and cannot live without them. They are my wing-man....

Shower, yeah that happens when the boys are in bed or down for a nap. It is crazy, but I have to admit, it is getting better the older they are. Once you get onto a schedule, you will able to get things done. I cannot dust my house more than once a week....just can't.

Jenn

 

eeewwwww.... sorry, can't go there....

 

Taking a shower and taking a 'nice' shower are definitely 2 different things, ha. Since the twins were born I don't think I've showered without my husband home (in almost 7 months!). DH went right back to work and we simply fell into a routine that seems to work: I feed, diaper and dress the bambinos while DH showers, then, while I shower, he brings them downstairs to the living room where they hang out in their bouncy seats and play while he cleans the night bottles and preps more for the day (pre-measuring formula to save me time later...). He also fixes my coffee, I know, I'm spoiled. ;-) This leaves no 'fluff' time, so I've only blown dry my hair less than 5 times in the last 7 months and I don't usually wear makeup....but I do feel much better about myself after a daily shower!

Otherwise, I think I'd probably bring bouncy seats/exersaucers into the bathroom (the one that's big enough...the other's the size of a postage stamp), or shower during their first nap....right down the hall from the bathroom so I could hear them...or even better, bring the baby monitor into the bathroom.

 

I shower when they are down for their first nap. It is the one where they both consistently fall asleep around the same time. I don't wear make up so I don't have to worry about that. If they are awake, I put them in a bassinet in the bathroom and they occupy each other while I shower. They are pretty much into staring at floating dust right now so I don't worry about boring them since my house has a lot of dust

 

For the first 3 months i think i got 1 bath (in hosptal) and then like 3 straight in, hose down and out showers lol Bad times!! Nowadays it's great, the girls are such independant little babies (for now) that they barely miss me when i'm out of the room. I prefer to shower when DF is on hand but 2 wks out of the month he's away so i make do with 10mins of baby channel in bouncies or bumbo's. They LOVE it and i feel 100% ready for what they have to throw at me. I only ever wear makeup when we go out and then it's just gloss and mascara, that can be done in minutes. I think we get so used to putting everyone else first that we carry this guilt when we take a little time off, try not to everyone needs me time.