Where is your toddler while you're showering?

[crunchy_mommy]

I guess this is a pretty stupid question but I hope someone has some crazy idea I haven't thought of.

For the last year or so, 20mo DS has always sat in the highchair while I shower. He doesn't *hate* it but doesn't love it, and I am getting sooo sick of having a eyesore of a highchair in the bathroom just for 3 minutes a day of use. I'd really love to store or sell that thing!

So the only options I can think of...

-Take him in the shower with me. Not a fan of this. I like my shower scalding hot. Plus it would make my 3-minute shower take 10+ minutes, we don't have time for that.

-Let him wander around the bathroom -- ummm the floor apparently gets too wet, I tried this once & he slipped on the tile. Plus eventually that would lead to more toys in the toilet or climbing on the sink or something.

-Take shower before DH leaves or some other time -- not an option.

-Let him play in another room -- well he'll likely just end up in the bathroom anyway, which leads back to the slippery tile dilemma, but if he stayed in the other room I know he'd be jumping on the couches and climbing onto the windowsills -- too dangerous & I wouldn't be able to hear him with the shower running.

So what am I missing here??? There's got to be another solution!!! Or am I doomed to a life of tripping over the highchair whenever I need to wash my hands?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Your not missing much. I have tried all the options you ticked off, and on the weekends, when my husband is working overtime, I either Take my shower before he leaves, which is between 6-7am, or I let Matthew tool around the bathroom/bedroom. He sticks close, but I am constantly yelling to him (Because its LOUD in the shower) to get away from the sink, close the toilet, get out of the garbage. (I can see him because we have giant glass doors.)

Sometimes, he does really well and just sits on the floor and reads. MOST of the time, he makes a ocmplete mess and comes close to actaully hurting himself. I generally have to hurry.

Too bad he doesnt like TV like my 3 year old. Charlie just sits in the living room and watches Buzz Lightyear. No worries.

[momtoTnT]

When mine were that age, we did a few different things - I either put on a movie/kids show for them to watch while I was in the shower (or switching laundry downstairs), I waited until they were napping (if I was home that day - although then that meant I didn't get a shower until the middle of the day, and by that time, I often felt like why bother!) or I brought them into the bathroom with me. Can you put a towel on the floor so it doesn't get as wet/slippery?

We had to keep them in the bathroom more as they got older and could open the front door -the breaking point was when my DS (probably 3 at the time) came in one morning to inform me that his sister ( approx. 2 at the time) decided to go see what Marv was doing - Marv is our elderly next door neighbor, and it was 6 am.

[confustication]

My guys are usually in the livng room or napping when I am showering. The living room may mean climbed couches, but so far- no broken arms or legs. I put a climber/slide in there so they're getting better about climbing that instead of the wrong things anyway.

We also use baby gates- I will gate them into the hallway at times to play while I shower as it is a completely safe/empty play space for them to roam. It helps that I live in a tiny house and can hear everything from anywhere in the house.

With just one kid, I usually just let her play in the bathroom while I showered. Those bathtub crayons were a great approach to that. I'm not sure if I've gotten less cautious or more creative as I've had more kids and they've gotten older....

[AFWife]

I'll be honest, on nights when DH gets home late I just skip the shower all together. It's so much easier than fighting about it.

Of course, next semester I'll be right where you are because he'll be doing classes every night (and home late each night) I'm hoping I'll be able to convince DS to sit and read to his baby brother, though.

[teachma]

My 18-month old takes one nap in a crib for anywhere between an hour and 90 minutes at around noon each day. During that time, I work out for 55 min and shower for five. On the chance that he wakes up too soon for me to shower, I skip it and just wash my face. Extra-gross, I know, since I am then covered in sweat from running on my treadmill for almost an hour...but I haven't come up with a better option, either.

[texmati]

there are no good options. DS wanders around the bathroom. I try to give him a toy, and things do get wet, as I leave the shower door open so I can see him. DH can lift teh baby bathtub into the shower and have ds sit in the bathtub, while he takes a shower, but I don't feel comfortable doing that myself.

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by momtoTnT

the breaking point was when my DS (probably 3 at the time) came in one morning to inform me that his sister ( approx. 2 at the time) decided to go see what Marv was doing - Marv is our elderly next door neighbor, and it was 6 am.

What did Marv think of that??? haha

DS has no interest in TV unfortunately... though at least that's one solution I hadn't thought of!

And he sleeps in my lap for all his naps so that won't work...

Oh and we have a big bathroom -- so even with bathmats on the floor somehow parts of it still get wet. We just have a curtain not doors on our shower, maybe that's why?

I can't even imagine if I had 2 or more kids lol... then I guess I'd just be dirty & smelly forever!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Dont you use a liner AND a shower curtain? I guess I dont understand how your floor gets so wet. Condinsation perhaps? Keep the door open and a gate in the doorway, to keep him in with you?

