Bath time

Hard to believe, but I have never bathed and put my twins to bed on my own. They are now 18 months old. Mostly DH is home to help or somebody has been roped in to come and help. We normally wind down for bedtime with “reading” books, then go to the room where one is entertained and the other is bathed. While the one gets dressed for bed, the other one is bathed. (This is often the only one on one time they get as I work.) They still get milk before going to bed and will happily drink that in their cribs, then it is lights out. It is not always possible to have two people at home for bath and bed time. How do you do this on your own? Please help.

 

If DH isn't home for bath/bed, which is often, I take all 3 into the bathroom and close the door. That way I don't have anyone getting into trouble in other rooms while I still have kids in the tub. Usually the 3 of them are all in together, I wash them all and get them all out, only once they are all out and dry do I open the bathroom door.

You could bring the PJs, diapers, etc into the bathroom with you and keep the door shut until they are all dressed. If I've had a very long day and am exhausted this is what I do . If not, once they are dry I open the door and let them run around naked (which they all love) while I corral them one at a time for PJs and teeth brushing. After they are all dressed we go into one of the bedrooms and read stories, again, if they are all full of energy I close the door to whichever bedroom we are in to prevent any escapees!

I usually work in steps so if you can break it down and know what you have to do and are prepared for every part of it, it makes it easier. GL!

 

I did the bedtime milk about an hour before bed. Like E3's said, I brought as much stuff as I could into the bathroom and then bathed them together and then got them dressed and ready for bed. It does seem daunting at first but after a couple of times, it really wasn't that bad.

 

I always bathe my boys together, even when DH is home. I take their clothes off except for diaper, then we go into the bathroom where we take off the diapers and do their bath. Then I drain the water and put the hooded towel around each of them, and then we walk to their room and one plays (yes, naked, or with the towel still half on) while I get the other dressed and then we swap. Only once have they ever peed on the floor of their room while doing this, and since it is only about 6-10 steps from the bathroom to their room, it works well for us. I never did a bath alone until my kids were about 18 months as well - usually if I was home alone at bedtime, they just got a wipe down and not a full bath, but usually DH is home.

 

We do baths alone all the time- usually its DH's job but if they get exceptionally dirty I tackle it. Both boys go in at the same time. I bring everything in the bathroom, too, but it's small and I'm pregnant so I don't shut the door. When they are both clean I haul one out while the other plays. He first gets lotion and a diaper and dressed (it's cold right now in our house and mine do pee with naked time!). The first kid is instructed to play in his room and if he bugs me, his crib- mine are fascinated with body parts and baby powder and lotion. I haul out #2 and repeat.

If just 1 needs a bath I'm likely to bath him (still) in our kitchen sink. They sit cross legged and can fit. It's a short bath but I like that I'm not kneeling and bending.

 

I did it like others have said. But have you considered that they don't actually need a bath every night? In fact, my kids get a bath just a couple times/week, except for my oldest two who now do need to shower daily. My girls all have eczema and my Dr. told me to stop bathing them any more than twice/week. There was the occasional blow out as a baby/toddler that would get them an extra bath. And sometimes it's nice after a day playing in the snow (today!) or even necessary after a day playing in the dirt/mud. But most of the time they're just fine. So if you do like bathing them every night but it just feels overwhelming to do it alone, you might just choose to skip it on the nights when you're by yourself. Have some other cuddle time reading more books or telling stories, singing songs, etc.

 

Yeah I should mention that due to dry skin we do baths just like Dielle- every other night with an occasional extra bath (usually the sink bath) if they are exceptionally dirty for some reason.

 

I do bath time frequently on my own (DH works nights). We head upstairs, I close all bedroom doors that I don't want them in, have a few books out that they play with while waiting for me to grab towels and make sure that I have diapers ready to go. Once in the bathroom, I close the door and start the bath water. We also have cabinet locks on to keep the twins from trying to play in there. I undress and undiaper both, put them in the tub, then fill up the tub. I wash them first, just in case we have to get out quickly that night, then let them play. Then I drain the water, get both out and dried off, then open the door, and they usually run out of the bathroom and back to the books they had been playing with. I diaper both and then get them dressed for bed. I think the key to bathing them by yourself if thinking the process through and getting as much prepped beforehand as you can.

