When and how do you take your shower? Oops...

[TurboMum]

 

I'm sorry but I don't know where to ask this question so I thought I post it here - so if mod moves it to a more appropriate place please do so!

OK, this may sound stupid and not very pleasant as well but since had LO, we haven't been showering more than once a week! Oh well...DH doesn't get to shower coz he leaves early in the morning and comes back at night when LO's sleeping - his nursery is next door to our bathroom  Even though we have white noise CD on we are still very afraid of waking him up as he's having very big sleeping problems (NWs, short Naps...etc. we really do not want to add more waking to his already tired little body!) I don't get to shower during the day either as I can't do anything when he naps (mostly i'm in there helping him napping!), and when he wakes, I surely can't leave him unattended can I?

So once a week when DH is off work, we take turns to shower... oh dear... I know! It sucks! 

I wonder how other mommies are doing this?

Sorry for the stupid weird question, but any advice appreciated!

Many many thanks!!!
T xx

[clh]

I used to put ds's in a bouncy seat & put that in the bathroom with me.  They were usually OK in there long enough for me to grab a quick shower.  And you're right there if an emergency happens. 

You may want to consider trying the shower, even while ds is sleeping.  You're going to need to shower AND he's going to need to sleep for a long time.  You may want to work on making those things compatible.    Some things that I thought would wake my children never did.

[We Three]

I agree...bring him in there with you when he's awake.   You could lay him in his boppy with a toy arch over him...you know, one of those gym-type things with toys hanging off of it for him to look at? How old is he? Is he in an excersaucer yet? That would work wonders.  I also agree with Candace that he *might* not wake up from the noise of the shower...my dd never did, and the bathroon was practically in her room! I totally understand the anxiety you have about waking him....so for now just bring him in there with you!

[elliesmama]

Our shower is right next to our lo's room as well.  She HAS to learn to sleep through it because when they're both sleeping is pretty much my only time to shower!

We've done the bouncy seat thing too and that works great.

[jana224]

I totally understand the whole tip-toeing around baby thing... I was there a few short months ago myself.  But truly, the shower shouldn't be a problem with white noise on in the room.  To test it, go in your baby's room and turn on the white noise while your husband turns on the shower in the bathroom.  I bet you can't really hear it... and keep in mind you're awake.  Our baby's crib shares a wall with our shower, but with white noise, it never posed a problem... and this is coming from a mom who literally tip toed for a few months in the beginning.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Spencer's crib shares a wall with our shower, and I have been in her room with the fan going while DH showers and other than the clunk of the pipes at first you can't hear it at all.  I usually shower right at the beginning of Spencer's nap and put in a DVD to occupy Masyn for a few minutes. Plus, the odd time we need to shower (or flush  ) while she is in bed it has never bothered her.

Heidi

[hjrmom01]

I used to put H in his crib to play while i showered....Or I showered during naptime and the noise never was an issue.  Sometimes I'll put him in his jolly jumper that hangs from the doorway and he can jump as I shower...or he'll sit in his bumbo seat with some toys to play with. 

[scucci1979]

I put by DD in a bouncy chair in the washroom. Her nursery is right beside our washroom and I was afraid of showering because I thought it would wake her, but it didn't. I have learned to make a few noises and she sleeps right through them.

[greenteamomma]

That is funny.  We were worried about that as well but then one day the timing was such that my hubby jumped in the shower and didn't know that I was trying to put the baby down (of course, he didn't think about it...).  He was fine and has been every since BUT funny thing is I never flush while he is sleeping.  I wait and when he gets up, I always stop there before I pick him up!  I know, discusting but it's not the end of the world!

[~ Vik ~]

BUT funny thing is I never flush while he is sleeping.  I wait and when he gets up, I always stop there before I pick him up!  I know, discusting but it's not the end of the world!

I do the exact same thing! LOL

I bring the exersaucer into the bathroom while I shower.  It keeps ds contained and entertained enough for me to shower and dress quickly.  I never shower while he's sleeping because the crib shares a wall with the shower in our new house and it has woken him up 3 times!   At our old house it wasn't a problem but here I can only shower while he's awake.

