Q. My husband recently deployed. I have a baby at home. How am I supposed to get a shower with nobody there to watch her for me?
A. Your dilemma is one that a lot of people face– not even just people with deployed spouses. I learned my tricks with my older daughter and perfected them with my toddler.
The obvious answer that people will say is take a shower when the baby is asleep. It is especially helpful if you have a baby monitor so that you can hear if your baby wakes up. The catch to that, which I am sure that you have already realized, is that sometimes your baby is your alarm clock which does not allow you to get up before the baby and by the end of the day you just want to sleep too.
With my older daughter, I created our game of “Shower Peek-a-boo.” Bring a bouncy seat or Bumbo into the bathroom for the baby to sit in while you take a shower. Position the child where it is easy for you to check on her. As you take your shower, talk to her so that she knows you are there. In between each stage of showering, ie. after you put shampoo in your hair, look around the shower curtain to check on her and let her see you. Make it into a game instead of making it a chore…it can be fun when you have a baby who has started to laugh.
When my daughters became too big for their bouncy seats, I moved them into their baby bathtubs. I would place a towel in a dry baby bathtub and sit my daughter in it. This worked well until my daughter started tried standing up…then one day there was a crash as I was taking a shower. After that, we moved on to “Shower-Baths.” I would plug the tub so that my daughter could play in the water that accumulated as I took a shower. She happily played with her toys. This worked with my older daughter through her toddler years and she would even join me for a shower sometimes during her preschool years. It is a two-in-one deal, you are able to get a shower and at the same time you can bathe your child then rinse her off in the shower as well.
Things worked well for me as I had girls. Some aspects may be a bit awkward for moms trying to shower with little boys…especially depending on how open your individual family is about bodies. Some thoughts that may work with older children or toddlers/preschoolers that are boys:
(1) Bring items into the bathroom so that the child stays occupied such as a portable dvd player or something to color with (color wonder markers and paper by Crayola work great as they do not show if they end up on your walls).
(2) If you have a master bathroom that adjoins to a bedroom, then set up your child with either toys or television.
In both of the two options listed above, you may want to use a child proof door knob cover if you have a child that knows how to open doors. That way you will know exactly where your child is while you are showering.
The other hint for all of the options: learn to master the 5 minute shower and tell your husband that you would love the gift of time for a long relaxing shower when he gets home. Leave-in conditioner can be a great help with shortening a shower as the longest part of my shower is waiting for the conditioner to do its job on my long hair.
If you are a reader that has more ideas for making showers easier while watching children, feel free to add comments below.
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