Making the Most of Baby Bathtime
Making the Most of Bathtime
Bathtime is about much more than getting clean. It’s a chance to play, learn, grow and bond with your baby.
How to Make BathTime Fun
An everyday ritual can become more powerful when you think about all that your baby is experiencing.
Your gentle, loving touch during baby's bath and cuddle time afterwards supports your baby’s healthy happy development. In fact, research shows that your touch promotes healthy social-emotional development and enhances your baby’s motor skills.
Social-Emotional Development :
| What you can do | What your child is learning |
| Explore and play games like patting the water back-and-forth to make a splash. | The skill of taking turns and engaging with activities together is fun and rewarding. |
| Cuddle up together after bathtime and share a bonding moment. | That they are loved, which builds their self-esteem. |
Language and Thinking Skills:
| What you can do | What your child is learning |
| Connect and engage with your baby. For example, when your baby makes sounds and gestures, such as indicating they would like you to read a book, respond with praise and the action they requested. | They are communicating with you and you understand. This reinforces that sounds and actions are a good way to show what you are thinking or feeling. |
| When bathing your baby, talk with them and explain what you are doing together. For instance, drop the rubber duck in the water and exclaim, ”Look, he floats!” | When you talk to your child like this during activities, it helps your child to learn words and concepts like sinking and floating. |
| Make bathtime fun to help your child learn new skills. Show them how to stick sponge letters to the wall of the bath-tub or make the rubber duck squeak. | They will learn to make things work by copying your actions, while bonding with you. |
Physical Development :
| What you can do | What your child is learning |
| Make bathtime fun and educational by offering your baby a variety of toys so they can explore and discover with their hands. | How to have fun and explore in new ways from a seated position. Transferring objects from one hand to another and using their hands to make objects work, such as trying to get the bath stickers to stick to the tub, teaches your baby confidence. |
| Point out and talk about your baby’s different body parts as they use them. Praise them when they use their hands to pop bubbles and tell them what body part they are using. | To recognise their body parts and how they work to help them reach their goals. |
When they make a big splash with their hands or by dropping a toy in the tub, your baby learns about cause and effect. This helps them figure out how things work. When they wipe the bubbles away to discover their belly underneath, they learn that things still exist even though they can’t see them — a very important concept. And all the talking you do together during this special time helps build their language skills. What’s most important is that all of this learning takes place with you, their most favourite person!
Remember, part of keeping bathtime fun is making sure your baby is safe. NEVER leave a baby alone in the bath. Not even for a second. So gather all the things you will need for the bath beforehand and let the phone ring over to voicemail.
Gently clean without needing to rinse with water. They are larger than a traditional baby wipe, and are made from a soft thick cloth. The NO MORE TEARS® formula is as mild to the eyes as pure water, which means the wipes are suitable to use even on baby's face.They provide a quick and easy bath anytime, anywhere.
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