I'm in the "frequently skips showers" camp. Twice a week feels like a luxury, sadly.
When he was very little, the bouncy seat worked pretty well for five to ten minutes, provided that I kept talking or singing. Once he could sit up on his own, a protective soft blanket/mat on the bathroom floor and a few toys and singing to him while I showered worked as long as I was five minutes or less. Now that he's really mobile (crawling, climbing, supported walking) coralling him in the hallway (babygates in all doors) with some toys, with the bathroom door open but babygated and the shower curtain half open so I can keep an eye on him works for ten minutes or less.
I've kind of made a game of all of the things that go with showering that aren't actual water-running in the shower time: I sing a song about what I'm doing (brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, lotion on my face), I do little dances, I keep checking in by looking at him and asking him question about what I'm doing ("Do you remember what we do after we brush our teeth? We rinse!"). It's a lot like talking to myself but seems to help keep him entertained. His crib is in our room, so I continue the song-and-dance routine while I get dressed.
The song-and-dance thing has worked pretty well for other things - it gives me just enough time to close up everything needed for his diaper change and get the diaper in the laundry pail. I have different songs for different things. We do ABCs for diaper stuff, for example. Lots of Ben Folds and Cake songs in the shower. Getting dressed tends towards a lot of Jonathan Coulton. Food preparation while he's in the high chair is a mixed bag but leans to Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse. Walking for soothing and general going-to-sleep is a lot of Beatles. This kid is going to be shocked one day when he finds Mommy's large collections of swing, metal, industrial, punk, ska, jazz ... someday I'll get to listen to all of that stuff again. For now, I stick with stuff that'll be easy to sing to him and that Daddy knows all the words to, as well.
When he was very little, the bouncy seat worked pretty well for five to ten minutes, provided that I kept talking or singing. Once he could sit up on his own, a protective soft blanket/mat on the bathroom floor and a few toys and singing to him while I showered worked as long as I was five minutes or less. Now that he's really mobile (crawling, climbing, supported walking) coralling him in the hallway (babygates in all doors) with some toys, with the bathroom door open but babygated and the shower curtain half open so I can keep an eye on him works for ten minutes or less.
I've kind of made a game of all of the things that go with showering that aren't actual water-running in the shower time: I sing a song about what I'm doing (brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, lotion on my face), I do little dances, I keep checking in by looking at him and asking him question about what I'm doing ("Do you remember what we do after we brush our teeth? We rinse!"). It's a lot like talking to myself but seems to help keep him entertained. His crib is in our room, so I continue the song-and-dance routine while I get dressed.
The song-and-dance thing has worked pretty well for other things - it gives me just enough time to close up everything needed for his diaper change and get the diaper in the laundry pail. I have different songs for different things. We do ABCs for diaper stuff, for example. Lots of Ben Folds and Cake songs in the shower. Getting dressed tends towards a lot of Jonathan Coulton. Food preparation while he's in the high chair is a mixed bag but leans to Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse. Walking for soothing and general going-to-sleep is a lot of Beatles. This kid is going to be shocked one day when he finds Mommy's large collections of swing, metal, industrial, punk, ska, jazz ... someday I'll get to listen to all of that stuff again. For now, I stick with stuff that'll be easy to sing to him and that Daddy knows all the words to, as well.
Luckily, she's getting better...finally...at over 3 months old. But she still cries unpredictably sometimes, for no obvious reason, no matter what we do. Lately the only way she will go to sleep is to cry herself to sleep. I don't leave her alone or anything, but she apparently HAS to cry for a few minutes to fall asleep. She won't nurse, won't lie there and fall asleep, won't fall asleep walking or bouncing or swaying or swinging or vibrating...just has to cry, while I'm busy doing everything I can to get her to stop crying.