[crunchy_mommy]

Well because DS hates being away from me so he keeps opening the shower curtain and then water gets everywhere. Maybe I should try it again and try angling the shower head differently or something???

ETA: You just gave me an idea, our bathroom is L-shaped, maybe I could gate off the leg of the L (which stays pretty dry)... not sure it it's any better having a gate than a highchair but it's *slightly* narrower...

[JMJ]

What if you threw a towel down on the floor of the bathroom to soak up water and make it safer? My DD does alright with a bit of water on the floor if she is in her robeez shoes.

What about showering during nap time?

Could you reserve some special toys or activity for only shower time?

Eventually, you will need to figure out a way to work things out so that you can trust him around the house, either by making the house safer or by teaching him what is appropriate. Usually, I think it's a combination of the two. With my DD, I try to make things that would kill her impossible, but on a lot of the smaller things, I let her make her own mistakes and learn from them. If she makes a mistake and falls off the couch while I'm in the shower or anywhere else, it's not the end of the world. I comfort her, and she learns more about balance.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Well because DS hates being away from me so he keeps opening the shower curtain and then water gets everywhere. Maybe I should try it again and try angling the shower head differently or something???

DS does this if he comes in while one of us is showering. Have you tried putting towels down along the shower/tub to catch the water? It might save you some time before the tile gets soaked.

[IngaAnne]

If we didn't have such a small bathroom, I'd put a pack-and-play in there to contain my 16m old son. I have to take my shower before my husband goes to work, during naptime, or in the evening after my son goes to bed. Once in a while, when I'm desperate for a shower, I put my son in his crib and either leave the doors open or use the baby monitor.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

OP, I would. The option of "mommy will just have to stink" doesnt fly for me. I tried wrapping my head around it and I just couldnt do it. I just keep trying stuff til something works.

[mommy_to_2angels]

Just a quick couple of questions...

Does your son have his own room? And does that room have a door? Annnnnd is that room babified?

When I need to shower, if I can't do it before they wake up at 6:00 in the morning, I do one of 2 things. I shut ds in his room, completely safe, no dangerous toys or anything that will harm him in any way. Or I have his sister entertain him in her room. But usually it's his own room.

The baby gate thing in the hallway is a great idea.

[~Amy~]

At that age, I'd strap him in his highchair & let him watch something on my laptop. Now that he's a bit older, he usually just plays in the living room or watches TV downstairs.

[crunchy_mommy]

He has a playroom but it's not baby-proofed and it's on a different floor than the bathroom. Our family bedroom is pretty baby-proofed though... I'm just nervous about him getting restless in there alone and finding some new danger we weren't aware of. He also is fascinated with plugging things in & outlet covers only made it worse -- it was that way with all the baby-proofing we tried so we just don't have baby-proofing (though removed obvious dangers from the main part of the house if possible). Maybe I'm being paranoid. He does have pretty free range of the house most of the time but I can always hear him and I can't hear a thing while I'm showering.

Actually this is giving me some ideas to try, I'll have to find a baby gate and see how he does with it.

[CalaRei]

We just have the one bathroom, and if I don't shower at night after everyone's asleep, or when they're napping, I generally close all of the doors in the hall and gate it up. I put some *REALLY COOL* things in there to play with and shower fast, hoping they don't maim each other vying for the coolest toy. Our bathroom is only big enough for like... one adult to walk in and turn around, so no way could they stay in there.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

He has a playroom but it's not baby-proofed and it's on a different floor than the bathroom. Our family bedroom is pretty baby-proofed though... I'm just nervous about him getting restless in there alone and finding some new danger we weren't aware of. He also is fascinated with plugging things in & outlet covers only made it worse -- it was that way with all the baby-proofing we tried so we just don't have baby-proofing (though removed obvious dangers from the main part of the house if possible). Maybe I'm being paranoid. He does have pretty free range of the house most of the time but I can always hear him and I can't hear a thing while I'm showering.

Actually this is giving me some ideas to try, I'll have to find a baby gate and see how he does with it.

OHHHH, I just had a fantastic idea for you!!!

My mother has a shower curtain that has giant plastic see-through PORT HOLES at about eye level. You can TOTALLY see through them into the rest of the bathroom. Maybe you could find an all-clear shower liner, so he wont have to pull open the curtain, he can just SEE you through it. Walmart or target must have something!


Here, something THIS clear.......

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vinyl-Show...Clear/10715054

[just_lily]

I shower at night when DH is at home, and usually she is in bed as well. It isn't my preference, but it has to work. If I shower in the morning it has to be before 7am and I usually want that extra 15 minutes of sleep more than a shower.

Once I managed to set her up with Barney and got in a quick shower.