In My Girl's World

Consistency is key. We try to bathe Ella at the same time almost every night. Usually between 6-6:30 pm. She gets a bath every single Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Mondays and Thursdays are my late nights at work and Michael gets home pretty late himself, so sometimes we skip on those days. She gets a warm bath with lots of playing in the tub.

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Keeping her Comfortable. Nobody likes to get out of the shower or tub and step into a freezing room, dripping wet. I try to keep this in mind with Ella and thought maybe it was the post-bath experience that Ella really hated. We do things a bit differently now. While she's in the tub, we have her space heater going in her room so it's toasty. We lay out her changing mat with a clean warm blanket or towel and have her lotion, pajamas and night time diaper ready. After she bathes, we dry her off in her room and give her a big lotion massage! Making the post-bath experience comfortable and consistent has really helped make bathing her easier.

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Safe & Tear-Free products. We love Mustela bath products! The gel smells great, lathers well and doesn't sting Ella's eyes. We use this on her body and her hair, and it works great. We use their lotion too and I just love how it keeps Ella's skin soft and smelling amazing. 

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Keep it Fun with Toys. This is obvious, but toys make bathing more fun. Ella loves her bath time toys and actually gets mad at me that I won't let her play with them outside of the bath. I like to keep bath time toys for the bath only, that way she looks forward to going in and playing with them.

1. The Munchkin barnyard squirting toys are Ella's favorite. We can practice animals and their noises while we bathe too.

2. We also love these Munchkin foam letters. Ella loves sticking them to the walls in her bath, but we can also practice her ABCs/123s while we bath. Playing + learning is the best!

3. My sister got Ella this swimming turtle for her bath, and this has been the game changer. Ella LOVES this turtle. When I wind it up it swims all around her bath and it cracks Ella up. Such a fun and affordable gift for a toddler in your life. 

4.  I recently got these bath-time crayons, and Ella is loving them. She can do all the coloring on the tub and walls that she wants and it wipes away easily with a washcloth. These are great for her to practice her fine motor skills and dexterity.

We store all of Ella's toys in a little bag that is supposed to stick to the shower walls, but it totally doesn't stick. It may be too heavy, but we would love recommendations for one that actually works!

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We also use the mat pictured above to prevent Ella from slipping and sliding around in the tub, which makes her a lot more comfortable. It's difficult to clean, but has made bath time a lot safer for her, so it has been worth it. I don't remember where I bought it, otherwise I would share with you!

Those are some of the simple ways we keep bathing Ella a bit easier and more fun. At the end of the day you have to do what works for your baby/toddler and family. The most important thing, is to always be safe!