(Token Hutch picture that actually has nothing to do with this post.)
They really weren’t kidding when they said how difficult it would be to squeeze in a shower when you have a baby. This is in part for two reasons:
1) Yes, newborns sleep a lot, but just because they’re sleeping doesn’t mean a mom necessarily can. There’s a million other things that have to be done during that time, including but not limited to sweeping mopping meal-making pumping washing pump parts eating drinking 3+ litres of water washing clothes sorting clothes folding clothes putting away clothes taking walks baking lactation cookies eating lactation cookies and these are just what I thought of during the past 30 seconds.
And yes, from time to time, I do choose to sleep at the same time Hutch sleeps.
In fact, of the myriad of things I have to get done in any given day, showering is basically at the bottom of that list when I’m prioritizing by order of Most Crucial to the Smooth Running of This Household (and Health and Wellness of My Son).
2) When the rare 10 minutes rolls around that I can spare for a shower, I’m always a bit baffled about what to do with the baby. The first time I attempted it, I left him asleep in his bassinet three rooms away from the bathroom. Five minutes into the shower I thought I heard him crying so with shampoo not even lathered in my hair I turned off the water, wrapped up in a towel and walked wetly down the hall to check on him, only to find him sleeping soundly. Annoyed (with my overactive imagination, not with my innocent child), I got back into the shower to finish. Five minutes later when I was officially done, I turned off the water and Hutch was screaming. I felt horrible that he’d been all alone and sad like that. He probably thought I was never coming for him.
When I mentioned this problem to a friend of mine she said she just takes her baby in the bathroom with her when she showers and lets him hang out in a bouncy chair or bumbo.
I thought that seemed like a good idea until I tried it. First of all, which way do I point him? If I point him facing the shower he’ll be able to see me and know I haven’t abandoned him in a dumpster…but on the other hand he’ll be able to see me totally nekkid. And sure, he sucks on my b00bs 8-10 times a day, and six weeks ago his face was literally squishing itself right out of my hoo-ha, so he’s not a TOTAL stranger to the female anatomy, but it still feels kinda weird to have him looking at me totally nekkid.
On the other hand, I could point his bouncy chair toward the bathroom wall, but then he’s staring at a blank wall for 10 minutes and he’ll probably think I’ve abandoned him in a dumpster anyway, so what’s the point of bothering to take him into the bathroom in the first place.
On top of which, I like a pretty hot shower so there’s a real chance he would suffocate in the steaminess of the room; it’s a legitimate concern in my head, even though he would be near the ground and heat rises and he’d probably be fine.
It’s quite the dilemma.
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