How to take a shower when looking after baby or toddler

‘Tine, what did you do to teach her to wait outside the bathroom while you’re showering? Could you perhaps use that technique to teach her other skills too?’

Daddy T is still a bit puzzled by the fact that Baby Girl knows that she cannot enter the bathroom when I shower – even though I keep the door open.

But this is how we do it on most days. Unless I manage to drag myself out of bed early and quickly get ready to go out before she wakes up, I depend on Baby Girl letting me have a shower while she waits.

We’ve gone through a number of techniques. When she was a newborn, I only had a shower when she was asleep and I had the baby monitor within easy reach. When she was a bit older and was awake more, I placed her activity gym by the entrance to the bathroom and she stayed there where I could see her while I was in the shower.

When she started rolling off the mat, that didn’t work anymore, and I had to move the entire playpen, and place her in the playpen, where she would usually stand and scream until I was done.

After we got rid of the playpen, I changed strategies. I now tend to prepare her morning milk and give her the bottle and a pile of baby books to look through, and she is then fine sitting on a mat by the entrance to the bathroom. On the days when she’s already had her milk and is not in the mood for sitting, I give her the iPad and let her watch Peppa Pig.

But with or without the iPad, she does actually understand that she’s not allowed to go in when I’m in the shower, as she could get wet. Success!

Tags: Activity gym, Baby, Newborn, Playpen, Shower, Toddler