What do your kids do when you have a shower?

[*Ali*]

I shower in the mornings now and the LOs have a bath together before BT. We were all having a bath together in the morning until recently but it is just too squashy now they are getting so big.
I have taken to gating them in their bedroom with the video monitor on so I can see and hear them playing and getting showered at lightening speed. But if I don't set up a structured game then it often turns into bundling one another on the bean bags and Colby gets hurt or they start throwing toys out the gate and down the stairs.
I am finding getting the boxes of megabloks bricks out and challenging them to build a tall tower keeps them busy for the 5 mins I need. But I need other ideas that will keep them entertained but safe for a short period.
Any ideas?
And tbh I'm not that pleased to be leaving them even for a few minutes while I can see them so what else do people do with their kids while they shower?
Some mornings my mum comes and watches them and DH is often home at te weekend so it is only a couple mornings each week I need help with.
I can't shower when they are asleep as it is too noisy and they wake.

[~ Vik ~]

I shower in the mornings before Dylan wakes up I use the second bathroom in the basement so it does make some noise but not enough to wake him. When he was younger I used to set him up with some toys on the bathroom floor upstairs when I showered (the upstairs bath has a glassed-in shower so I could see him), but now that he's older he's much harder to contain.

Probably doesn't help you much, sorry

[anna*]

I get Stan in with me, and Audrey plays on the bathroom floor

[*Ali*]

Does she not get into everything and cry to get in with you Anna? Colby is obsessed with the toilet and I had to clear out the bin and the toilet brush etc. The one day I tried to have Colby in the bathroom with me he cried to get in the entire time.

[gogomama]

I take one when DD is sleeping, she is exactly like Colby in the bath and would be crying the whole time or standing by the side DS is old enough to stay occupied by the computer or a show while I take a quick one. Otherwise, I wait until DH is home and hop in then

[j.and.e]

I usd to shower over bath with kids in bath. Or shower super fast while kids play in bathroom or hall/bedrms with door open. Else i just wash and try and shower in the eve. I find a shower at around 8pm when they have just gone 2sleep Ok, they dont wake. Xx

[Roseii]

I'm only just able now dd2 is 27mo to have a shower whilst they're awake and even now it's not exactly relaxing I gate the top of the stairs then they wonder between the bedrooms and the bathroom. I set them up with their little chairs, something like a brioche, and some books. But I spend my whole shower yelling for dd1 to tell me what dd2 is up to
Otherwise, I shower when DH is home from work.

[creations]

I put cbeebies on and DS watches it in the living room.  He has access to lots of toys and books at the same time, sometimes he plays sometimes he zombies in front of the TV.  On a very rare occasion he comes to the stair gate and calls for me (living room door has a safety thingy so it doesn't shut and I keep the bathroom door open so I can just about hear him).
I've had the similar dilemma in the past about how to shower.  I can't do it when he is asleep because if he wakes there's no one else to go to him and there's been teething for ever so always a chance of wake ups.
As soon as he could get across the room showers became a problem with him in the room.  He would scream blue murder the whole way through my shower and try to get in (just soaking himself and the room with the door open), that's when I started using the TV, initially in the play pen but not any more, he doesn't get up to much mischief, it's like he knows not to do anything risky.

Funny enough a couple of times this week he wanted to come up with me when I went for a shower so I let him (he seems to have outgrown the screaming to get in).  One day it was fine, he played with his duplo that he hadn't seen in a while but this morning he totally trashed the bathroom.  Dragged the rug across the room, emptied out the duplo, pulled all the clean towels out of the baskets, upturned the baskets...everything he could get into he did.  The only things he didn't touch were the toilet brush and the bin as he has learned not to touch those.  And standing in my trashed bathroom I thought of YOU!  I thought Ali doesn't have this problem, she has a bath with her LOs! ha!

[ZacsMumme]

Would love to get some ideas for when I have 2 though Im thinking I may shower before I get Z up in the morning given that ATM he cries the entire time I shower no matter what I do!!!!

Prior to the crying he would just watch TV and play in the lounge, its all baby proofed.

[flutie]

I put both in Kian's crib with some stuffed animals and they play zoo.  I also put the monitor on so I can tell if there is a problem.  Sometimes I will bring both in with me, but that is becoming a bit of a gong show!

[amandacan]

great question
right now is shower with dd one night the other night she goes in the tub and i jump in at the end
so i wash my hair every other day
and i shower by myself on sunday mornings when my husband plays with her
i really wonder how im going to do it with two ?

[okinawamama]

I have a separate shower (with a glass door ) and separate bathtub in my master bath. It works perfectly for me to take a shower in my shower, while I throw the boys in my master bath. I can keep constant attention on them through the glass shower door, but I can also get nice and clean without worrying about the kids wandering around or getting into stuff in the bathroom. While my kids bath every night, I only bath every second or third night, so taking a bath in  my big bath is a special treat for them and they behave really well in there.

One day, I'll be able to shower in the mornings again, but for now (and the past 3.5 years), I take my showers in the evening.

[amayzie]

I either always shower with hamish on days when i'm home- or in the mornings when we are both getting ready for work, or i'm home alone with him and NEED a shower without him i put him in the cot with some books. The only time i tried locking him in the bathroom with me he spent the whole time crying to get in It was awful!! I wash my hair every day- hard to do while holding the shower door shut!

[~Karen~]

When they were younger I used to take baths and they'd come and 'help' me and play with the water and bubbles.  Now I either lock them upstairs with me or put a cartoon on.  They're generally fine playing when I'm in the shower but the words, "Can I not even have a shower in peace?" have left my lips a few times!!! 

[*Becky*]

I take them both upstairs with me and shut the stair gate so it is safe. Then H is usually ok to play in his room and M sits right next to the shower and cries for me until I get out!!