Wash Pods (Those Bucket Bathtubs) - If You Use One, I Have a Couple of Questions

Don't waste your money on it. It seems so Euro-cool, but, honestly, the thing makes no sense. You cannot properly wash a child in it, it is a pain to try to hold a baby who can't sit up yet, and basically it is useless. There is NOTHING that it can do that you can't do in a baby tub, your own tub, the kitchen sink, or whatever. You know those pictures of kids comfortably sitting in one, like in a cocoon? No kid will do that. Once they can sit up, they want to MOVE, not be smushed into a bucket! :) I have one and I use it for holding cleaning supplies. A waste of money. Seriously.

I had one when mine was little. My sister used it with her kids and sent me one from Europe before they became popular here, too. The trick is not to fill it too high. Mine had marks on it how high to fill it according to your baby's weight. I never had a problem hold on to DD, I either held her under her chin, her arms or grabbed one leg and leaned a body and head onto my arm. The water makes them buoyant and the walls of the bucket support the rest of the body so it's fairly easy.
To wash the diaper area of a very young infant you lean your baby forward onto your arm with his head resting on your arm and simply wash them with your other hand.
I never soaped her up so no experience there. Soap is bad for baby's skin so we washed with clear water only when she was little...didn't use any shampoo until she was about 1 and had long enough hair to warrant it... by then she was long outgrown the bucket.
We had the "tummy tub".

I never used any bathtub insert thingys for my boys. They went from the kitchen sink to the regular bathtub. I always had a towel in the sink and in the tub to help with traction.
Save yourself the headache.
So much easier on the back to do the kitchen sink until they get rambunctious, and then a few inches of water in the bathroom tub is the best way to go until they can sit on their own and turn the bathroom into a virtual seaworld of their own.
I'd lay my child down in the tub if they cant sit up yet, do the wash down and pull them out.
They dont like playing in the tub until they can sit well on their own.
No matter what you use, kneeling over the bathtub is always a back breaker.
I so remember "feeling the burn".

When babies were little I used the kitchen sink because it was the perfect size. Also for washing hair I used the sprayer or a large pitcher and laid the baby on the counter and had their had in the sink and rinsed it and was done.

This was the way babies were washed up before all the new gagets. Rinsing off all the soap is not hard when you have them in the sink. When they get too big for the sink, they went to the tub.

Yes they are slippery when wet but you just hold on tight. Save your money for something that is necessary.

The other S.

Hi blessed mom-

I took baths WITH my kiddos when they were little...I felt I had more control when I was in the tub with them (hubby was on 'stand by').

Little babies are slippery when wet!

When they were able to sit on their own...big towel in the bottom for traction...and me right there with them!

Best Luck!
michele/cat

I used one of those and I loved it. I was very nervous about bathing in general and bending over the tub was out of the question for me. I would have washed my babies in the kitchen sink, but we have upper cabinets all around and over the sink, so it would have been a very tight squeeze.

Diaper area was never a problem, just lift the baby up a little with one hand and wash with the other. My boys didn't have much hair when they were very little so I just used a washcloth with a tiny bit of baby shampoo. I'd have a glass of warm water standing by to dunk another washcloth in to rinse off. I was hoping to get more use out of the pod. It said up to 6 months, but my big baby boy outgrew it by 5 months.

Another mom recommended another type of bigger bucket, that might work well too.

Good luck,
R.

Funky.

I used a rope handled toy bucket (no bathtub where we lived for 2 years) after he could sit up on his own.... MUCH bigger, longer use life, $10, godsend for a water baby.

Prior to the giant toy bucket (homedepot, toysrus, etc. about 2.5 feet wide, and 18+ inches tall) it was sinks and showers.