Things that Worked for Us, Despite not Following Norms

When it comes to baby things and ways to do baby-caring-tasks, there's always an opinion out there.  It doesn't make that opinion truth or gospel or necessarily what you should do.  We didn't follow a lot of the "norm" with our babies and it worked for us. 


One thing I constantly heard as I was nearing the end of my pregnancy with my first was that I would never get to shower again.  Guess what?  I showered as much as I wanted.  I devised a plan that worked for me and I worked my plan.  Our house at the time had a bathtub shower combo, so I hung up an extra shower curtain rod and I bought a completely clear shower curtain liner and hung it on the inner rod.  When I wanted to shower, I gathered my decorative shower curtain like a curtain on a window, and I tied it back with a hair tie or piece of ribbon.  I'd move the baby swing (small swing, remember) into the bathroom right in front of the tub/shower and I'd set my little baby bundle in the swing.  I'd get into the shower and know that I could peek at my baby as much as I wanted.  When I was done showering, I'd untie the decorative curtain, and let it fall back into place.  I used this method with my second baby, and even when my boys were crawlers and toddlers and couldn't be trusted to be in the house without supervision while I showered.  I never felt "shower deprived" as a mom and always felt like I could shower even if I was home with my newborn (or newborn & crawler, or crawler & toddler) by myself.  This was a life saver to me.  In our current house, we have a separate shower and tub, and the shower has a door, so I imagine I'll just stack some extra towels on the floor to absorb any escaping water and crack the shower door open.


I also remember pouring over the baby registry lists of others and thinking "man, I need to add this and this and this to my list!"  I struggled deeply with adding certain things to my baby registry because I'm a very practical person, and some baby stuff just isn't practical (at least for me!).  One thing that I could not justify was a changing table.  I don't like "single purpose items" and what do people do with changing tables when the baby is potty-trained?  Placing a changing table pad on top of a low & long dresser was becoming popular when I was pregnant with my first, so I thought about registering just for the changing table pad.  But then my mother-in-law told me that she just put a towel on the floor and changed diapers on the floor of whatever room she was in.  I thought this was brilliant.  Babies can't roll off a dresser or a changing table if they're already on the floor.  So, I kept a folded towel and a little basket of diapers and wipes in my living room and bedroom.  Then, anytime my baby needed a change, I just unfolded the towel and got to changing.  A coworker of mine who lived in a two-story house complained one day that it was such a hassle to change his daughter's diaper because he had to go all the way upstairs to her room to use the changing table.  I told him what I did at my home, and I think it blew his mind.  I don't know if he followed suit (and I don't really care), but I know it's what worked for me.


With newborn babies, you can't have their bodies submerged in water until their cord-stump falls off.  I didn't register for any plastic baby bathtubs because I didn't have the storage space for that.  So I registered for a mesh sling to use in the regular bathtub.  It was supported by wire sides that could recline in 3 positions to better suit baby's ability to support himself in the tub.  However, I couldn't use that until the cord stump fell off.  Again, my mother in law came to my aid.  She showed me a picture of my own husband as a baby getting a bath on the floor.  She had towels laid out, and a washcloth and a bowl of warm water and she just bathed him on the floor.  At the time I was pregnant, a company made what they called a baby bath sponge.  It was a big sponge that you could easily set a newborn baby on, and she bought that for me.  I put that on the bathroom counter (or you could easily put it on the floor), and I would wash my baby that way until his cord stump fell off, and I kept washing him on that sponge until I felt he was capable of reclining in the mesh sling in the tub.  I used this method for both of my boys, and I recently purchased a new sponge (I had gotten rid of the old one) for use with my daughter.


Once my oldest could sit up on his own (and probably several months past that!) we would put a laundry basket in the tub for him to sit in.  That kept a bit of a boundary around him and kept his toys within easy reach.  This was totally something I saw on Pinterest, I think.  Again, it worked for us. 


I'm excited to try all of these methods again with our little girl arriving soon!  Tomorrow marks 5 weeks from when we'll deliver, and that SOUNDS. SO. CLOSE!  Yeah, thinking about 5 more weeks of diet restriction, etc, is a bummer and that makes it seem like a long time, but it's really not that long!  Lots of things still have to happen before 5 weeks is up (like Michael starting kindergarten and me finishing out this summer school term before starting a brand-new set of classes!) but I know these weeks will fly by! 


Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba