Strange Question but Still Need Advise

I used to put my daughter in her play pen with a few toys and put the TV or some music on to keep her "entertained" while I quick jumped in a took a shower. I would listen for her (we had an appt at the time, so she was an earshot away) and if I heard her fussing a lot I would rinse and get out. Most of time she had no idea that I had left or how long I was gone and I got to take a shower that made me feel clean and refreshed and could get on with the day. :)

I take my shower at night after my son goes to bed. I took my showers at night even before him though so that it would be one less thing I would have to do in the morning.

These are things I did. Take a shower before my husband left in the morning or at night after the baby is in bed, or use a bouncy/walker type thing and put it right outside the shower door. Or a playpen in the bedroom with my door open

I HAVE to take a shower in the morning barring flood, fire, & being shot at.

So:

- Highchair and breakfast in the bathroom
- Carseat in the bathroom
- Play pen in the bathroom

OR

Helloooooo "glass nipple" aka highchair or playpen in front of the TV

Of course, my son until recently (at age 8) couldn't be trusted alone. He was an adventuresome baby, then an early reader (danger danger danger).

As a working Mom, I was usually up before my kids (still am). But, I had to force myself to be up and showered/dressed early even when on Maternity Leave and laid off last summer with a 3 year old and 15 month old, I'd usually try to shower before they were up and functioning.

The other thing that worked well early on was to have a box of toys in your bedroom/bathroom where you can be within ear's reach if needed. We made sure the bathroom/bedroom were baby proofed. But, most of the time, turning on playhouse Disney did the trick long enough to take a few minutes worth of a shower.

I agree with the pack and play or even the crib. Just put some toys in there for her to play with, or music or the t.v. and hop in the shower quick. You could even just put her in the bathroom with you if you wanted with some toys. Im usually in and out in less than 5 min, and have never had a problem letting my son play during that time. Now i have a 4 month old also and they are fine in the living room while i shower quick.

I brought my kids in the bathroom with me. I actually had a few toys that I kept in the bottom drawer in our bathroom. Both of my kids loved to plunder and this gave them permission to do so. And sometimes I just let her shower with me. Like I said, my kids are big plunderers when they were under 2, leaving them for a few minutes often resulted in a mess of DVD's or finding them climbing on something...which I imagine your daughter is still a little young to be "good" at this yet. :) My daughter is 21 months old and most days I bring her in the bathroom still. Once she is a little older, I will feel more comfortable letting her play in her room, with the baby gate up...my son can open it in an emergency. But right now...it's just not a safe idea in our house. If time is an issue, I just shower at night.

My 20 month old still sits in her pack-n-play when I take a shower in my bedroom. She plays with her toys or watches tv. We've been doing this since she could sit up on her own so it's pretty normal for her to do everyday.

I get up earlier in the mornings and head straight to the shower before anyone else is awake, so I've never had to worry about this issue.

Pack and play, exersaucer, play yard, crib...

You can either shower at night (not for me, I need my morning shower) or just put her in the bathroom with you. Is there a way to contain her to one room if you don't want to take her to the bathroom with you? Put a baby gate at the door of her room maybe? If you have a baby monitor you can take it with you into the bathroom so you can hear her to make sure she's not crying or hurt.

Well a baby gate on her door is one suggestion. She can play in there while you shower.

Another is to take her into the shower with you. Toddlers LOVE that.

Another is to shower after she's asleep at night or get up earlier and shower before she's awake.

I have a 14 month old and 3 year old, and my husband works all day long so I have to take a shower with them at home! We have a small TV upstairs and I put on a DVD (which my 14 month old will watch), put up the baby gate, and enjoy my shower! I also shut the doors to all rooms so they can only play on the landing.

I had my daughter in the bathroom, just pulling out everything. Then, she was small enough she could only get the bottom draws. So I moved every thing out of those bottom draws. That didn't last long, before she could reach the second, third, and moving the scale to reach even higher and I was out of draw space. She is now 2 1/2 and still gets into my make up and loves lotions. Messy and waste of too many good products. I should of put child proof locks on the cabinets back then. So that is my advice, locks on the cabinets and draws!!!!!

I would sometimes take shower durning her afternoon nap. Just to take one alone.

I usually take a shower at night after my son has gone to bed, but then I've always liked to shower before bed.

My oldest is fine, and I bring the little one in the shower with me, she loves it! Before then I kept an exersaucer or bouncer in the bathroom.

I just got up earlier and showered before the kids got up.

My son always loved to just sit in the bottom of the shower & play with bath toys while I actually got clean. It works better if you have a tub/shower instead of a little shower stall! Before he was old enough for that, I had a bouncy seat in there so he could still see me & I could keep an eye on him. I would say don't let her play completely by herself if you can't see/hear her. My son could always find the most random things to hurt himself on...and he was a climber so "alone time" just didn't happen. Good luck!

