From Amy at Raising Arrows.
Baby’s Bath Time: No Need for Your Money to Go Down the Drain!
Baby’s first bath at home is nothing short of magical. In our family, it is an event worthy of videos and photographs with a whole pile of siblings looking on. With all the baby bath paraphernalia out there, you’d also think it is an event worthy of spending a mint on.
But it isn’t.
Bathing baby shouldn’t cause money to go down the drain with the bath water. You can easily give baby a bath on a teeny tiny budget. In fact, all you need are just a few things to give baby a wonderful bath time for months to come. Here is a list and cost break-down of precisely what you need:
1. Comfy Bath Sponge/Cushion – $7.99 This is all we’ve ever used with all 6 (soon to be 7) of our children. When they were newborn, we laid them on the sponge on the floor of the living room to give them their sponge baths. When the cord fell off, we moved the sponge to the bath tub with just a small amount of water to wet and warm the sponge and bathed them there until they could sit up. When they were bigger, we used the sponge as a slip guard for them to sit on. It was perfect for all our needs for many months.
2. Ivory soap bar – 3/$1.99 Ivory soap is a nice pure soap you can buy for cheap. Since baby is laying down for those early baths, you need not worry about it getting in his eyes. However, if you are concerned about that, keep a small bottle of baby shampoo on hand just for washing baby’s hair. In fact, you will probably come home from the hospital with several of these. Since baby only needs a small amount of soap to get clean, those free trial sizes can last a long time.
3. Trial size lotion – Free-$.99 Those little bottles of lotion go a long way. Even my 10 pound babies didn’t need much lotion to coat their little bodies. The bottles of trial size lotion you received as shower gifts or at the hospital will more than likely last you a long time. I do not lather my babies up with a ton of lotion because I don’t like how slippery it makes them. Plus you never want to put lotion on their little hands (you know, the ones that are always in their mouths and eyes! )
4. Washcloths – Free (or close to it) The best baby washcloths are flannel or t-shirt knit. More than likely you have an old shirt or sheet or something you could cut up into washcloth size squares perfect for bathing your sweet little one. I like to take old t-shirts and cut two squares and serge them or zig-zag stitch the edges together to make baby washcloths (exactly the way I do for my homemade baby wipes). But even if you don’t sew, the raggedy edges are well worth the wonderful softness of these homemade washcloths
5. Bath Towel – Free While a bath towel isn’t initially free, I am almost positive someone in your family uses a bath towel. I am also positive that same bath towel can be shared by baby. Yes, the little hooded towels are utterly adorable, but the hoods rarely fit on their heads right. The precious terry cloth robes are fun, but somewhat of a pain to actually get on baby. The real purpose of all towels is to dry off wet bodies. The bath towels the rest of your family uses will work just fine.
So, there you have it…months and months of baby baths for a whopping $10.97! Perfect for baby! Perfect for your budget!
Amy is the mother of 6 children, with another on the way. She blogs at RaisingArrows.net on everything from homeschooling to large family living. She is by nature and necessity a frugalista.
Shannon says
Another inexpensive product is extra virgin olive oil. For cradle cap, I like to put a little on his scalp before the bath and let it sit for a couple of minutes, then wipe it off with a flannel wash cloth and wash his tiny head. I’ve even used it as an after bath moisturizer too.
Jennifer says
I have to say that my son has very dry skin, even now that its getting warm out. All winter we had to slather on lotion until I found that Coconut Oil worked better. A little goes a long long way with him! Its pricier than a bottle of lotion but would last a whole lot longer so I would add that as a perfect baby bath item that is a necessity. I blame his dry skin on the baby soap so we are going to try Dove and see how it goes
Jenn says
Very practical! We don’t have much storage space in our home so so forgo the tub or bath sponge entirely and just lay baby on a folded towel on the floor or in the tub when the cord falls off. Although a sopping wet bath towel isn’t the funnest it sure saves us space and money and works it well! I just kind of squish it out when the bath is over and then leave it propped in the bath overnight and my husband wrings it again in the morning and puts it in the washer.
Andrea says
This is making me do a forehead slap. Duh! Who needs cute towels and little bathtubs? I have so much stuff that went pretty much unused (most of it was gifts, but I still thought I needed it).
Actually, our little one has gotten only a handful of baths in her little lifetime and she is 14 months! I believe that body oils (especially on the head) is really mostly good for us. Since she isn’t sweating lots or playing in the dirt a simple washcloth swipe has really been sufficient for most of her young life.
I love kitchen sink baths (with a small towel place on the bottom for comfort) for how they save my back. I also love coconut oil as a wonderfully quickly absorbing, totally natural oil-lotion. We use it on scrapes and diaper rash too. It’s wonderful stuff. I have one bottle of Burt’s Bees baby wash that will probably last us until she’s 5, especially at the rate we are going (if I don’t take over it first–it smells so wonderful!).
Anyway, good thoughts. I love the sponge idea. I just might try that with number two. Also, storage would be so much easier!
Jessica Loves to Save Money says
“used with all 6 (soon to be 7) of our children” Just wanted to say CONGRATS!