apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The showers might be scary for little kids, and also they need help getting washed untill they are about 6y.o. You'll have to use utility tub or small pool through your baby's toddler years, if you give up on the bath tub. I used to take baths with my newborn - great soothing bonding experience! And I also let her "swim" in the tub. She's 2y.o now, and it's much easier to wash her in the tub when in the shower (expect to get soaky wet yourself when washing a toddler in the shower!) Hope that helps

We also live in a 1920's house, which has one bathroom that was poorly remodeled (with a shower) before we moved in. We used the kitchen sink for bathing for as long as we could, then switched to a plastic tub in the shower. Ikea makes one that is pretty big and works fine for toddlers. Our daugther is almost 3.

Try filling up water in a bucket/pail and use a small plastic jug to pour water on the child. It is really easy, portable and quite safe (as long as you're there). Wet the child with the water, soap on and then wash off by pouring water. Has worked for centuries :-)

As a baby, my son didn't really like the baby bath, so we started taking him in the shower with us from about 6 weeks old, and he loved it. Even now, at 5, he'll often choose to take a shower instead of a bath, and it hasn't been a problem.

We have a bath and it rarely gets used. My son (nearly 3) likes the shower. We installed a hand shower attachment so that he can shower at his level (water falling from adult height is a bit overwhelming for littlies). He likes to hold the hand shower himself and we sit on a stool and help him. We taught him to keep the water in the shower (ie not spray the room and us!) and he does. I think he likes the control of holding the shower and washing himself (we of course poke at him with soap and cloth when he's not watching). Uses much less water than a bath too.

I have an aunt with a bad back who used the kitchen sink until her daughter was around 4. I have friends who took their babes into the shower in a waterproof sling from the get-go and their kids continue to use showers with no problems that I know of.

My 19mo son has taken a shower with me and/or my husband every day since he was about 1mo. Bathing him in the kitchen sink was too hard and so we switched to the shower/bath. When I am finished showering with him at my feet we fill the tub and play, wash and swim for another bit of time before getting out. My son has never had a problem with the water from the adult-height shower head...he just loves being in and near the water.

If a shower is what he gets used to, then he won't miss a bathtub. My little sister (5yo) loves to take a shower, but she sits down on the floor to wash ;-)

I would recommend installing a handheld shower that either adjusts up and down on a bar, like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100033592&N=10000003 90401 500736

or like this with an extra mount installed down low:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100009966&categoryID=502648

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100082232&N=10000003 90401 500736

My daughter, 2.5, hates the shower. Mostly because she hates water in her eyes. It all depends on the child.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. A tub or sink will be fine for awhile. Lot of toddlers and kids like the shower and if she doesn't you can just get a larger tub to place on the floor of the shower.

We had the same dilemna with the home we just purchased --and opted to leave in the tub. My son is 15 months old. He likes the shower but really enjoys splashing around in the tub. Before he was big enough for the real tub, we bathed him in an inflatable baby tub and it was a huge pain to fill and empty. It was a relief when he was big enough for the real tub. I could not imagine going back to filling and emptying a baby tub -- and, now that he is a little bigger, he likes to spread out in the big tub. Although the tub-less shower is asthetically more pleasing to us, we felt that the tub was right for our situation. Hope that helps.

I personally wouldn't do without a bathtub. My kid loves the bath. We have showered with him a few times, but babies are slippery; I find it hard to clean him as well and am always anxious about dropping him.

Also, not sure if resale is in your mind, but not having a tub can really affect resale values - many couples with or expecting kids will rule a place out based on that, especially if it's a recent remodel that they don't want to have to redo.

You can find really small, spacious tubs as well. We have an oval tub in our teeny bathroom. It feels huge, but it's actually really short.

We first bathed our daughter in a baby tub and then in the kitchen sink, but as she got a little bigger she developed eczema so we were told only to give her showers. She is two and is just now starting to take baths and she loves it. Even though she didn't like it at first because she was used to showers, she has really started enjoying her bath time. It's also a time for me to get to relax and just watch her and play with her. I personally wouldn't want to miss that.

Really it depends on the kid. If your kid is a water baby, then baths are really fun and educational every day. I can't imagine my own childhood without the bathtub and toys. And having a tub gets tots used to larger amounts of water, which is helpful for swim lessons at a young age.

There are handicap tubs that are more like shower stalls. I find those a very good compromise.

Bathtime is so fun and special with our 22 mo old and good for practicing swimming and water safety so if you have the choice I would really consider it but I agree with the other parents that said whatever you have is what your kid will adapt to and (s)he will be fine with it. It's really what you want. I would suggest either way that you consider a showerhead that comes off and can be handheld for the times they get really messy and need a good spray-down.

I have a tiny apartment with an equally tiny shower stall and no tub.

I bathed my baby (now 9m) in the pedestal sink (with a towel or receiving blanket underneath for softness and so he didn't slip) until he was a few months old and now I have a collapsable tub. Yes, cleaning it is an extra step, but a pretty minor one and I never thought of it as that much of a pain. (Though I agree with the previous poster - the removable showerhead is key here.) I let it fill while I'm getting him undressed and I rinse it out when I'm done -- then it hangs on the shower door with it's own little strap, taking up zero space.

http://www.buybuybaby.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14884548&RN=7051&

I don't even bother to fold it in half as shown in the picture, but I do fold the legs down.

We love to use the tub trugs in the bottom of the shower - sometimes with a hand held shower too;
http://www.tubtrugs.com/tubtrugs.html

Also, recently stayed at a holiday beach house and they had a 'Shower bath' I think they're called - our 4 year old loved it - It has a square bath base, with sides half the height of a regular bath, but in the shower 'footprint'
You have the shower, and bath at the same time - but no flooding the floor!!

Our 2yr old and 4yr old boys take turns taking a shower with their dad.