splashing in bathtub

[MommyMine]

I need splashing in bathtub solutions.

My son is two and a half and having a blast but honestly I don't have the temper to stand it. I don't enjoy getting soaking wet, I don't have a shower door I can close and still see him so I have to keep the curtain open, I am sick of cleaning the bathroom after every bath to dry it all off- yes I have made him do it...but we all know that is just me doing it but taking twice as long.

I wish I could just enjoy his exuberance but by days end I am funned out- this isn't minor splashing this is half the bathwater out of the tub splashing! I leave each bathtime soaked from head to toe!

[johub]

I woudl buy a clear shower curtain from WAlmart. YOu can see right through it and he can splash to his hearts content.
Also dont wait till there is a puddle on the floor to clean up. Lay the towels down first. THen when bathtime is over you just have to pick them up.

Joline

[captain crunchy]

Good suggestions... also, what about making him a very shallow bath? He can still splash around and have fun, and get clean, but since the water is really shallow it will be less to clean up.

[MommyMine]

Here is my problem with the clear shower curtain...because I did get one...but for it to work I have to have take off the decorative cloth one...and then when guests come over (I just have the one potty) they all can see all the mess in the tub of the toys and what not. Already the bathroom is cluttered with all the tooth brushes and soaps and the potty chair and all that...it just was unbearable to look at the tub toys too!

Isn't there anything I can do to stop the splashing?

[nonconformnmom]

Hang the clear plastic shower curtain along with, inside of, the decorative cloth one. And/or use a plastic shower curtain on the floor next to the tub and when bath is over, simply gather it up and dump in the bath.

Honestly, I think you're making a bit of a mountain out of a molehill - water is clean, after all. Kids splash. I think it's somewhere in the Kid Constitution, "the right to pursue splashiness ...."

[johub]

Some people have a pretty fabric curtain with tiebacks on a separate rod from the plastic curtain. So you can keep the pretty curtain on and tied out of your way and then let it fall when you have company.
Other than that I would maybe suggst you shower him instead.
(that was our solution to pooping in the tub)

[Leilalu]

my kids love to throw things out of the tub an splash. I only fill the bathtub very shallow as it is. I just try to keep reminding them I don't like it. SOmetimes they listen, sometimes not. I do the towel thing. But basically, I say if they aren't hurting anyone, and are at least somewhat listening, I don't presss the splashing.Not much help, am i? wish I knew the answer too!

[sistermama]

I hang a clear shower curtain behind my fabric one. Then when dc are in the tub I simply flip the fabric one up over the rod, so that only the clear one is hanging down.

[Rigama]

we also only have one bathroom.

We have a clear curtain and a rule that splashing is allowed when the curtain is closed. If he splashes me on purpose while the curtain is open, the bath is over. Do our guests see the dinosaur shaped slip proof pads? Yes. Do they see the ugly pink tub basin filled with bath toys? Yep. But frankly, my guests know i have a kid and he has stuff all over our 900sq ft. house, so I figure they can just deal with it. If they don't like seeing the inside of my bathtub they can go use the Wendy's bathroom down the street!

[Elastagirl]

We have plastic decals of fish and other sea creatures that we put up around the tub. We make it into a game - like target practice- Ds can splash or squirt those stickers, but not me. (they're on the "inside" walls...not by the outside edge of the tub). Our mantra is, "Water stays in the tub." Repeat about 500 times or until he grows out of the splashing phase.
I also put about three towels down before the bath so they soak up any "accidental" splashes

[HappyHSer]

I agree with johub and CC.

I also don't decorate for guests, I decorate for how I spend 99% of my life. (Well, right now we are trying to sell a house, so it's a bit different). But in the early years of parenting, I decorate for joy and ease. If I had a guest close enough and stayed long enough to use the bathroom, they had better understand.

Isn't there anything I can do to stop the splashing?

Yes, if you really find it necessary.

You can remove him the moment he starts.

Or, you can have him shower instead.

Or, you can wait 6 months. It will pass.

[gribbit]

I take a bunch of old sheets and cover the floor with them. All I have to do is pick them up and throw them in the dryer. For me this is just not a battle worth fighting, but I respect the fact that for some people it is.

michelle

[Monkeyfeet]

How about bathing with him? DD and I do, and boy do WE splash! It is a ton of fun! That way you can watch him and join in on the fun.

[Yooper]

It sounds like this is a trigger issue for you. I completely understand that. I have temper issues myself and spend a great deal of time trying to keep it under control.

