Tummy Tub's

[strawberry]

We have a tommy tub which a friend bought for us from o/s when my DD was born and it really is amazing.... she loved it. I must admit that we stopped using it when she was 6 months old as she seemed to be too big for it and we never used the stand.

Good luck

[jackrose]

I am a little late responding to your posts, but I couldn't resist! The tummy tub was one of the very few things we actually bought for our girl (we managed to get by with a lot of hand me downs and avoided buying too much paraphernalia due to lack of space) and we are soooooo happy we did! She just loves it!

Both my husband and I were intrigued by the idea of bathing in a tub to simulate the sensations in the womb (all wrapped up in the fetal position and submerged in water) but we were slightly sceptical about it living up to the testimonials. However, when we found one on ebay for a more reasonable price than than a new one we decided to get it as we have a very small house and are trying (!) to keep the clutter down to a minimum. The tub has certainly lived up to expectations.

All I can say is that it was worth every penny. Although we didn't use it for the first few weeks of her life (babies just feel so fragile at the beginning, and we had baths with her on the days we decided to wash her), once we began to use it, at about 3 weeks, we were hooked.

She is now 3 1/2 months and although she is a big girl for her age (8kg?) she still fits in easily. I can imagine her fitting into it for a lot longer to, but I am not 100% sure of the recommended limit.

The main things I love are:
- it uses much less water than a regular bath, because of the size of the tub you only need a few inches to cover them once they are in great to reduce guilt in times of drought and much easier on your back if you need to carry it full of water
- when going away for the night, the bath can come with you easily to retain a sense of normality in routine
- she becomes really calmed as soon as she is in it which allows her to focus on other things really easily in her surroundings. We have had the most delightful times watching her watching us, chatting to us, cooing, open eyed and interested in everything for the entire bath time, and much more than at any other time of the day when she can so easily become over excited or easily distracted.
- I have found washing her is really easy as I don't need to focus so much on holding onto a slippery baby
- on many occasions, she has been in the bath, happily sitting there, chatting, playing and bathing for 45 min to 1 hour!!

+ she always seems to go down to bed really easily after the bath and I think this is due to the fantastic stimulation it has given her - one last feed then play before sleep.

so many of my friends have been convinced of the tummy tub after seeing my girl enjoying herself in it!

We also have the stand/step, mainly because it came as a set on our ebay purchase, but I don't necessarily think you need it... however, it is better for your back to bath the baby at chair height.

Hope this info comes in time to help you make a decision, without sounding too over the top!

[Olive]

interesting!! jsut checked them out!! never seenor heard of them before!!

[Sammiejane]

Thanks Jackrose,

I actually ended up buying one )minus the stand) and our baby girl has been in it a couple of times and loves it.
We too have done the bath thing with her more (or my DH has - i sit there with the camera) as she is young, but we went away camping over Easter and took it with us and it was great (also packed her MCN in it when it was bot in use)
Our friends thought that it was fantastic, i think it will really come into its own when she is able to sit better - but yeah she loves it and sleeps so well after it.

I would recommend it to anyone and it is great for the water guilt too!

[jackrose]

Fantastic to hear!!

Sounds just like our place.... me with camera at the ready throughout bathing cos it is just sooooo priceless, and keeps getting better!!

glad you are also enjoying!

[paradise lost]

We have one, she fit in it until about 5 months (she's very tall, always was), then i switched her to a baby bath. There is NO WAY a toddler would fit in it, she couldn't have even sat down in it at about 9months old and you'd be unable to reach to actually wash them.

We never bought the stand and bathed her on the floor which was fine. I loved it as it saved water and was a space saver too. I wouldn't recommend using a normal bucket as they have a flat bottom (the tummy tub bottom is rounded) and have corners and sharp bits of flash (where the plastic was moulded) which could hurt bubs delicate skin.

If you're going to have more than one baby they're worth their money. I'll put a pic up in the gallery...here

Bx

[Melody7]

Hi,

We also have one and decided to buy the stand as well - very glad I did as I have neck/shoulder pain issues and it's been a lifesaver for me.

On the few times I haven't bathed our DS in it - did the bending over thing with the regular bath - I'm so glad I had the Tummy Tub to go back to. I don't know how mums bend over the bath day in and day out!

I sit on the edge of the main bath and set the stand and tub before me and lock my knees on either side. My DS absolutely loves it and we've used it since he was first born (in addition to some baths in the "big bath" with Mummy &/or Daddy).

The people who sell it in Australia said babies often keep using it until 1yr old, although they've seen older children in them.

I find it easy to clean my son - when he stands up I do a bit of a "downstairs" wash and then he can relax in the warm water that comes up to his shoulders - another great feature - lying in the big bath often leaves his tummy exposed to the cooler air.

I've also used it as a "pool" in the hot summer weather - I stood it in the kitchen sink with DS happily playing in it whilst I peeled some veges right beside him.

We also try to put the water on the garden as well.

I highly recommend this baby bath