LOL I totally asked this question in my moms group. I take one when we get up (i cant get up b4 her to do it or i would do it then: I am a night owl so that is when I get my mommy time) we get up, eat breakfast then I take her into the bathroom w/ me, it is child proof, I have a box of toys, books ect and i change them out when she gets bored) I have a CLEAR shower curtain so that I can watch her (she can see me too) that way she does not get into stuff. she plays i sing to her whatever and I shower. if my DH is goign to be home early and we have nothing to do for the day (I am a sahm) if we dont have playdates/errands ect. I will stay in pj's all day and then when he gets home i take a nice longggg shower i love those days.

if she sits in a high chair, maybe feed her breakfast while you shower?

I always took a shower with my baby. otherwise, if Dh or partner could keep an eye on your little one. My 12 mth old would play in the tub while I showered.

In the crib or playpen with toys to play with and/or the TV or video on. Swing, exersaucer or bouncy in the bedroom or in the bathroom.

I was in the same exact situation. I am glad you asked too because I always wondered what other people did. I let her run arund the house. We have our kitchen and office blocked off with an installed baby gate (that has a turn handle she can't turn) and our room always has the door shut unles we are in there with her. The only place for her to run around is the living room/eating area and her bedroom. Sometimes if i need to take a longer shower (like shave my legs, do a deep conditioner treatment on my hair, whatever) I will put her in the highchair in the hallway with a snack. I make sure if I was to peek out of teh shower curtain I can see her. Honestly, most of the time she just plays and comes and pulls the shower curtain open to see what I am doing. Good Luck!

i often shower at night before bed. or...my son is a BIG fan of curious george, which is on at 8 am. so i shower and get ready for the day during the 1/2 hour that he is captivated by the TV. Then the TV goes off and we have breakfast. it is also a good time to get him dressed to because he is too interested in the TV to fight me getting clothes on him :)

depending on the child, you can bring her in the shower with some toys. one of our sons hated the water, the other loved it. even wtih a tiny stall shower, our little guy thought it was a blast.

I was not a stay at home mom, so I was awake early and getting ready for work. I'm married, and my husband was still home getting ready for work too so there was always one adult to supervise while the other was in the shower. At that age, I would not leave a child to roam around the house, I would confine her to the playpen or one of those multi-side gate play areas, if you are not getting up and showering when there is someone at home or you don't have a spouse/partner

Nighttime. After she has gone to bed and is sleeping. OR...in the morning, with her! That could be some good mama/daughter bonding, and fun. But, I always did it at night because that was the ONLY alone time I got. If you are worried about crazy morning hair, just dunk your head in the water in the morning and style as usual.
L.

Not a strange question, I think everyone evaluates it. If I were a SAHM I would bathe at night after the kids go to bed, but I like a bath before bed. But I work and I feel like I HAVE to bathe in the AM. When the kids wake up too early and I get stuck, I put them in their high chairs with a homemade muffin and a little tv and they are good to go for 15 minutes.

Take a shower at night, or put her in her crib, or put her in a playpen i.e.
pack and play. That's why good old fashioned big playpens were great.
They were always safe if you had something to do.

hey M.,
when my daughter was that age, i would put her in the play pen so i could shower...eventually she could climb out. so after that, we bought "ABC Gym Mats" and my husband blocked her in there....now shes 3 1/2 and we just shower together. hope this helped! =)

When my daughter was that age I would shut the doors that I didn't want her to open (her bedroom, office, etc.) and put a gate on the steps. I just picked up anything that she could get into and put the tv on in my bedroom- which is connected to the bathroom. She was always within earshot and rarely got into something she shouldn't. When my second one was that age the two kids would play togther, or I would stick the baby in the excersaucer. It's not too tough, you'll find something that works for you!

A very good question, actually, as most Moms face that delimma. Some bathe with child, but that was never my choice. So, I either jumped in the shower in the evening when my husband got home and just after we had had dinner (sometimes baby was in bed by then), OR, if that was not convenient, I made sure doors were closed in the hallway with nothing to allow her to "get into", and then gave her a favorite toy and sat her in her little rocking chair by the closed bathroom door and said, "It's time to sing!". I then called out to her while I was showering, singing songs with her, etc. She was safe, and felt she was still engaged with me, due to the singing. Once she got down on the floor and tried to peek under the door, and I heard her say, "I can ALMOST see her!" Showers that way were short ones but we managed with her sitting and singing just outside the door. Whatever works!

buy an eebee baby dvd.... they loooove eeebee and the 20mins are just long enough to shower and tidy up a bit...

Gate off her room and baby proof it while you shower and bring a monitor with you
or wake up before she does to shower
or bring her in the shower with you

I have a 13 month-old (and a 3 year-old). They are into EVERYTHING. So I wouldn't leave her just playing in her room to take a shower. I would either use a high chair in the bathroom and give her a little snack (you can peek out of the shower to be sure she's ok). Or if you have space for a pack & play in the bathroom that would work too. I think the crib idea with some toys is good too with the monitor on. I wouldn't be able to just have her hang out in the bathroom because she loves the toilet too much. :)