About 6 months or so ago, we were struggling to give O baths. She didn’t enjoy bath tub baths, sink baths, and her infant bather was too small at this point. (Shes a tall girl!) She would generally just sit and scream. It was really sad because up until this point she had enjoyed bath time. We were struggling to find a solution to this problem.
One day, after another failed bathtime, I went to take a shower, and told O’s mommy to let me try showering with her. I went and got in the shower, and her mommy handed her to me and thus began the experiment.
At first all she would do was hold on tightly to my shoulder. It was difficult to clean her, but at least she wasn’t screaming. She gradually would relax and let me clean her. Gradually we’ve made it to now where she will play with the water, and we play the naming game (she points and I tell her what it is).
I also feel like coshowering has really helped my bonding with her. Since O’s mommy exclusively breastfed until O started showing signs of food interest (she is still breastfeeding! Awesomeness!), O always wants her mommy. There is nothing wrong with that at all, and its great; nevertheless, as a dad you do feel a bit “out of the loop” on helping the baby. Besides holding her when she slept, changing diapers, and playing with her I couldn’t do too much to help it felt like. Now that showering her has become “my thing”, I feel like we have a deeper bond, and its a 10 minutes that I enjoy very much.
Baby O, So Wonderful 