Baths by yourself

DH works 2nd shift, so I'm by myself for the night time routines. So far, I've been able to time baths for nights when I've had someone over to help (sister, friends) or on the weekend when DH is home. But since my sister and friends are going back to work now (all teachers), I'll be losing that evening help. I've tried giving baths by myself twice and so far its been a disaster. Both babies only like to be held and especially at night, so when I put one down to bathe the other, he cries. I tried putting one in the hotsling one time and that wasn't great because then I was worried about the baby in the hotsling AND the baby in the tub. I think I need more practice with the hotsling. I also have a Mei Tai on the way, so that may work better for baths. Any advice for doing baths by yourself? At night, the swing and bouncer are hit or miss if they'll tolerate them. Or do I just do baths in the morning when DH is home and can help (though that will have to change once I'm back to work in 2 months)?

 

I did find that once they got older, doing baths solo wasn't so bad. I see yours are still little. I do think, the more you do it, the easier it will get. Maybe try doing them while someone is around, but still do them on your own?

If it were me, I would just bathe one and then dress. Once all dressed, put that twin in the bouncer, or on a blanket on the floor. Then quickly bathe the other baby. At this stage, baths seem to be rather quick.

Or-you could always just do baths in the morning. There is no wrong time to do them! I used to do them during the day, just to kill some time!

 

I have to ask how you're doing your baths? In the bathtub? Sink? I would suggest having both babies on a towel on the floor and doing "sponge" baths. I do this (one baby) but could easily do it with two. Have both by each other and wipe them both down at the same time or do one at a time, but have the other one nearby.

 

At that age I did one at a time. Bath's were generally fast, so if one cried during bath time it usually was for about 10 mins. I am a single mom and had limited help at night, so as bas as this sounds I let them cry. They were fed and dry, nothing was wrong with them, aside from the fact of being mad that no one was holding them.

 

You don't sound bad. You know, one of the hardest things for me to get used to (and sometimes still is) is that sometimes there will be a baby crying because I only have two hands. I would sing, talk to the other one, whatever it took to keep me sane and many times she would still cry. Think of it as a little practice already in independence and waiting ones turn. Down the line you won't have the same problems some singleton moms have because there simply isn't the possibility of holding 24/7. I would bathe one at a time on the counter top. The key was having everything at my fingertips and prepped. One would be in the swing - figured it was better than nothing, I put on some soothing music and away we went. Baths were really quick at this age anyway. Don't tell my husband but I sometimes used the same water! LOL! When he was helping we had to rinse the tub and change out the water. Isn't he nice. Oh, and usually the baby being bathed was crying too! <_<

 

At that age we used a bath tub similar to this. I put it in the tub and filled the inside of the actual tub with some water so it wouldn't float around and then filled the actual tub a little bit so if the baby peed I had fresh water in the tub to use. It works so you can give them a sponge bath basically. I used it until they were able to sit up on their own and did one baby at a time.

I would put on in the crib while I was bathing one and then do a switch-a-roo and wash the other. I got it down to about 5-10minutes per baby.

Now that they are older I still bath them one at a time. I'm one of those people that doesn't like spending a ton of time giving them a bath plus one of the boys HATES bath time and screams when I put him in the water so I have to hold him most of the time. The whole process, even with bathing them seperatly takes about 20 minutes or so.

But yeah, it's not too hard or complicated to bathe one at a time, at least it wasn't for me.

Good luck!

 

I agree. At 2 months I was doing one at a time int he little tub. YOu could put the tub right next to a bouncy seat the other one is in.

Otherwise, one at a time. Take one baby, undress, bathe, redress. The waiting baby can be in a bouncy right by you, swing, laying on a towel in the bathroom, on the playmat, under a mobile. Baths aren't too long at this age. Save the long ones for when your DH is around.

I think you should keep them in the evening, I have found they really help w/ a bedtime routine for them.

