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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Showering with Baby in a Sling

After the shower in a solarveil ring sling
I wore Little M in the shower today. Now, if you’ve ever taken a shower with your baby, you know that wet babies are slipperier than your grandpa on a slip and slide. There was no way I was holding his slick little self in my hands. That's just an accident waiting to happen. One of my friends recently tweeted about babywearing in the shower, and I figured I need to try it.

After all, I’m supposed to be the babywearing expert in Wilmington, I teach babywearing classes, and I have never worn baby in the shower? That had to change.

When I first put Little M in the solarveil ring sling and turned the water on, I had second thoughts. Cold feet and all that. I have a lot of hair. It was getting caught in the back of the sling. It’s hard to put your hands above your head with a ring sling. And I had to wash my hair. With baking soda. And vinegar. (I’m trying the “no poo” method of washing your hair). I didn’t want any of that to get in Little M’s eyes.


But I’m also taking shorter showers for the Change the World Wednesday challenge from Reduce Footprints, so I figured this would be quick and went for it.

During the first two minutes, I thought: "I'm never doing this again." During the last two, as Little M was falling asleep in the ring sling, I thought: "This is much better than showering while he's sleeping and constantly being paranoid that I'm hearing piercing baby screams."

And then there was the whole getting out and drying off thing. Which was a challenge, partly because I was running around the house with a dripping wet ring sling, trying to find the camera.

But I pulled it off and I would do it again. Of course, when Big T got home, he saw the ring sling drying next to my towel and said, "Uh, did you wear Little M in the shower today?" He looked at me a little funny, but it's nothing compared to my natural deodorant renting space in the fridge. 

Here are some tips for how to shower with your baby in a ring sling:

  1. Both of you need to get undressed. Put baby in the ring sling. **You should use a sling designed for water, like a water wrap or a solarveil sling. Heavy woven fabric can stretch and lose its shape in the water and could be unsafe. 
  2. With the "no poo" method, you need to start with dry hair anyway, so I shampooed up before I even started the shower. I had to do it with one hand, because Little M was struggling to get out of the sling. If you don't feel like baby is secure in the ring sling, keep a hand on him at all times. Depending on what type of sling you use, it could stretch a little in the shower.
  3. I started the shower and got in. Little M blinked a little and snuggled into me.
  4. I rinsed off, and then I turned the shower off while I used the apple cider vinegar rinse. I didn't get it in Little M's eyes. 
  5. I turned the shower on again and rinsed my hair and washed my face. 
  6. Now it was time to wash my body. Um, it's hard to reach your armpits when you're wearing baby in a ring sling. I managed, but it was precarious. 
  7. Getting out was... wet. Even if I wasn't running around the house, the ring sling was dripping. I guess I would have toweled us both off as best I could, then taken off the ring sling and gone to the bedroom, where I could finish drying us both off. 
The best part were the adorable pictures I got to take of Little M after the shower. What a happy kid! And check out the wet hair spike in the second picture.
after shower in a ring sling



This Wordless Wednesday post is linked up at:





Hobo Mama: A Natural Parenting Blog
It's a Blog Party
Dagmars

11 comments:

Right of Passage said... Best Blogger Tips

oh my god, best photos ever. i did the baby in the ring sling once when he was teeny tiny, and vowed never to do it again. he screamed like i was skinning him alive. im sure i traumatized him since now, at almost 3 years old, he wont go near a shower. you have me inspired to try it with kid #2 though... maybe it just depends on the personality! mason clearly loved it. <3

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Little M is just adorable ... and love the spiked hair. Let me just say Wow ... that was the best ever Change The World Wednesday post and a brilliant way to take a short shower. :-) I saw the post a little late but I've edited my CTWW post to include it. :-)

melissa said... Best Blogger Tips

Adorable pictures, and great tips! I showered with my baby, sometimes with and sometimes without my BabyEtte Water Baby Ring Sling (love that thing!), almost every time I showered until she was eight months old. My husband was away, so being able to shower with my babe was the only way I ever got clean. I'm so thankful for babywearing! :)

Perspective said... Best Blogger Tips

I love those last pictures of little M. I always wanted to try this when my boys were younger, but never did quite pull it off! Good for you!

E @ Life on a Quilt said... Best Blogger Tips

I agree with others above, babywearing in the shower is the ONLY way I was able to shower for months. It was tricky but we figured it out. You gave great tips!

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Jessica | Cloth Diapering Mama said... Best Blogger Tips

OMG....so cute! GREAT JOB getting your shower in! It can be so hard when they are small ;) LOVE the pics...can't wait to Change the world with you weekly!

Lisa - the Granola Catholic said... Best Blogger Tips

love it! I think I took my oldest in the shower at that age. It was the only way to get a shower in. She never slept and screamed if she could not see me.

Tmuffin.com said... Best Blogger Tips

I'm so glad I'm not the only one! It felt strange at first, and then it felt completely normal at the end.

Lauren Wayne said... Best Blogger Tips

I am so impressed! I haven't tried that yet, though I have brought a baby without a sling in the shower. Yes, accident waiting to happen… I like your method better! Thanks for all the tips and the adorable pictures.

Scat461 said... Best Blogger Tips

You should try out the JujuRoo Shower Carrier, a lot of babies prefer to be upright, especially when water is spraying down in their face. This is a new product that was just on Anderson Cooper on Monday, looks more practical and efficient.
www.jujuroo.com

Tmuffin said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow. Actually, that looks so uncomfortable! First of all, my baby would freak out if he was facing out into the shower spray. The buckles and hard, thin straps would dig into my body. And the way baby is carried--with all the pressure on the pelvis--is not the optimal carrying position. In a ring sling, my baby sits upright, close to my body, and is protected from the spray of the water. And it doesn't have any pressure points or sharp edges.

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