Hating Bath, Loving Bath, Hating Bath #BabyBuzz

A New Mom that Gets It

Brooklyn, a new mom and momtrepreneur, with deep insight to the latest baby trends, describes her journey through all the apparatuses she has used in the last 19 months to come to terms with bath time; shares her realities from corporate world to entrepreneur; and even dives into the mysteries of the NoseFrida.

Who is Brooklyn? #relatable

Brooklyn is the first-time Mom of Gia (19 months), wife, entrepreneur, momtrepreneur, loves being home, loves working, and loves her little family more than anything! When not working, Brooklyn loves spending time with her family and friends, designing her own photo shoots for Gia, entertaining and baking for loved ones, squeezing in a barre or pilates class, and indulging in her guilty pleasures of chocolate, coffee and shopping.

 

Brooklyn’s Work Life Collides with Parenting Life #hertruth #newmom #momtrepreneur

Up until Brooklyn had her daughter, she held multiple corporate positions in marketing, brand strategy and social media for a world renown baby and toy retailer where she received many great advancements, traveled the world, and built long-lasting professional and personal relationships with some of the most talented people in the industry.

While on maternity leave, Brooklyn realized alongside her new title as ‘mom’ she would take on a new title of ‘consultant’ to the corporate world, instead of returning to it. In addition to becoming a Mom to baby Gia, a ‘momtrepreneur’ was born in Brooklyn.

Like most moms, she’s busy. She is parenting an outgoing and strong minded 19-month-old, and simultaneously she is growing her own marketing business. You could say that her career prior to becoming pregnant, had been molded by what was happening in parenting. She knew all the ‘must have’ and ‘hottest’ products and trends. It was a part of her corporate job to know all the different needs in the ever-changing newborn, infant and toddler stages. However, she still didn’t know what she was in for with a newborn. In fact, the first diaper she ever changed was Gia’s when she was a few hours old.

Even the Best Baby Products May Not Be Best for ‘Your Truth’ in Parenting #noSingleTruth #bestbabyproducts

“I was probably an over informed parent as it related to what products were needed, but under informed in how to actually take care of a baby. We all are.” And yet, Brooklyn, like the rest of us, quickly learned that parenting is an individual sport.

“My daughter was sick, and I was going to use the NoseFrida,” remembers Brooklyn. “I looked up a video on YouTube on how to actually use the product and saw a baby nicely laying on the diaper changer while mom sucks the snot. Ha! That product has worked amazingly for a lot of sick babies. A lot. Not my strong willed, Gia! She wasn’t letting me anywhere near her nose.”  

This was her gentle reminder that there is no single truth in parenting. Only what works for you in your unique situation. Your friend who swears by the snot sucker. Applaud her. But, when things don’t work for you, it’s time to find your own way. For Brooklyn to care for Gia, that meant team work. Sitting in a steam-filled bathroom reading books and singing songs as a distraction, while her husband helped hold down the little peanut so the NoseFrida could do its magic. That’s not in the instruction manual, but it worked. That was their truth.

Then there is bath. “Gia has gone through a love / hate relationship with bath time.” #bath #hatesbathtime #lovesbathtime #agesandstages

Motto #whateverworks #happybaby #happymom

As it comes to parenting, her motto is “whatever works and makes baby happy.” You know what doesn’t make baby happy? Bath time. Well, sometimes. It's a love/hate relationship. 

Hates bath? Who can hate bath? It’s that time where dads and moms everywhere enjoy the sweet, loving gazes and bonding time. You know who can’t decide if they love or hate bath depending on what age and stage of development, they’re in? Gia, that’s who. “Here was our bathing journey and the multiple bath apparatuses that filled our apartment.”

Stage 1: This huge spa tub is bigger than my apartment!

“The big plastic, bath tub spa looked so cool while we were registering for baby. However, once we actually received it, we decided that it legit couldn’t fit in our apartment and had to go!”

Stage 2: Bath sling to the rescue

“This was a more compact, easy to use option for the early days of bathing a newborn.  We were able to put it in our tub, on the kitchen island or counter and fold it up when bath time was over! However, this only lasted a short while, before Gia was too long for it and started rolling over.”

Stage 3: God love new moms and dads

Remember her motto? “whatever works and makes baby happy.” This was no longer working. This mama is always adapting to needs with her strong-minded little one. Given their lack of space for a big tub, and the developmental milestone of Gia to rolling over and out of the sling, they needed a new plan.

Stage 4: Take a seat

“Then came the bath seat. This went in our tub and was the first time Gia was actually in water.  Like everything else, this was a transition. We had about 3 weeks of bath time struggles because she didn’t know what it was like to sit in a tub of water.  As nothing lasts forever, it wasn’t long before she LOVED being in the bath seat and would kick and splash away. I truly enjoyed every fun and messy moment of our new bath time until Gia discovered she could get out of the seat.”

Stage 5: Standing ovation

“The bath seat joined the sling in our storage. It was finally time for Gia to take a bath without any equipment, which meant we went back to hating bath time.  After adding bubbles (made from her bath soap) and lots of bath time buddies, she finally decided the tub was OK, ONLY if she was standing. We had a standing ovation for several weeks and she was very happy standing in the tub. Sitting wasn’t an option for quite some time.”

Stage 6: Swimmer #bathtime #bathtimereality

“As you could imagine, after some time she became more comfortable and finally took a seat in the bath to play with her toy buddies. So comfortable that she now tries to swim in the tub and it’s a fight to get her to sit up and get out of the bath. For now, we are singing a clean-up song as we back away the bath buddies, and wave ‘bye bye’ to the bubbles. It’s the conclusion of our hour-long bath process, for now,” says Brooklyn.

‘For now,’ is the key. Like everything in parenting, there are moments and seasons. Embrace the good.  In the tough times all we can do is take heart in knowing they won’t last forever. “I cannot wait to see what new level of bath time we experience next, just like every other part of the parenting journey.”

We all live our own parenting journey and parenting reality. What’s your bath time reality? Is it love/hate for you? Where can we learn from your bath time reality?

 

Sarah is a birth mom, adoptive mom, wife, working mom and optimist. She is the founder of Hummingbird Infant where warm, loving, calm baths are made into a reality. Sign up for our free confidence-boosting weekly Baby Buzz email for insights to help you in your parenting journey in all facets of the first years of parenting.