 

At 2 months, I just gave them a bath once a week on the weekends when DH was home. That's actually still what we do at 6 months. It's not like they are really getting dirty. I would wipe them down with a washcloth in between baths if I felt like they needed it. Personally, I did everything I could to minimize the amount of crying I had to listen to at 2 months. Baths are not part of our bedtime routine, and for our guys, I don't think it matters at all. Baths have never worn them out so they sleep better. Do whatever is easiest & works for you.

 

At 2 months I bathed my babies separately in the sink. It didn't take too long. I usually did it when DH was home, but I think it would work to have the other baby in a bouncer. We only bathed them a couple days a week at that age. Baths get much easier as they get older.

 

I also only bathed them about once a week at that age and preferred to do it with help but now do it on my own (usually) without major meltdowns. I install one baby in the crib with lots of toys and then quickly bathe the other and then switch. Sometimes i just bathe one and then the other one gets bathed later or the next day. You just have to practice and get the hang of it! I also agree that you will get used to hearing a baby cry sometimes because there's only so much one person can do. It doesn't make you a bad mom!

 

At that age, I put one in the swing while the other was getting a bath and then I switched out. If whoever wasn't getting a bath was being fussy then I would just try to be quicker. But sometimes one baby just has to cry for a minute. It did get a lot easier as they got older. Also, once they got a little older I would put a video on (Baby Einstein usually) and that would help them not get fussy.

 

I did one at a time.. we had a bathtub that sort of fit in our sink. It was a great tub.. I wished they still fit in it. I would lay everything out on the counter.. towels, soap, cloths, diaper, pyjamas... and run the bath. Then I would put one kid in the bouncy chair next to us so he could see what was going on, and I'd bath both as fast as I could. They both loved the bath, but the one who was not being bathed was often quite fussy. It sucks being a twin.. they just can't get attention whenever they need it.

 

I am in the once a week camp. Daily sponge baths and once a week tub baths, unless they get into something. Any more often than that and I go a little nutz. It also keeps their skin from drying out too badly.

 

I recently started changing from showers to baths - and i do both babes together in the tub - with me in there as well. They are 81/2 months - so they sit up very well - i just make sure that they are both between my legs - and i stick the bathtub pillows onto the tub behind their heads in case they lean back. (i am a little paranoid about them hitting their heads ) I dont make the tub too deep. They love to sit in there together and splash.

Getting them out is all about prep time before hand -- making sure towels are ready - clothes and diapers are close.

I open the drain - let the water out- stand up aand wrap a towel around me - get babe a out and wrapped into a towel and onto the floor- then babe b. Then i powder and get them both diapered before someone pees on the floor (yes -- its happened when i am too slow and back to the tub we go ) and then dress them both.

 

I put both babies on the floor (or in bouncers when they were younger) to play while I fill the tub. Then I bathe one, put him or her back to play, and bathe the other. Sorry to say they don't get fun play time in the bath, but at least they are clean!

 

Thanks everyone!! My biggest problem is that I take too long getting the babies ready before the bath and drying and swaddling them after the bath, so one baby starts crying by that point. I think I'm just going to have to learn to get faster and just learn to deal with the fact that one baby will just have to cry. Some nights are better than others, so I'll have to pay attention to their cues and jump at the chance to bathe them when my one twin is willing to tolerate the swing in the evening. I just feel bad because baths are supposed to be calming and I feel like they get more worked up some nights because I'm not holding them (please tell me the needing to be held all the time eventually goes away!! I love holding my twins, but never really being able to put them down at all gets exhausting!).

 

At two months my twins were also crying most of the time during the baths and I don't think I did them alone because the other twin needed holding or entertaining, especially at the end of the day when they are most cranky. My boys also had some colic so it made them even more fussy at that time. At 3 months it gets a lot easier, maybe because they are already used to the routine and also because they can entertain themselves somewhat in swings or bouncy chairs. In your case, I would recommend having one near you so he/she can see you and just be as quick as possible. It might also help to feed them before-hand so they have one thing less to complain about. I agree, having to hold them constantly is exhausting and I'm always trying to find a way to hold them at the same time, but of course theirs no way! It's true you just might have to let one cry but usually that means they're ready for bed and it should make putting them down that much easier. Just hang in there. It gets a lot easier in their 3rd month. Good luck!