5 Ways to Get Your Kid to Take a Bath

Turn bathtime into something you look forward to.

*We’ve partnered with Ubbi to make bathtime a little easier on mama.

Oh, the bath time. When my firstborn was a baby, I envisioned it a precious time of our daily routine, where we giggled and splashed and all the water stayed in the bathtub. I’d pull her out, squeaky clean, and we’d snuggle in the towel for a minute or two, slather her up in lotion, and have her all calmed and ready for sleep. I was only able to achieve the full vision only in snippets. Which is to say, bath time is a lot like the rest of motherhood–you store up the moments of sweetness and you just roll with the rest to survive.

Eventually, though, you find a way to make bath time work for you. You learn to love the wet floor (it means she’s having fun!) and perfect your routines and tools. It helps to find a collection of great toys too, that are creative and bright, interchangeable and interactive–all the things that matter to your kid; but also easy to clean and dishwasher safe (mold-free = the holy bathtime grail!).

In honor of Ubbi’s new bath collection, which is all that and much more, we’re sharing 5 tips to turn your bath routine from survival mode into something to look forward to.

1. Make it less about the routine, more about fun.

I always pictured I’d give my kid a bath every single day, right before bed. But it turned out bath time riled her up more than it calmed her down! It started making bedtime harder, not easier. So I switched up the routine. I’d pull out “bath time” at random parts of the day–after a mess had been made, when we needed something to do, if we just felt like splashing. Eliminating the “routine” part of the ritual instantly made it more fun.

2. Fill the tub with exclusive toys.

In our house, bath time toys are just for bath time. They live in the tub and are only played with during baths. This makes them infinitely more exciting, and there are designated games my daughters play, only when they bathe. These Ubbi squeeze n’ switch toys are perfect for all the bath games–underwater worlds with friendly sea creatures; rainstorms with the rain effect drain holes; and new inventions with the interchangeable tops and bottoms.

3. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles.

One of the hardest parts about bath time is watching your freshly-cleaned bathroom get totally soaked. But, c’mon, mom. Bubbles are fun! I like to have a few old towels on hand–I pick up the bath mats and lay those down instead. When bath time is over, I spray a little sanitizer over the soaked floor and use the old towels to “mop”. It’s like accomplishing two chores in one, and you can be motivated to let your kid splash to her heart’s content.

4. Simon says, “Wash your tummy!”

I have to credit my husband with this one–he’s the master of bath time fun! He actually taught our daughters how to play Simon Says during bath time. He calls out, “Wash behind your ears,” and they laugh and laugh until he says, “Oh, Simon Says wash behind your ears!” Not only is it a fun game, we’re giving them some independence washing themselves.

5. Engage with the water.

When we were living in Brooklyn, our apartment only had a ¾ bath–no such thing as bath time! My kiddos learned to take showers very early on. But engaging with the water in this way proved to be really helpful. A lot of kids are scared to have water on their faces; introducing it early-on makes it normal. We like to turn on the shower above the tub to make it “rain.” Or, if that’s too much, use a colander or a toy draining bin to make a teeny, tiny, toddler-sized shower. When bath time is over, you’ll have a clean kid, a clean floor, and clean bath toys (after you twist them open toss them in the dishwasher)! How do you make bath time fun for your kids?

Use discount code WRNY15 for 15% off all bath products on Ubbiworld.com from now until July 31! Shop our faves here:

Squeeze & Switch Bath Toys