Bathe an older infant with another kid

August 31, 2014 7:02 PM

Help me keep the 10 month old safe in the tub with her big brother. I went to buy a bath ring and... apparently those are now verboten. So what do people do?

Nanopanda and her big brother love taking baths together. Up to now, she's been in a Primo bath seat (these are the best things ever, btw). But now she's sitting up out of it and liable to jump out. She's a good strong sitter, so she doesn't need support, but she's also not yet equipped with enough survival instincts not to lunge face-first at whatever toy her brother's trying not to give her. So some kind of restraint seems in order.

It seemed like a bath ring would be the answer, but apparently those are no longer a thing. As best I can tell, the option is to import one from Israel, which, WTF? I get that people are dumb, but I KNOW that you do not ever leave baby in bathtub unattended, not even for a second, not even for the apocalypse. But this baby, she loves her independence, and it would be nice to have a hand free to squirt soap on the older kid.

What do people who bathe two kids do in this situation? When Micropanda was at this age, we just stuck him in a Primo Eurobath on the sitting-up side. (Also best thing ever. He loved it, we loved it.) But for efficiency's sake (and to quell tantrums) we'd prefer to stick with the joint bathing. Thanks.

posted by telepanda to Human Relations (14 answers total)

Those Israeli rings are great and at least one Amazon seller who's got them is in the States (or at least that was true earlier this summer).
posted by feets at 7:04 PM on August 31, 2014

Sababa shop ships from inside the US, prime, for $45. Expensive but we like it.
posted by feets at 7:07 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

Less water is what we did. Also, a stool beside the bath with one of us almost holding the youngest. Sort of guarding her with our arm...but not holding her. Really though, shallow water was the best solution.
posted by taff at 7:09 PM on August 31, 2014

Put a baby tub into the big tub and fill both. Baby goes in baby tub and kiddo goes in the other half of the big tub.
posted by quince at 7:13 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]

I don't get it. I searched amazon for "baby bath ring seat" and there were many options
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 7:20 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

There's a hard plastic variation on the Bumbo seat which you should be able to put Nano into and strap. I don't think it would be buoyant enough to be an issue. Or this, perhaps.

We coped with lunging sorts of issues by having a non-slip rubber mat on the bottom of the tub and assuming that a facefull of water would discourage future lunges.
posted by phearlez at 7:35 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

We got by with no restraining equipment, keeping hands close to the tot and backing off as warranted by maturity. Also used the opportunity for instructing the eldest in water safety. Cpr training if you don't already have it is a must for any parent.
posted by maniabug at 8:35 PM on August 31, 2014

Best answer: Purchase a plastic 'bushel' laundry basket and put baby in it, in the tub.
posted by myselfasme at 8:48 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]

I would jump in the bath with them, then you can have the smallest one within reach and also easily wash them both. As an added bonus, it's a fun bonding time with the kids!
posted by nomis at 9:49 PM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I had this EXACT issue when my youngest was 10 months old, researched the crap out of it, put the Israeli bath ring on my Ebay watch list, and then, when I got around to purchasing it about a month later, realized she'd grown sufficiently strong and together to only really be flopping/diving about 1-2 times per bath.

Since it didn't seem worth paying the $40 just to save myself the trouble of catching her two times per bath, I never bought it after all, and she quickly aged into the range where she'd have tried to climb out of a bath ring anyway. Just a heads-up, then, that the developmental window for this problem is pretty narrow, which may be something that'd affect the level of heroic measures you're willing to take to solve it.
posted by Bardolph at 11:48 PM on August 31, 2014

We filled the water so it only covered legs and stayed hands on with the baby. We also made sure there were tins of toys around her so she would be less tempted to reach for the one her brother had. Didn't use anything like a ring or a tub inside a tub.
posted by zizzle at 5:29 AM on September 1, 2014

We put the baby in a washing basket too to prevent him lunging all over the place. He outgrew his baby bath well before he could sit comfortably on his own, so the basket in the tub was a great help. Also stops toys floating away. You still have to keep a fairly solid eye on them in it, but it's challenging enough to help them work out sitting up but still has a bit of extra support and something to hang onto in a pinch.

Obligatory photo (not really a selfie.).
posted by Jilder at 6:32 AM on September 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

I just got a bath ring off of craigslist last week. Perhaps you can find one there?
posted by waterisfinite at 6:51 AM on September 1, 2014

How about you bathe older kid first (i.e. shampoo, wash, etc.) and then baby joins in after? That way she's still getting a bath with big brother but you've done all the hands-on stuff with him already so you can keep your hands on her.
posted by cooker girl at 6:56 AM on September 1, 2014 [1 favorite]