Hello all, I'm looking for a bit of practical advice.

I am planning on buying a baby bath fairly soon (first baby due in 3 months), but I see a lot of photographs of these being used in an adult bath - and as the baby gets older you transition the toddler into the adult bath.

My bathroom (which was there when we moved in three years ago) has a weird non-standard bath. It is round and deep (neck height to adult) and has a step in which you sit. It's so deep I can't bend in to reach the bottom of it. Imagine a spa bath but without the bubbles. We don't use it anyway as we're on rainwater only -it's really quite huge but not big enough to put a small amount of water in the bottom and be able to get in there with a toddler. It just seems a little too big to be safe.

We were planning on renovating the bathroom before baby arrived, but we've run out of time/money with just three months left. A few friends have said "you'll really have to change that bath before you have children" suggesting it's quite a major thing.

I think there must be parents out there without baths who someone manage to have clean children! (We have a shower) But, I'm also new to all this and I don' t want to ignore good advice too. In your experiences, is having a 'normal' adult bath a necessity? Will not having one cause us just a minor hassle or a big problem?

Any advice would be fantastic.