Essential Tips and Supplies for Bath Time

Bath time is a very special part in your baby’s routine. This is a time to not only clean off the messes of the day, but an opportunity for more play and bonding. Giving your child a bath is another way of showing them you’ll always be there to take care of them and they can feel how much you love them. That’s not to say bath time is always easy — there will be plenty of splashes that soak you and the entire room and “accidents” in the tub once their diaper comes off — but it’s never boring, that’s for sure.

When you’re preparing for your baby to arrive, bath supplies will certainly be on your shopping list. Here are the items we recommend having on hand:

Essential:

Optional but helpful:

When your baby first comes home from the hospital, you’ll be giving them a bath every other day or even less often — just make sure to keep their face, hands and diaper area clean. These first baths will be more like sponge baths until their umbilical cord falls off. Once they’re older and getting into more messes, you’ll start giving them a bath daily.

These are our best tips for bath time to keep everyone happy and safe:

  • Make sure the water is warm to the touch and only a couple of inches deep.
  • Get everything you’ll need ready and easily accessible before putting your baby in the tub.
  • Never ever leave your child alone in the tub.
  • Properly support their head until they’re able to sit up on their own.
  • Once they can sit up, bring in toys that can help them learn colors, shapes and letters.
  • Play music or sing to make bath time fun.
  • Take them out as soon as the water cools.
  • Dry them off completely and apply lotion before pajamas.

We’ve written before about the importance of creating a bedtime schedule and it really is key to making your days and nights go more smoothly. Your child will learn to recognize these events as the winding down of the day’s activities, so do what you can to keep bath time at the same time each day.

Follow these tips and bath time will be a special time that baby and mommy can both look forward to!