We had been using a bathtub that Annie gave us since the girls were born. It works fairly well and after the first couple of baths, Eleanor and Miranda have really learned to like their baths. At the end of their baths, we pull the drain and start pouring warm water over them. Eleanor lifts up her chin so that the water washes up to her neck and she looks really content. Unfortunately, the bathtub has been getting a little small. This is Miranda in our original tub:
Last week we just felt that the girls were getting a little too cramped and so we looked around for a new tub. We ended up buying the Primo Eurobath. It’s quite large. Infants can sit on one side of the tub, and when they’re a little older, toddlers can sit on the other side. The girls loved it immediately. Instead of having their legs all squished up, they have plenty of room to stretch out. Eleanor does a bit of a bicycle kick to splash in the water. Miranda does more of a frog kick. Here’s a picture of Eleanor in the new tub:
The only drawback of this larger tub is that we don’t have a great place to put it when it’s not in use, but we’ll figure that out. We’re hoping the girls will like their new bathtub for a good long time. Next, we need to get them some rubber duckies.
hey… looks like fun! i tried the euro bath with lucas and he didn’t like it. he felt cramped in it… no wonder, he has been taking bath in plastic containers where he gets free reign. anyway, few suggestions… instead of getting two highchairs which takes up a lot of space (big footprints), you can get two Healthy Care Booster Seat that will strap onto your regular dining chair. It’s really sturdy and even Lucas the squirmer can’t get out of it. If it weren’t that we got a handmedown highchair and we have benchseats, I would just use this all the time. Don’t forget plastic liners to save your floor/carpet.
secondly, a lot of my friends with girls don’t use gates, fences… they don’t need one. the girls never wander off and touch anything. i’m finding that it’s the boys that need them so you may want to see if the girls will need them.
lastly, sippy cups… i bought the avent sippy cups too thinking that lucas will use them. i ended up using only 2 of the transition cups (soft spout), which you can buy the spouts separately to put in your avent bottles. I started by giving him water in those soft spout cups. He learned quickly how to drink from a straw (first something dense like jamba juice). then i trained him how to drink water with a straw slowly by decreasing the flow. I weaned him off the bottle in 3 days when he was one and he went from bottle to straw cup. The best straw cup is actually the cheapest one… it’s a no name brander found only at sears (Luv). walmart used to sell the same one under different brandname but they have a different straw design now (which i don’t like). This one hardly leaks. The advantage of straw is that if you dont’ have a sippy cup with you, they can still drink from a regular cup with a regular straw. also, the avent sippy cups don’t fit in cup holders.
btw, the best/nicest gate we found is from ikea. it’s wood but nice and sturdy not like the cheapy evenflo ones. it’s mounted on the top of our staircase. but like i said, a lot of little girls’ house don’t have gates. our friends have their stereo system, VCR/DVD, wires etc within reach. we had to childproof our house b/c lucas will yank everything, climb on top of everything and tumble down everything and put his crubby little hands in anything he can reach.