How to Win Bath Time

Do you struggle with bath time for your kids or yourself? Let’s get ready to win bath time – both for kids and adults!

Winter is definitely bath season. Not to say that you (and certainly your kids) can’t take baths at other times of the year, but winter just begs for a nice warm bath to end the day. There is just something so comforting about a warm bath when it’s cold outside. This is true whether you’re using a bath to get clean or just for a little self-care.

But there are challenges with baths, when you’re bathing yourself and especially when you’re bathing your kids. So, let’s talk about how we can overcome these challenges and win bath time!

Adults

Kids

Adults

Let’s start with the grown-ups. We’re easier. Maybe.

Mood

First things, first you need to se the mood! This bath is an opportunity for you to spend time alone with no one touching you and no one asking for snacks. You need to make the most of it! Don’t just dunk yourself unceremoniously into a utilitarian bathtub. Make it cozy! Dim the lights, light a candle, pour yourself your beverage of choice, grab your book. Whatever will make you happy, get it ready for bath time.

Bath caddy

For me, part of setting the mood for bath time is making sure my bath caddy is loaded and ready to go. That means I have the book I’m reading open to where I left off, a cold beverage (usually just ice water), and a dry washcloth so I can wipe my hands to turn the page on my book without completely ruining it. You can also throw a candle (even a flameless candle would be fun and wouldn’t come with the inherent risk of burning your house down while you sit naked in the tub), some flowers, and a snack on your bath caddy if any of those items speak to you.

Pillow

What did I do before I had a pillow in my bathtub? Seriously, who can relax when there is a piece of porcelain sticking into the back of your neck at a 90° angle? With a bathtub pillow, you remove this challenge and can fully relax. Just don’t fall asleep. That might not end well.

Bubbles

When I take a bath, I want bubbles. Period. It takes me back to childhood when I used to put them in my hair, flip it backward and declare myself George Washington. Although I no longer fashion my hair to look like George Washington in the tub, I do still enjoy bubbles at bath time. I to be very picky about scents in any of my cosmetic products, so I tend to stick with fragrance-free versions (mostly marketed toward kids). If you love a strong scent, though, this is a nice way to enjoy one!

If you’re not a bubbles person or you have achy muscles, you might want to try some Epsom salts in your bath instead. Again, these are available in fragrance-free and fragrance-full versions, so go with whatever is calling to you.

Perfect temperature

It’s so easy to get the temperature of your bath wrong. If it’s too hot, the experience is ruined because you’ve scalded your skin and it tingles for the whole bath, even long after the water cools to a more tolerable temperature. Go the other way and not make your bath water warm enough, and you’re equally miserable. You’ve got goosebumps and you just can’t relax. This is why I never took a bath while I was pregnant. I couldn’t get the water warm enough so it was not a pleasant bath time experience.

Apparently, the perfect bath water temperature is between 90° F and 105° F. I have eczema so I’m supposed to keep it on the lower end of this range, but I don’t. I’m a bad eczema sufferer. But I just can’t. Sorry, skin.

Face mask

A bath is a perfect opportunity to do a face mask! I always have great intentions of doing face masks, but when the rubber meets the road and it’s time to apply the face mask, it’s too much to wash my face, apply the mask, and then go back and wash the mask off 30 minutes later. That’s just not compatible with my evening life. When I get my kids in bed, it’s time for me to wash my face, get in my jammies, and become one with the couch. Once I sit down, I’m not getting back up.

But when you take a bath, you can wash your face, apply the face mask, and hop in the bath. Let that moisture seep into your skin while you’re soaking and relaxing, then simply wash it off before you get out of the tub. When you step out of the tub, you’ll be 25 again! If only….

Towel

If you’re close to my age at all, it’s probably time for new bath towels. You might have gotten some nice towels as a wedding present, but that’s probably a decade ago at least. If you weren’t so lucky, you might still be using the towels your mother bought you when you went to college. These poor, threadbare towels will make you not want to take a bath because you won’t want to get out of the tub and be damp and cold. Get yourself some new plush towels for the ultimate bath time win. My favorites are Sam’s Club specials, so they won’t even break the bank! You’re worth it!

Body lotion

Perhaps the most important part of taking a bath is making sure you properly seal in all that moisture and relaxation when you get out of the tub. This is especially true in the winter when you are more likely to deal with dry skin. That means you need some good body lotion. If you’re eczema-prone and boring like me, I can recommend a Walmart house brand product that works wonders – Equate Gentle Skin Cream. It ain’t fancy, but it works. I think I can say the same thing about myself, so we’re a match made in heaven.

Kids

“Kids” is a big category. Bath time can be unpleasant for every age kid, but for different reasons. Let’s lump them into babies, toddlers, and preschoolers+ so you can hone in on the tips that are the most age-appropriate for the kids in your bathtubs.

