A Nerd Convergence

It ain't all a bucket of roses, kid.

Bath time is totally awesome. Mostly because most towels for infants these days have animal shaped hoods, and there’s really nothing cuter than seeing your lil guy’s eyes stare out at you from a super kawaii frog towel. It rules. Also their hair gets all fuzzy and they look like little monkeys. Also of note, they smell less like pee. Tips after the break.

Yes, bath time is pretty much wins and high fives all around for everyone, except for the baby. When you first bring your baby home, you’ll be sponge bathing the little primma donna like an ancient slave, and you’ll thank him for it too, because HE’S JUST SO DANG CUTE. That lasts until the umbilical cord nub bids it’s final adieu, and the belly button emerges. From then on it’s tub bath city, or at least partially submerged cleaning/party time.

But even though they spent the first 9-10 months, or less, in a big watery, goopy, warm, cavern inside their mom, they might not like the idea of being plopped down into your sink for a little sensorial trip down memory lane. Here is the one thing that saved us from a lot of fussing, and two other tips for a happy soggy baby.

1. WRAP A TOWEL AROUND HIS/HER CHEST. We really struggled with our first few baths. He was NOT happy. And he let us know–almost by growling. Well, more like screamgrowling. It was not a good noise for anyone to hear. Then my wife found a tip in a Japanese magazine. I’m not sure if this tip is Japanese in origin or just some common folk wisdom that I’ve never heard of, but it works. Something about having a washcloth or small towel around his chest really seems to soothe him while hes in the sink tub. It’s like the pacifier of bath time (Yes, I use pacifiers, and no I will not apologize. They are life savers.)
2. MAKE THE WATER WARM, BUT NOT TOO WARM. This one is pretty obvious I guess–it’s dangerous to put a baby in hot water. They have trouble regulating their own temperatures. Babies don’t like cold water either, for much the same reason, but they like it a little cooler than you probably do. Makes sense, right? So really, spend a little time getting to know the right temperature, and try using your forearm or something other than your hand or desensitized finger tips to gauge how comfy it will be.
3. HAVE A CHANGE OF CLOTHES, HAT, AND WARM THINGS READY. After the bath, and I’m sure you can figure out how to do that part (clean the baby gently with a soft cloth and some baby soap), you’ll need to get him dry and changed ASAP. Because they are learning to regulate their own temperatures, and because they are rather like frail, mini-old-people, they get chilly pretty quickly. Now the important part is that you really don’t want your newborn to shiver. Shivering burns calories, and babies need all the calories they can get to gain weight. They need those calories to grow up and never disappoint you, and love you forever (stay positive!).
4. Ok, so I promised three tips but I’ll throw this one in as well. Similar to the diaper changing tip, you may want to keep a pee shield handy. Just like everyone else, water and temperature changes are more like than not to make your baby think about a lil pee. And when that geyser rises, you’ll want something to defend yourself with. I tend to use a separate wash cloth just in case.

note: The trend of dad blog style posts increases! If I had more than three readers, I’d start just a daddy tumblr, but since I know pretty much all of my readers personally y’all will just have to suck it up!