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A fellow mom recently told me of her awe in my ability to bathe my 3 children, by myself. all at the same time.
My children are currently 3 & 1/2 years, 2 years and 5 months old, and as I write this, once again with one finger on my iPhone! They are sound asleep for the night. (excluding baby who will inevitably wake for 3 plus night feeds)
Image: Kids in the tub by Mandajuice
I want to share with you 7 tips on how you too can bathe your “troop” all at once!
Prepare ahead of time. Layout the fresh clothing, diapers and any creams you are using. This includes a hair brush in my case.
Run the bath.
Layout your drying area. I have a very fluffy bathroom mat which I lay a towel over for the baby to lay on while I undress and wash the 2 older boys.
Grab dirty kids. At this point I call up the boys. Undress them and help them into the bath and wash. The baby at this point is on the mat in the bathroom.
Let older kids play. The boys are all nice and clean and are playing in the bath. I now bathe the baby in her own little bath. I found soaping before putting her in the water best, because of having to hold her with one arm.
Dress. Baby is then dressed on the mat and once again grabbing for her toes. I then get the boys out the bath one by one. Dry and dressed.
Empty the water. Pull the plug on the bath and either do some heavy lifting for baby bath or as I usually do, call my husband. 🙂
I now have 3 clean and great smelling kids. 🙂 till morning…
How do you bathe your troop?
Erin Buhr says
Impressive! I find my two challenging enough to bathe! The tricky part for me isthe post-bath slippery children toileting, dressing, tooth brushing period.
Christi says
I actually started putting the baby in with the almost-4-year-old. My baby bath came with a sling so I put that in the big bath and wash the baby on it while the big kid plays next to him. Then I get him out and dressed and add a little more water for the big kid who gets washed next. The baby is now sitting up well so I don’t need the sling anymore. They have fun in the bath together and it’s way faster.
Nicolette Roux says
I agree! Definitely faster and fun to bathe them all together 🙂 Someone is always getting splashed!
Kelly says
I’m still figuring out how to fit in bath time for the baby (3 months old and I just started back at work so we’re still playing with schedules) but we have my 5 year old prett much set. If there’s time (she hasn’t taken an hour to eat 3 bites is dinner) then we let we have a bath. We have to put the soap in the wash cloth for her and help with her hair still but she does the rest herself. If we’re running late then she takes a shower. I got a shower-head holder that suction cups t the shower wall so I can put the shower head (hand held kind) lower for her. Again, she just needs help with the soap and shampoo. I want to get a dispenser for these to go on the shower wall so she can do that herself too.
Nicolette Roux says
Love the idea of the suction cup to hold the hand held lower! Thanks for sharing.
Sarah @ My Joy-Filled Life says
I love this! Great tips!
Just recently I was proud of my efforts for bathing 5 of my kids plus myself in record time!
We have a glass shower with a soaking tub next to it, so I put my 2 year old twins, 4 and 6 year old daughters in the tub, 6 month old baby in the exersaucer in the bathroom and I took a shower while the kids played in the tub (not the baby of course). Then I got out and got dressed, bathed the twins and as I was getting them dressed, my girls were washing themselves; then I helped them finish up, they got out and dressed themselves and I bathed the baby in the tub.
I have two older boys as well, and thankfully they take showers on their own!!
Nicolette Roux says
Wooohoo!! Congrats on the new record! my 2 year old is a total water baby and wont let me bathe alone. lol
Jana says
Wow great tips. I love that you make it easy… Ps I have a 9 year old, 6 year old and 5 month old! 🙂
Katie Spencer White says
Such a basic task yet so complicated the more kids you have, lol! Love the advice…
Homemaker Mummy says
The same way actually.. Admittingly I have two children, but often baby sit our young niece & hope to follow the same routine with our next one : )
It’s nice to know mummy’s think the same, know matter where they are. It’s all about getting creative & working with whatever resources you’ve got!
Nicolette Roux says
It sure is! 🙂