Product Spotlight: Bath Time!

miss_lynn9

Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. Feel free to comment on threads like these throughout your time at the board, not just when they're in their week in the spotlight, if you discover something new OR are new to the board. This week it's.... Bath Time!

FTMs are encouraged to ask questions & STM/+s encouraged to share their knowledge based on experience. You can use any or all the prompts relevant to you below to share info in an easy-to-read format. Pictures/screen grabs, if put in spoilers, are welcome!

For STMS:
What tubs do you like?
Any extras that are useful - towels, washcloths, toys, etc?
What bath soap do you use?

For FTMs:
What are you looking at?
Any questions for others?

Next Up: Diaper Bags (I'm skipping maternity clothes since we already have a thread for that)

miss_lynn9

What tubs do you like? I used the Fisher Price whale tub. This wasn't an area I wanted to spend a lot of money on, so I got it second hand for $10. It worked really well for us. You can take the green leg rest out so it's a perfect size when they're able to sit up on their own.  

Any extras that are useful - towels, washcloths, toys, etc? 

• I got the hooded towels and I don't think they're needed. They're super cute but my daughter grew out of it quickly. 
• Washcloths I got the burts bees ones and I love them. I'll be getting them again. 
• Toys was always something I struggled with. Never get the ones that have the holes where you can squirt out the water. They can't dry inside so they mould. She loved her cups.

What bath soap do you use? A natural soap was on the top of my list. I was using Attitude until about a month ago. It's clean and very affordable. The only thing I didn't love about it were the scents. I'm using a bar soap now for a body soap since that's what I use. For shampoo and conditioner, I use Hello bello and I love it. 

marebear15

What tubs do you like? I can tell you what I don't like. I've had a different tub for every baby. Here are the ones I've bought: 

1.  2.
3.  4. 

1. It worked fine, but was huge to store. I had to keep it inside the regular tub, and once my oldest out grew it, I didn't want to store it, so gave it away.
2. My second was just a large sponge mat meant to go inside a plastic baby tub. It was okay for the baby to lay on inside the regular bathtub, so I could give my two girls baths at the same time. But it held a lot of water, even after wringing it would never dry, and it fell into shreds.
3. The 3rd one I went cheap! This one looked like it would work, and it folded in half to store, but it was almost impossible to collapse once it was opened, and there wasn't enough give in the fabric to keep baby in once possible. He would scrunch up at the bottom.
4. It what I'm going to try this time. It's pretty easy to collapse and store, and it has a naturally dip to keep baby in place. I'll see if it's the final one!

Any extras that are useful - towels, washcloths, toys, etc? Towels and wash cloths I've just used the hooded ones from Target that come in a pack with 3 wash cloths. A "rinser" is nice to have, but honestly any household cup would do just fine.

What bath soap do you use? I prefer Aveeno when they're little. It's gentle on their skin.

heytallmama

For STMS:
What tubs do you like? We had some convertible thing that sat on our counter top for baths. It was fine, but annoying because it was so big. This time I'm going with this one from target. It was $20 and fits inside the bathtub. We don't have a big counter in our bathroom in this house so this seems like it'll work for us! 
Any extras that are useful - towels, washcloths, toys, etc? We did get baby washcloths initially and after she was maybe 6 months just started using regular ones. The regular washcloths were good to put under her in the bath tub so she didn't slide around. Once she was able to sit up on her own is when we ditched the baby tub and just got this bath mat so she wouldn't slip + slide, and my daughter still uses it today when she's showering. Otherwise we also got a little suction storage thing to hold bath toys - lots of cups with a variety of holes in them. 
What bath soap do you use? Oh gosh, I think we used J&J's no tears all-in one shampoo/ soap. Probably used Dove baby at one point, I think Honest.... pretty much anything that was on sale  

Wishilivedinflorida

We used the Skip Hop Moby whale tub and it did its job. It’s huge but transitions from newborn to bigger infant to sitting up nicely. I still have it so that’s what I’ll use. 

I haven’t found a towel or washcloth I like yet. I’ll probably just get a multi pack from target and maybe check out Burt’s bees recommended above. 

We like Cetaphil Baby for hair and body. It’s gentle but effective on greasy baby hair, which my daughter had a TON of. We still use it as a body wash for the kids. J&J was garbage for actually cleaning. I did like their bedtime lotion, though. 

muggsd

We have the first years baby tub. As @marebear15 mentioned, it’s super annoying to store but it works fine. 

We were gifted a few handmade baby towels, some hooded some not, and those are by far my favourite. We also have some super thin hooded ones but I find they don’t dry anything so they are kind of useless. We just use regular washcloths. For toys, we have a set of munchkin sponge letters that my son likes to chew on, and some cups with holes. (For older kids, we sometimes do a “glow bath” - basically bubble bath with the lights off and glow sticks.  They love it). 

We were also gifted baby soap which got us through the first 2 years. Since then we just do whatever’s on sale. 

For parents, if you’re giving your kid a bath in the tub rather than the counter, I HIGHLY recommend a kneeler - you can get branded kid-specific ones but the foam mats for gardening are the exact same, just cheaper. Save your knees! 

ETA also if you’re putting a baby tub in your bathtub, put down a silicone mat or towel under the baby tub so it doesn’t scratch your bathtub horribly. Learned that the hard way! 

mamahosch

@miss_lynn9 did we skip cribs or do I have pregnancy brain?

What tubs do you like? - I used a Fisher Price 4-in- that has an infant sling. It was an okay tub that I’ll use again this time because I don’t feel like I need to buy a different one. I also wanted to get the Summer My Bath Seat that allows older infants to sit up in the tub but I never did bite the bullet and buy one. 

Any extras that are useful - towels, washcloths, toys, etc? - Definitely hooded towels and baby washcloths to get those neck folds and behind ears. My son loves squirt toys and Squigs that are like these fun suction cup bath toys. And gentle bubble bath!! 

What bath soap do you use? - we use Cetaphil Baby wash because my son had infantile eczema so I couldn’t use anything else without irritation. It smells so nice and even though he outgrew his eczema we still use it with how soft it makes his hair and skin!

miss_lynn9

@mamahosch whops, nope I'm the one with the pregnancy brain haha. Thanks for pointing that out.

Should I just start it now or do it next week? 

missmuisq

@miss_lynn9 Next week!

muggsd

@miss_lynn9 next week it can replace maternity clothes? 

miss_lynn9

@missmuisq @muggsd works for me!!