[gavinsmum1]

This topic is getting a lot of action!!  Jesse's bedroom is right next to the en suite bathroom that we shower in and some days even we hesitate, but do either of these things if you need to shower:
1- do it in the first 20 minutes after your babe has fallen asleep. Even if he's overtired or overstimulated, chances are he'll make it through the first 20 minutes.
2- bring him into the shower and lay him on the floor in a blanket.  Put a hanging toy bar over him and the sound of the shower will probably keep him soothed long enough for a good scrub.  Even if not, a little crying is not going to hurt him.
With my oldest son, I used to get him up from his morning nap and sit him up in his crib (he was about 8 or 9 months at the time).  I would turn on his little Einstein's moving fish aquarium music thingie and leave him while I showered.  Babies need to get used to small amounts of time alone and after a nap is the most content time of day (provided their next feeding isn't around the corner

[judypdx]

Funny. We're a bunch of neurotic sleep-obsessed mommies.    Off topic, but I reprimand DH for sneezing(he's loud) when LO sleeps.  He has two options 1) run to the far corner of the house and sneeze 2) carry a paper bag and sneeze into it. He choose option 1. (Poor DH).

Whenever DD has a cold, the nurse always suggest taking her into the bathroom when I shower to help clear her little nose with the steam.  So it's not a bad thing.  They're still too young to be traumatized for life in seeing their parents naked. 

[Peek-a-boo]

Okay, the sneezing thing made me laugh HARD! 

[mini me]

I too was paranoid about "waking the baby" so our showers got done whilst the other parent was around - luckily DH was home from work early enough. But we discovered a strange thing around 7mths old - DD would find it really hard to go into her 2nd sleep cycle and often woke and grizzled (she was a bad sleeper back then) so accidently DH had his shower just before her 1st sleep cycle ended and overran the change over time iykwim? so his shower lasted a good 20mins or so and I realised the noise actually soothed her thru the sleep cycle!! After a few weeks of doing showers at this time, her waking was almost gone and we got over her habit of waking - so a good thing came of it. Now she never notices the noises (we are in a more soundproof house now tho), but even so it took me a while to get used to flushing straight away instead of waiting! We still don't flush during the night tho (DH got in the habit of not doing it as I wake so easily and DD was also a light sleeper) and we just got into the routine ... yuk, we need to re train ourselves a bit now I think of it!!!

[Mashi]

We have had shower issues here and I have to say that I am SO relieved to hear I am not the only one!!

Our bathroom set up is odd, we have an ensuite which has a shower, and it is directly above LO's bedroom.  For ages he was in our bedroom and I used to shower at night when he was sleeping and it never once woke him up.  Then once we moved him into his own room, I got paranoid that the shower above him would wake him up, although it never woke him when he was next to it! The water draining is louder when you are underneath, though.

BUT I agree with PPs that your LO will have to learn to sleep through the shower, and trust me, he will!  Esp if you have white noise going, it's not likely he will wake.  We also hold off on flushing until he's awake, for naps only, I've learned that at night time, he's OUT and won't wake, so the shower probably won't either.

Truthfully, it wasn't until the past month or so that I started showering during the day when I am home alone with DS. Most of the winter I got showers on weekends only it seemed.  It made me SO crabby and grouchy, I used to blame it on DH and we fought constantly.  All I needed was 20 minutes to feel human again and when I got it, I think he realised his life was easier for not having to put up with me!

We didn't have a chair that I could carry up the stairs and fit into the bathroom and close the door as the ensuite is very tiny - shower, toilet, sink, no space.  But, one day DH suggested the carseat.  I started taking the carseat up, putting it in front of the shower and strapping DS in. Gave him a dummy, a lovey and some toys and got in. If he fussed I opened the door, handed him a new toy, a little tickle and he was happy again.

Now that he is older, and not happy to do that, we have a next stage car seat, a proper "sit up" one. We don't use it in the car because it's not rear-facing, but he's more than comfortable being strapped in it. It sits permanently in our bedroom facing the TV, and I put a Teletubbies DVD on, give him lovey, dummy and the DVD box and go shower. He shouts at me when the parts he doesn't like come on and I have to run out and hit the skip button and run back in. I can't say I ENJOY my showers as they are as fast as possible, not relaxing and I'm COLD because I have to leave the shower door open so that I can hear him. But I do get clean!!!!