Babies

In some respects, babies are the easiest of when it comes to bath time. Sure, they might not love the whole getting naked thing and they might poop in the tub, but they basically just sit there like a potato for a few minutes while you scrub and then it’s over. If you have just a handful of items at your disposal, it can be a largely painless experience.

Bath support

Do not buy a separate baby bathtub. They’re messy, they’re hard to store, and they’re totally unnecessary. Instead, get a cheap infant bath support that you can pop in the regular tub. It’s easy to clean, easy to store, and the babies that I have washed have all loved it. This is a baby bath time essential.

Unscented products

Don’t buy scented bath products for your baby. Their delicate little skin can’t handle it. My favorite baby bath product is the all-in-one Aquaphor Baby Wash and Shampoo. It’s gentle on baby skin, but it works. You don’t need another baby bath product.

Bath mitts

By far the easiest way to clean a baby is to use a bath mitt. They cover more surface area so they keep baby warmer and happier. A bath mitt also stays on your hand, so you’re not constantly having to stop to fish the dropped washcloth out of the tub water. My kids also really enjoyed the fun critter shapes so they looked forward to the mitt. A bath time win!

Rinse cup

You can’t dunk a newborn or take a shower to their little tiny face, but you need some way to get the soap off. Enter the cup. You can seriously just steal a plastic cup from your kitchen to use for this purpose. If you have a few extra bucks to spare, I can recommend the cutesy little whale-shaped rinse cup. It has a silicone rim so it’s softer on baby’s head than the hard edge of a plastic cup, and it is a great way to remove any errant poop from the tub. Scoop it out, toss it in the toilet, and get out the bleach! Make sure you get the pooper out of the tub first.

Hooded towels

Not all hooded towels are created equal. Most of the hooded towels on the market are tiny. They barely fit around a newborn and are pretty useless. You need oversized hooded towels for bath time that you can really wrap baby up in. Skip the hooded towels labeled as baby towels. You want the toddler towels!

Toddlers

Toddler bath time strikes fear in my heart. Over the years, I’ve learned how to make it tolerable, if not fairly pleasant. Here are my tips if you dread bath time with your toddler.

Toys

Bath toys are absolutely essential for toddler bath time. You need to keep those tiny tyrants occupied while you’re trying to get the fruit snack out of their hair and the jelly off their faces. Some of my very favorite and effective toys have been cups and buckets. No frills, but they work. Pipes have also been a huge crowd pleaser for my kids. Especially the ones that have some sort of moving element. The dark horse winner that we still use often during bath time (even with my 5-year-old) is an elephant bubble blower. It’s silly and pointless, but oh so fun!

Bubbles

Unless my toddler needed to soak in an oatmeal bath for a bad bum, every single bath I ever drew for my toddlers included bubbles. Bubbles are essentially an extra bath toy, and you can’t have enough bath toys. We like unscented bubbles in my house, but if you don’t want to buy a separate bubble bath product, you can always just add a few pumps of their soap under the water as the tub fills. It’s that easy!

Shampoo

If you have a toddler girl or a toddler boy who has longer hair, now is the time to introduce shampoo. Real shampoo. The all-in-one stuff just doesn’t cut it when you’re trying to wash real hair. We like the Giovanni Eco Chic Kids Shampoo and Conditioner in our house. They love how it smells!

Faucet guard

Although babies stay put in the tub, toddlers are mobile. And that means they can hurt themselves in the bathtub. Talk about a quick way to ruin bath time! To take away one opportunity for self-harm, you need a faucet guard. Fair warning: you might need to try a few different versions to find one that fits your faucet because they aren’t all compatible with every faucet.

Let them play

Bath time requires a complete shift when your kids graduate from babies to toddlers. Baby’s bath time should be as short as possible, but you should keep toddlers in the tub as long as they’ll stay there or until they get pruney, whichever comes first. This is a great opportunity for your toddler to play and for you to dry your hair, do your nails, or check something else that you can do from the bathroom off your to-do list.

Preschoolers+

I must admit that bath time basically ends with toddlers in my house, but my preschooler does take a bath occasionally. Because I don’t have a ton of experience with preschoolers taking baths, I only have a few tips, but I think they’re real winners.

Let them help

I try to have my preschooler help me as often as possible. It gives him age-appropriate responsibility and control and it avoids major power struggles when mom or dad really needs to take charge. Bath time is a great chance to let your preschooler or older child exert some control. Have them pick a bath towel, turn the water on and off, and apply lotion after the bath. You’ll avoid a fight and everyone can have a pleasant evening.

Silicone bath brush

My preschooler is obsessed with my husband’s loofah alternative bath brush. He uses it to wash himself, his sister, the sides of the tub, and everything else he can reach. A cheap way to make a kid love bath time, I’m sold!

Music

Most people are happier when music is playing, and that includes kids! Get a shower speaker, let your kid pick the music, and crank it up! There will be smiles all around.

How to Win Bath Time