Our Favorite Ritual: Bath Time!

There are many things each of our motherhood experiences have in common, but one of the major similarities is the struggle of bath time. Bathing a newborn as a first time mom is challenging for a couple of reasons. There are just so many things we don’t know our first time around, like how to bathe a baby, how often to bathe a baby, and what to use to bathe a baby. I remember taking a different approach to our baths each time. I went from using a baby tub to bathing him in the sink, to attempting to shower with him. Our frequency of bathing has changed just as the products we used have. Ultimately, creating a bath time ritual is all about trial and error.

Because of Kairo’s eczema, we really struggled with bath time. We were giving him a bath daily for a while until I realized it was drying his skin out. We decreased the frequency of his baths to just 1 per week (Sundays were bath days until recently when we increase his baths to 2 per week) and noticed a significant difference in the dryness of his skin. We also experimented with multiple soaps and lotions until we found a brand and formula that worked best for him.

We use Alaffia’s Lemon Lavendar Kids Shampoo and Body Wash. I felt most comfortable using this brand as its’ main ingredient is shea butter which is extremely moisturizing, all the other ingredients are non-toxic, and it’s minority owned with an ethical business model. We’ve been using this soap and shampoo for at least 7 months now and we love it! I even started using their products for my soap and shampoo.

As for lotion, I actually make Kairo’s lotion using shea butter, oils, and herbs. In addition to this lotion I use on his body, during the peak of his eczema flare up, I made a face lotion using my breast milk, bees wax and vitamin E. Since using these lotions and soaps on Kairo, his skin has gotten one thousand times better and bath time has gotten so much easier.

Because of the ease we experience with bath time now that we’ve figured out what works for us, I ‘ve been able to turn it into a ritual Kairo and I both look forward too. Here’s how bath night goes for us:

-       Run the water

-       Lay out diaper, pajamas, lotion, oils, comb & brush, and a toy on the bed for easy access after bath.

-       Turn on India Arie’s Songversation album, A Beautiful Chorus, or Lofi music in the bathroom.

-       Put Kairo in the tub

-       Sing & Play with Kairo. He loves playing with his boats, splashing, and putting his face in the water.

-       Wash him.

-       Let him play a little longer. I try to limit his time in the water after he’s been washed because I don’t want the soap to dry his skin out, so this normally only last about 2 minutes.

-       Dry off

-       Lotion & massage.

-       Put pajamas on then brush our teeth and say goodnight.

-       THE END!

I call this our bath time ritual because we do the same thing every time, but also because it’s a cleansing, bonding, and relaxing experience for the two of us. We wash away the past couple of days. We sing, play, and laugh together. He gets a relaxing body massage to continue bonding but also to help him wind down for the night. It’s quite spiritual in the way that we feed off of each others energy and create a beautiful experience that we look forward to each time. It’s amazing how we have the power to turn ordinary events into meaningful rituals.  What does bath time look like for you? How can you turn it into a ritual?

Thanks for reading!

Until next time, stay Viktorious, mama!