 

I have only had to do it on my own a few times. I usually give one of my boys some favorite books and toys and put him in the pack n play. I pick the calmest or most tired. Then I bathe the other one very quickly and dress him. Then I put him in the pack n play and switch them out, quickly bathe my other boy. They have always been very calm while playing. It's like they know they have to wait their turn. Then I rock and read a book and put them to bed one at a rime. My boys don't have a bedtime bottle anymore.

 

Thank you so much for all the replies. I managed but will work on improving the routine. Found that suddenly both wanted to stand in the bath and normally this is not a problem. I will have to get some new bath toys to keep them entertained.

 

I pretty much do the same as every one else, we have always given the girls their bath by ourselves accept when they were super young daddy would help me. But ever since sitting up stage I do it alone or dad does it alone. One of us cleans up and the other does bath. Which it usually is me bathing. My girls are crazy and like to stand up and throw water out, etc, but i just deal..(ha, ready for that stage to stop hehe)

In bathroom
SHUT door (no escapes)
undress
bath together
run in our towel to our room
milk
get dressed
read and
bed!
with the DOOR shut

OH something knew we just discovered and just tried last night was bath crayons! HUGE hit and kept them entertained while i cleaned each one and brushed their teeth. wash off super easy!

GL you can do it!

 

we have a small house and my twins LOVE bathtime. Its almost their favorite time of day. All I have to say is WHO WANTS A BATH! and they go RUNNING to the bathroom. If I am by myself I run the water and while that is going I strip the down and pop them in. They will play for up to 45 minutes in the tub so I sit on the floor by them and play with them or even fold laundrey then when they start showing signs of being ready to get out, standing up throwing toys out etc, I wash their hair and bodys and rinse them and get them out put their robes on them and we go to their room. One runs around in their robe while I get lotion and diaper and jammies on then that one runs around and I repeat with the still naked one. Then we read a book they have their bedtime milk, brush teeth real fast and bed.

 

I do 99.9% of baths alone and I do the same. I may or may not strip them to their diapers first. Tell them it's bath time and they run to the bathroom door. Start the water, strip them down, and plop them in the tub. I sit on the floor with a towel (they love kicking and splashing) while they play then I clean them up. I may get them dressed or at least diapered before leaving the bathroom- robes or full clothes. Sometimes I let them run naked for a bit- depends on how warm the house feels. If I do that, I usually end up running around the house chasing a naked toddler when I do want to get them dressed. Emma is always first out because Eli gets colder than her and his teeth chatter so usually I need to towel and hold him a bit and during this Emma is squealing and running around the house.

 

I was on my own with my girls at night from the time they were born practically. My husband took a 2nd shift job so that he could watch them during the day, and I watched them at night, this way we wouldn't need to put them in daycare. Up until the could sit up, i would bath one, and the other would go either in an activity center (or mat) which I placed right outside of the bathroom door, or in the crib (their bedroom was right across the hall from the bathroom) with a ton of toys inside the crib. Once they were big enough to sit up well, I would just bath them together, then get them both out of the bath and have them stand (or sit) on a towel while I dried each off.

 

When our girls were very little, DH and I did bathtime together. Now I generally am the designated bath giver in our house (mainly because my husband works out of town during the week so it falls on me, now I just do it myself all the time.) At first it was tough to get used to doing it alone but after awhile with the routine it became manageable. I ALWAYS bathe our girls together. I can't imagine going through bathtime twice. Haha. So what I do is get their panties, pajamas, and blankets out and set them in the hallway so they are ready when the girls get out. Then I put the girls in the tub, wash one's hair while the other plays, then switch. After they play a little while, I get them out and wrap them in their towels and then bring them into the hallway and put their blankets on. After they have warmed up a bit, we get dressed and I dry and brush their hair. So that's our routine. It's easy now that I'm used to it. I'm sure you will do fine once you adjust to the change of doing it alone.

Also I agree with some of the other posters...perhaps give them baths less often. Our girls only get a bath a couple of times a week, so it is less of a hassle. They don't get all dirty in the winter so it is fine for us to do baths less often.