Before you read anything here…watch the video above.
…
Did you watch it?
Now, tell me – is that what your baby’s first bath experience was like?
Ours was VERY different. I also have it on video, and it certainly did not look like the above video. But…we can acknowledge that the video above is gorgeous, it’s so precious, what a beautiful time of peacefulness that baby seems to be experiencing. Notice they didn’t show us how they drugged the baby before shooting that clip…right? Right?
When Caleb was first born, he didn’t really cry much. In fact, the nurses were rubbing his back pretty hard, kind of pinching his back, trying to get him upset and trying to get him to cry and scream to get some stuff out of his lungs. And he just kept not crying…so we thought that perhaps we lucked out. Maybe our baby just didn’t like to cry, didn’t think it really helped or did anyone any good.
But then it came time for his first bath.
And that did it. Our first attempt at a bath at home turned out even worse. Screaming, shrill screaming…we were using a baby bath tub, and he was just not a fan at all. Sarah and I tried a couple other times, until she heard about the Tummy Tub. Now, if you look at it, it looks just like an expensive mop bucket. But it is pretty cool. And the first time we tried a bath in the Tummy Tub, we had a much more enjoyable experience.
A few times later…he was back to screaming. But since we’ve recently been adding in the bubbles…things are a bit more calm in the Tummy Tub. In fact, last night was the first time I gave him a bath solo…and it all worked out fine.
Needless to say – at least for us – giving Caleb a bath has not been the magical, meditative, spiritual, contemplative experience that the above video portrays. And that’s fine…it doesn’t have to be. And so we can watch the bath video and be awed and mesmerized by the moment…but just know that it doesn’t mean we’re crappy parents if we’re not having similar bath time experiences…right?
Nikki @ Outnumbered says
wow, that video is amazing! i am a labor and delivery nurse and i have bathed hundreds of newborns and i can tell you that most of them wail and scream through most of it. it could be because where i work we have a tiny square tub that we are supposed to bath babies in- it’s too small for them to stretch out or relax- we’re mostly just hovering them above the tub and getting them clean as quickly as we can. i vote for nice new tub/sinks! beautiful!
that being said- some babies just don’t love baths as much as others, and that definitely does not make you a bad parent! i have four children of my own and i’m sure that at least one of them cried through his baths for several months. he’s two now and a lover of baths, so maybe caleb will one day love baths too! hopefully by the time he’s playing in the dirt all day…. at least right now he doesn’t need a bath too often!
Donna Wright says
That was an amazing video! Just beautiful but no more beautiful than that sweet little boy in the picture!
Courtney P. says
That sure wasn’t the bath experience that our son had either. But, thankfully he enjoys his bath time now.
I think it would be fantastic if more hospitals & birthing centers actually gave the babies a more peaceful bathing experience for their first baths.
Thanks for sharing!