One thing I do for stuff like this is to make a list. Excessive splashing in the bathtub would go on the list as well as everything else that happens in a day that I can feel really pushing my buttons. I let the list lie there for a few hours....long enough to let go of the anger. Then I reveiw the list with dh or a friend or myself if no one is available and brainstorm ways to help me not let them be triggers. In some cases, the problem is entirely mine and having a few hours to let it go allows me to cross it off the list and resolve to ignore it next time. Other things are not so easy to let go or could be a property damage or safety issue. This is where the brainstorming comes in. It really helps to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and if your dc is old enough to communicate on this level, include dc too!

We recently had issues with dd getting up onto the computer, banging keys, and accidentally doing things like sending emails and such. She has not made to screen to keyboard connection, she just likes banging the keys and would get very upset when asked not to do it which got me mad and on and on and on. I put it on the list. Dh and I brainstormed. We discussed closing the computer cabinet doors when not in use but rejected it as dd really likes playing with the keys. We discussed getting dd her own keyboard to play with which we did do. Then we also decided to put a password lock on so that the keys could be played with at length with nothing happening on the screen. Problem solved.

In your case, you got some good ideas here that you might want to think about. Less water, lots of towels, shower curtain, a discussion with dc on why this is bothering you, bathing with dc, more bubbles, squirt toys, bath crayons, and on and on.

Good luck!

[MommyMine]

Originally Posted by HappyHSer

I agree with johub and CC.

I also don't decorate for guests,
.

I don't decorate for guests but sometimes I feel that I have given up so much of my house to my children...honestly I just want to carve out bits of calm space that aren't over run with childrenstuff. I love my children don't get me wrong but I am (and this is an all over complaint) drowning in toys and mess and stuff. Legos are embedded in my feet, my car runneth over with toys, the bathtub is filled with duckies, I can't find my novel underneth the pile of train books.

I have moved to a shower mostly for him...but he often chooses a bath instead.

I like the idea of a second shower rod with the cloth curtain...that I think I can do since the "flip the fabric curtain" thing didn't work for me, it kept falling over into the water side and getting wet or falling down and blocking my view.

As to the "wait it out" this is a stage? Really? When does it end? Honestly that really helps- knowing it will pass.

Someday I aspire to be full of energy by end of day and able to endlessly feel loving about wetness that covers all....but frankly I am a sahm and by then I have run out of love for the mess....or am at the end of my supply. I am not a perfect parent.

[MommyMine]

Originally Posted by Monkeyfeet

How about bathing with him? DD and I do, and boy do WE splash! It is a ton of fun! That way you can watch him and join in on the fun.

I will let him shower with me sometimes in the morning if I simply have to shower and he won't stay out.

[HappyHSer]

I don't decorate for guests but sometimes I feel that I have given up so much of my house to my children...honestly I just want to carve out bits of calm space that aren't over run with childrenstuff.

I understand. I felt that strongly. And right after my kids were past the need/choice to make everything very little kid friendly, I opened a home daycare.

It's a season of parenting that you are in. It can be very wearying.

[fly-mom]

Oh yes! It will pass. I don't really pine to splash in the tub anymore and I am 33, so it will eventually pass. Just kidding! I have found that with my dd just letting go of my frustration and letting her get her fill of something seems to make it pass so much quicker. She want's to ring the doorbell non-stop. Okey dokey. It's not really hurting anything and she gets tired of it pretty quickly if I just let her do it. Of course if something was making excessive work for me I'd either try to find a way to get her to stop or I'd try to find a way to make it less messy or troublesome, or whatever.

I was going to suggest double curtain rods with both a clear and a see through, but I saw that someone else already did. I'd go for that. Then you can just let him spash away until he tires of it.

[mamaduck]

I don't think its a mole hill. Water on the bathroom floor will eventually seep into the floor boards and could cause rot if it happens regularly. I never allowed that sort of splashing in the bathtub and I don't feel that I had to be a meany about it to make it clear. And I had TWO exuberent water babies!

Some things that help:

- As a previous poster suggested -- target practise. We allowed them to splash/pour/squirt water on the side of the tub with the wall, but not the open side. We just repeated the "rule," and turned their bodies to face that way.

- Do all necessary washing and scrubbing first to get it done. Then allow playtime for as long as he likes, provided that water stays in the tub. The first time water comes out, he gets a reminder. The second time, "Oops! Water came out so bathtime is done now!" Lift him out and dry him off without further disscussion or explanation. Even a 2 year old gets annoyed by excessive lecturing. Be consistant about this.

- As him to help with drying the floor when he is out. He doesn't have to be real effective and you can do most of it. But give him a towel and let him be involved.

[maya44]

I think the thing that you have to decide if you want to "draw a line in the sand" and say No splashing in the tub.

THIS IS OK. You are not a bad "un-fun" mom because you decided that for YOUR family to live in joy and peace there can be no water splashed on the floor. Your son is not going to be scarred for life because you made this decision.

And the idea of taking him out of the bath as soon as he starts to splash is a fine one.