My fourteen-month old daughter loves her bath time, always has. It has been interesting to watch her bath experience evolve as she went from passive recipient to active participant, moving from sink to plastic tub and finally graduating to the big tub. But now that she is all about standing, rolling, splashing and just hanging out and looking around, my wife and I decided we needed to make a few changes. Here are five things we did to keep the tub area safe, organized and enjoyable for all.
• Rubber Mat: Nothing fancy, just a suction cup mat that helps the little one keep her feet and gives her a bit of padding if she doesn't.
• Spout Cover: Two sessions of me leaning over and holding my hand over the spout that my daughter's head seemed to be drawn to like a magnet were enough to convince me that these are not just gimmicky extras. (Ours is the Moby)
• Hanging Shower Caddy: This is something I should have done years ago. Not only does this large shelving unit keep all of the shampoos and soaps out of the reach of little hands, it also makes cleaning the uncluttered edges of the tub a lot easier.
• Bath Toy Organizer: This neoprene and mesh bag that attaches to the shower wall keeps baby toys centrally located in one place and out from under foot when not being used. (Ours is the Tubby)
• Fun Shower Curtain: Our new shower curtain features bright woodland creatures in a forest setting. Not only does it bring a bit of whimsy into a pretty standard space but it serves as a convenient distraction when someone doesn't want their hair to be dried.
(Images: Richard Popovic)
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For maximun splashing, we love our transparent shower curtain (it's really just a shower curtain liner, I think). With the curtain closed, our son can splash away to his heart's content while we watch and egg him on!
We love our Moby, too!
both my kids refuse to believe Moby is a spout cover and insist he is a large fish bath toy. We keep their toys in a plastic basket with holes in the bottom (found in the free bin at a garage sale) that is happy in the tub or draining on the shelf at the foot (head?) of the tub.
Ikea has adorable kids rubber bath mats, but like all of them, they need very regular cleaning underneath.
I think the green toys tug boat would be essential #6.
We tried the tubby bath toy organizer pictured and that thing would not stay stuck to our tile, even empty of toys and following sticking instructions. Drove me crazy. I ended up with a simple much cheaper net with suction cups and that works swell.
I have that spout cover but its not my favorite. Crayola makes some REALLY fun cute ones but they don't accommodate normal spouts and especially the shower pull of the spout.
My number one vote for fun bath times is so missing here- bath crayons!! I looked forward to bath time every night as a kid so I could sit in the tub coloring til my hearts content then my dad would fill the tub and we'd splash around til bedtime. Close second is dense foam stacking blocks. We have tile walls to the tub so our little man will be able to build and stick the blocks all over the walls.
I've got the Moby thing on my list next time I'm at the store that carries it! Glad to know others like it too. My daughter is only 7.5 months and already is drawn to the faucet and often insists on standing in her baby tub and tries to grab at it, so we need to get that thing covered ASAP before an accident happens!
We have a crayola spout cover of a frog. Adorable frog, terrible spout cover.
We have the Ikea suction cup bathmat that's shaped like a green alligator. I put it through the washing machine with a load of towels about once a month. Cleans it up fabulously, no scrubbing involved! (I also put the shower curtain through the wash every few months)
When my kid's bathtoys got large enough to not be contained by the wall caddy, I went to a large plastic hanging "trash can" from Ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80182237/) with a few drainage holes drilled into the bottom. The plan was to attach it to the shower wall or figure out a hook type solution but that didn't happen it just stands at the back of the tub... works great though! Our biggest sucess is bringing a watering can and plastic toy food in the tub. I have to drag her out when she's all wrinkly. she will stay in there forever! She lines up all the food and "grows" it. So cute.
I tried several suction cup tub mats and they wouldn't stick to our tub! (They made it worse: you'd step on the mat and then slide sideways; I had lots of nasty bruises.) We're very happy with the stick-on tub treads. They do peel up after a few years, but they're cheap.
For toys, we got a corner tension-pole shower caddy with 3 baskets, from Target. The toys dry very nicely. The bonus is that each basket has a place to hang a washcloth...or a child's clothing item that had---ahem---a stain washed out of it. :)
the suction cups on the toy holder didnt stick to our shower either. i replaced them with cheap suction hooks from the grocery store. hasnt fallen since!
The toy holders always seem to be too small too. I just bought a large mesh laundry bag with drawstring at Target. All the toys go in and I hang it on the towel bar in the shower or over the shower head. Works like a champ and holds our many, many toys.