splashing in bathtub - Page 2

[MommyMine]

Originally Posted by fly-mom

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..

One thing that frusterates me is that we live in an apartment and so much of the things other parents can let thier children do I really can't let my son do...run up and down stairs, jump around in our house, ring doorbells, scream and yell....the folks that live all around me are elderly women who never had children and are quick to call managment if they hear any children noise. Just now there are a few families moving into the building with babies and young children and a lot of the older residents are not happy about this change.

Sorry that was another rant but sometimes I wish we could just go crazy. Maybe when I build my dream house we will have a bathroom and the whole place is really a tub with a big drain the floor and he can splash until the cows come home!

[Rigama]

MommyMine,

How cold is it where you are? It just occured to me that if you live in an apt you probably have a balcony. Could you maybe bundle him up and send him to the patio with big bowls of water and some cups? We lived in an apt when my ds was under 2 and he also loved the splashing thing and this worked wonders. Sometimes I'd even add a drop of food coloring to the water.

Another idea, if going out to splash simply isn't practical, is to give him bowls of water and cups for pouring in an EMPTY tub and let him have at it.

Good luck!
Rigama

[Elastagirl]

Mommymine, I love your idea for a dream bathroom! I would add to that with fountains coming right out of the floor and the walls and no crabby neighbors to complain about the noise! Apartment-living must be a challenge with a toddler!

[MommyMine]

rigamama, it is quite cold now but in the summer we would get out all our pots and pans and cups and some water and play on the balcony. That was a lot of fun! I thought about trying that with sand or rice but in the end realized that would be too much of a mess if it spilled of the deck...that game always ends when ods starts dumping the water over the edge down on the lower balconys

[Rigama]

Originally Posted by MommyMine

rigamama, it is quite cold now but in the summer we would get out all our pots and pans and cups and some water and play on the balcony. That was a lot of fun! I thought about trying that with sand or rice but in the end realized that would be too much of a mess if it spilled of the deck...that game always ends when ods starts dumping the water over the edge down on the lower balconys

Beans beans beans!!! They're great and they are a cinch to clean up. Also very cheap. Although I've found that Black Beans start to "peel" after a while.

[MommyMine]

I have a bowl of decorative river rocks that used to be part of a candle display before kids. When yds is napping I will give the bowl to ods to "stir" and play with (he dumps them in and out of cups) that is a lot of fun and makes enough noise to be really cool...and it is something he can only play with when yds is asleep and that makes it special. The stones are too small to have out with yds. the rocks are big enough that he can do it inside and I can pick them all up and put them away when we are done.

[UUMom]

Splashing was really the only thing that kept my bathroom floor even a little clean. Throw giant towel down, clean floor. You might try putting less water in the tub so you don't get so wet. Or maybe don't stand too close. Soap him up as soon as he gets in and move outta the way.

[LaughingHyena]

Would chainging the time of day help. I ususaly Bath DD in the morning of even after lunch. I can handle the splashing and clean up a lot more cheerfuly if I'm not so tired.

[JenniferH]

Just don't run the tub at all if the splashing really bothers you that much. Leave the water on and just use a large plastic cup to pour over him OR put him in the shower with you.

My daughter used to do this when she was 2 or so and normally I didn't mind but we had carpet in the bathroom in that place so it really smelled bad when it got wet. I just started putting her in the shower with me and problem solved. Well, the splashing problem anyway. She liked to slide down the back of the tub on her stomach and almost knocked me over a couple of times.

[Mackenzie]

Originally Posted by yoopervegan

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!

Yoopervegan....awesome thoughts! Thanks (and I am not even the op)

[katallen]

I close our none clear shower curtain and then sit right next to the bathtub and peak at her every once in a while. I usually bring something to do with me like my knitting or a book. I tried to not allow it for a while, but she is so persistant and I remember splashing until I was seven or eight as being part of the fun of bathtime so now we do the splash shield.

[LeosMama]

You could just poke your head around the curtain. Then only your head would get wet!


My ds thinks the curtain peekaboo game is fun and gets distracted from splashing.

[Kindermama]

wow....what happened to just saying "let's keep the water in the tub, mama & the floor are getting too wet"

This thread is making me feel like a horrible mama...I have rules for certains things and splashing is one of them so they don't splash...instead they bring toys into the tub to occupy their time....end of issue. Every now and then they start doing it and I give them the "look" and again end of issue. If they continued to splash, I would just end the bath.

eta: how about designating one day a week for splashing this way you can prepare the floor and yourself for fun time but not have to do it everyday.

Or maybe this would help!
http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp...771&change=117