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| Tummy Tub at 4 weeks |
Leave it to me to find a green alternative to your typical "baby bathtub". What can I say, I'm a sucker for unique green products or alternative ways of doing things! So do I give my baby a bath in a traditional bathtub or the kitchen sink? Of course not! I put her in this funny-looking "bucket" called the
Tummy Tub. I know it looks kind of strange, but I love it because there's some great research behind it, Avery seems to love it, and best of all it's GREEN.
Now before we jumped into using the Tummy Tub, we eased Avery into the bath time routine by having her take a bath with me once her umbilical cord stump fell off. I read about this "mommy assisted bath time tip" online, and to do it I basically just held her against my chest while in the tub and used my hands or a wash cloth to wash some water lightly onto her. This tip worked and she really seemed to enjoy her water time...maybe being born in the water helped? Then around the third or fourth week we decided to give the Tummy Tub a try, and it was a hit! I'd read and heard stories about how some babies scream and cry during baths and I kept waiting for that to happen with Avery, but it didn't and still hasn't! I'm not sure if it's the water that she loves or maybe the Tummy Tub, either way, I'm glad our bath time is a happy time.
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| Tummy Tub at 6 weeks |
The idea behind the
Tummy Tub is that the fetal position the baby takes when in the tub is similar to being in womb..thus the name
Tummy Tub. On top of this, the high sides of the tub gives the baby's body support and helps muffle lights and sounds, another feeling experienced by the baby while in the womb. You can read more about the history behind it's design
here.
On their website,
Tummy Tub also describes some other benefits behind their unique design as:
- It keeps the baby warmer in the water since the water comes up to shoulder level, and the smaller surface area of the water helps keep it warmer for longer.
- It has an anti-skid base and a low center of gravity to keep it from tipping.
- It can help ease colic and indigestion, as well as relieve nighttime fussiness
- It enhances bonding between parents and baby since it turns a "chore-like" task into an enjoyable one.
Now above I mentioned that the
Tummy Tub helps Avery have not only a fun bath time, but also a GREEN bath time and here's why:
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| Tummy Tub at 9 weeks |
- It conserves water...only needs about 1.3 gallons per bath! I love this green feature because back when we used the "mommy bath tip" I did not like filling up an entire bathtub just for a short, five minute bath with her. So to only use a small amount of water for each bath Avery takes feels much more green.
- It's made of green materials...and contains no BPA, lead, phthlates, or toxins.
- It can be used for a long time by a baby...from the time the baby is born (or as small as 3 lbs), all the way up to 35 lbs! I wonder how long Avery will continue using her's? At least for the first year I can imagine. Check out some of these other cute babies using the Tummy Tub at a variety of ages.
- It can be re-used once your baby is done with it...you could use it for many things around the house such as watering plants, storing things in, or you could even put things in it while you travel (a use we recently tried out!).
- Doesn't cost a whole lot of "green"...I got mine for about $40 on Amazon.com. Now they do have a special step stool type attachment you can get to place the Tummy Tub on top of, but I didn't get that. We just have the tub and we put it on the floor in our bedroom to give her a bath, it's pretty simple really.
As of now, we give her a bath about every other day, usually before bedtime. Although you could make bath time a one-person job, Brandon and I both like to give Avery a bath, not only because it helps to have that extra set of hands, but also because it's something fun we like to do together. Brandon usually takes on the job of holding her, while I get a washcloth (
these are my favorite for bath time) and I give her a good wipe down. I mainly try to get under her neck and arms, where some "baby funk" as we describe it, likes to hide-lol.
Also, for her bath I just use nice warm water without any soap. When she gets a bit older, I'll probably start with some
Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Castile Soap, which is what I use as my body wash and hand soap right now. This castile soap rocks because it is very pure and simple, without perfumes, or other additives that could cause her skin to break out or become irritated.
Here's some other fun pictures from a typical
Tummy Time bath with Avery. As a side note...isn't it crazy to see how much she's grown in the tub pictures above from week 4 all the way to week 9?! We used to have to support her so much in the tub, but now after we're done washing her off, we let her try sitting in there all by herself (as you can see in the pic below). What a big girl!
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| "I'm getting a little bigger in this tub!" |
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This is a funny way we like to bundle
her up with a towel to get her dry! |
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| I see some cute blue eyes sticking out! |
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| "I'm all clean now guys!" |
So that's my review of the
Tummy Tub; it's a pretty cool baby bathtub that has helped make our bath times much more fun and much more GREEN! If you are pregnant or have a young baby, I highly recommend you give it a try!
