Baby Must Haves | Bath Time

Andee's List of Bath Time Must Haves:

I loved getting advice when I was pregnant and after I had my son.  I would not have survived this first year without all of the wonderful advice I received from other moms.  There is no way to know everything you are going to need when your baby gets here, but you can definitely be prepared with the basics.  I have put together a list of my favorite bath time necessities.  These are some of the items that I love and that seemed to work best for me:

Bathtub

Baby Bather

Let's start with the basics, a bathtub.  I know this isn't technically a bathtub, but this little number was the best thing I found when it came to bathing a newborn.  We had no clue what kind of tub to get when we were registering for our baby shower, so we decided on the big, plastic tub that inclines and holds water.  At the time, it seemed like the best option.  For me, it was a disaster.  The tub was hard, although it had a foam section for the head to rest on, and it was big and bulky.  After a few weeks, I decided to get something else to bathe him in and came across the Summer Infant Deluxe Baby Bather.  You can get them at Target for around $16.  They come in a variety of colors and designs.  It has three different reclining positions that make it so much easier to bathe a newborn or a six month old.  We used our bather until Hogan started sitting up on his own.

Lotions & Soaps

Johnson's Honey Apple Baby Wash & Baby Lotion

We were fortunate enough to get enough baby wash and lotion to last nearly the first year of Hogan's life.  The first time I went to buy lotion for him, I was amazed at all of the options there were to choose from!  Luckily, I chose Johnson's Honey Apple.  This one is really just a personal opinion because it is basically based on the smell.  The smell is wonderful and it lasts all day!  Aside from smelling great, the lotion is not oily at all.  I have tried some baby lotions that were more like baby oil than lotion and I felt like Hogan was oily all day after applying it.  I also learned that it makes my life a lot easier buying the containers with the pump.  They aren't much more expensive than the containers without pumps and they are usually larger.  If you are registering for your baby shower or just wanting to try something different, I definitely recommend this.

Sponges

Baby Sponges

These are a MUST.  If you ignore everything on this list, do not ignore this.  Sponges are so much more practical than baby washcloths.  I started out using washcloths and quickly realized they weren't going to cut it.  I would apply the soap to the washcloth and before I had finished washing Hogan's hair, nearly all of the soap was gone.  They just do not hold the soap well.  I decided to try sponges.  They are amazing!  I can give Hogan, even at one year old, a bath with one squirt of baby wash.  I would use four or five squirts with a washcloth.  So save yourself time and money and go with sponges.  If you're worried about them being sanitary because of several uses, go with this version.  I get these at the Dollar Tree for $1.  At four for $1, you could replace them as often as you want without breaking the bank.

Bath Mittens

Character Mittens

If you don't like the idea of using sponges, try these mittens.  I don't think they are as great as the sponges, but they are definitely better than washcloths.  They sell different versions of these everywhere, usually ranging in price anywhere from $3.98 to $7.99.  I will save you some money.  The ones in the picture above are from the Dollar Tree.  They cost $1.  They are they same quality as the ones you can get anywhere else.  I learned from experience.

Kneeling Mat

Foam, kneeling mat

I did not discover these until Hogan was a few months old.  Before I bought this, I would fold up a towel and rest my knees on it.  I came across these in Buy Buy Baby one day and HAD to have one, but I was not paying $18 for it.  I'm a thrifty girl and for $18, I'd rather continue folding up a towel every time I gave him a bath.  A few days later I was in Walgreens and they had just put out their gardening supplies because Spring was around the corner.  I saw this "knee saver" and picked it up.  It was $3! I immediately put it in my cart.  It was the best decision I had made in a while, no exaggeration.  This little mat was almost identical to the kneeling mats I had seen in Buy Buy Baby and it was $15 cheaper!  Save your knees and your money and check out the garden section the next time you're in a store!

Rinsing Cup

Munchkin Shampoo Rinser

I received this at one of our baby showers.  They are great.  You could just use a regular cup to rinse your baby's hair with, but I prefer this rinsing cup.  It is flexible and the handle is convenient.  It is also one of Hogan's favorite bath toys.  This one is the Munchkin Shampoo Rinser from Target and it's only $4.99.  They come in blue and pink.

{Side Note: My mom will probably laugh when she sees this.  I know she thinks I am crazy for suggesting anything other than an ordinary, plastic cup from the kitchen.  Love you, Mom!}

Rinsing Hat

This is an absolute MUST!  I have been so careful not to get water in Hogan's ears since the day he was born.  {His dad had several sets of tubes in his ears when he was a kid.}  So I knew I wanted to try my best to prevent them from the beginning.  Hogan was born with a lot of hair, but it had all fallen out by the time he was a little over a month old.  It was easy to rinse his head with a sponge when there was no hair, but once his hair came back in, I had to start pouring water over his head.  I found this hat at Buy Buy Baby.  It is called a Lil Rinser and is $9.99.  It just slides on his head, like in the pictures above, and you just pour the water on his head.  The hat prevents the water from getting in his ears and from running down his face.  Life. Saver.  There are several color options available, but this was the only one they had in the store at the time.  Hogan is a year old now and we have successfully managed to steer clear of ear infections for the first year.  I give this hat a lot of credit.

Rubber Ducky

Set of 3

Rubber ducks are a staple in baby bath time.  Someone bought us one of the rubber ducks with the word "HOT" on the bottom.  If HOT turned white when you placed it in the water, it meant the water was too warm for the baby.  Well, no matter how cool I ran the bath water it always thought it was too hot.  So those are not worth your money.  That duck was also thick and Hogan couldn't squeeze it hard enough to make it squeak.  These are way better.  They come from my favorite store, the Dollar Tree, for $1, of course.  You also get two baby ducks with the mama duck!  These are Hogan's favorite!  They are thinner and lots easier for him to male them squeak.  He always has a baby duck in each hand during bath time.

Cotton Swabs

Johnson's Safety Swabs

These are great.  I use them to clean Hogan's ears and his nose.  They are rounder and thicker than a regular cotton swab, which helps prevent them from going too far into a baby's ear.  There's not much more to say about these, but I recommend them.

I'm just a first-time mom passing on my recommendations!  I hope this helps you out.

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo - Andee