Sunday, March 13, 2011

Rub a dub dub

From the beginning, I have been kind of a wimp about giving my kids a bath. At first—when they were fresh out of the NICU and I was still giving them sponge baths on the kitchen counter—I was scared because they were so, so tiny. As they got bigger, I dreaded baths because it was just so much work to stand at the sink and wash four squirmy little ones in a row. In fact, I disliked bath time so much that the babies were 4 months old before it even occurred to me to take a picture of them in the tub:

My bathing beauties, 4 months old
(clockwise from bottom left: Jude, Isaac, Lucia, and Dahlia)

By the time the kids were 13 months old, we'd moved the baby bathtub from the kitchen to the bathroom, but I was still too nervous to put my slippery babies directly in the big tub for another couple of months. When I finally got brave enough to bathe them two at a time, I'd scrub the girls, and then Ted and I would each take one to dry/diaper/dress before repeating the process with the boys. That remained our mode of operation for almost a year—until yesterday, when I thought it would be fun to change things up:


(left to right) Isaac, Jude, Dahlia, and Lucia at 26 months

Managing four kids in a tub was a lot easier than I thought it would be—probably because they are well past the stage of slipping and sliding all over the place. And since Lucy and Jude are out of diapers, we could easily get them dried and dressed right there in the bathroom while watching the other two.

We probably won't do this every time (logistically, two at a time is still easier for us to handle), but I am glad that we tried it at least once—from the looks of it, it won't be long before they won't all fit in the same tub anymore!

13 comments:

Lindsay Conner said...

Love this picture. Love the look on Jude's face. :)

Suzy said...

Oh, yeah, Jude's like, "Don't bother me with pictures ... I am busy with the watering can right now." HA!

Kari said...

Love the tub picture! It is so much easier for me to bathe all four at once I dread the day they out grow the tub!

Suzy said...

Like I said, I am a wimp ... I don't know how all you other quad moms bathe them together by yourselves all the time. I would go nuts!! (Well, MORE nuts. HA)

Beth said...

Cute! Cute! Cute! Cute!

Love bathtub pictures! My four barely fit in the tub together anymore. I'm not looking forward to having to work out a new rotation and take turns with bath time. Oh well, always something new, right?

Krystle said...

Totally cute!

The McCleary Quads said...

Congrats on trying to bathe all 4 at once. We used those infant bath for only alittle while, then started putting 2 in a tub at a time. We would lay them down side by side and only put a little water in the tub. They liked to kick and splash water. We first tried all 4 in the tub at about 9 or 10 months and haven't looked back yet. Its been easier to watch 4 in the tub than to have to keep an eye on 2 in and 2 running around. Its pretty easy for one person to do bath night now. When one gets out we will dry them off, put a diaper on, then drape the towel on their head and they like to run up and down the hallway acting like super heroes, because they have a cape on. lol

The McCleary Quads

Suzy said...

Four at a time was fun, but our "gated community" (where no one can get into any trouble) actually is what makes it easier to do 2 and 2 for us. :)

The McCleary Quads said...

Suzy, we totally understand the "gated community", we'd probably do the same as you and only 2 at a time. And would probably do alot of things different as well. We are the youngest on our block/neighborhood. Everyone is pretty much retired, and no one comes down our street for Treak-or-Treating.

Suzy said...

HA! I was actually referring to our playroom, which is completely gated off ... the kids aren't really allowed anywhere else in the house unsupervised right now. So I meant that we keep the other 2 in the playroom by themselves during bath time. :)

Jewel said...

What did the quads think of 4 at a time??? The girls are really looking more alike I think! I've always been able to tell all 4 apart, but I can't decide which is Lucky and which is Dahlia!

The McCleary Quads said...

Ahh... i understand now. We wish we had some sort of "gated community" to keep the kids contained. Ours tend to throw a fit and are becoming excellent climbers so the gate would have to be pretty tall and sturdy. We have one child (Matthew), which you have to tend to if he starts throwing a fit, if not it'll make himself sick and throw up.

bcIMthemommy said...

Dahlia looks exactly like you in that photo!

Now that my 3 are older (3, 3, and 4)we do the assembly line thing. My hubby and I either pitch (bathe the kids one at a time) or catch (dry, lotion and dress). I usually pitch, mostly because I remember to wash everything. Ya know behind the ears and such.

Good stuff!
Becca

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