how long do you let your kids play in the bath?

[InSaneOne]

my daughter loves her baths or showers. she will quite happily play in the water for ages if i let her. we have recently been having problems trying to dress her after a bath or shower. she has been giving us the impression that she wants to stay in the bath for longer. (we were in the bath for 20 minutes last night).

so i was wondering how long your kids played in the bath for and how old were they?

[drewid]

I let Andrew stay for as long as he wants - as long as I'm not in a hurry to make dinner or go out or anything.

I want him to enjoy baths...so if he's having fun, then he can stay :)

[the_queen]

Vallerie is a bit older, so I guess it's different because I don't need to be in there with her, I just leave the door open so I can hear her (bathroom comes straight off our kitchen).
Anyway... she has a shower every morning and a bath at night every now and then. The bath, I let her stay in until the water is starting to go cold. The shower, she usually stays in for about 20 minutes. Too long, my husband says, but hey at least I know she's clean when she gets out;)

[mum33]

i only let DS play under the shower for maybe a minute. i dont want to waste water.

[iluvmeboyz]

bailey plays in the spa 4 a while and caleb i wash him then take him out

[bellagirl]

hi there, my daughter is 9 months old and I let her stay in till the water starts to go cold, bout 15 min. my daughter is very grumpy when she gets out the bath too, but I have her in a routine and sfter she gets out of the bath its bottle and bed. does your dd go to bed after the bath?

[Angel_baby_1982]

my bub will often stay in the bath for over 1/2 hour!

[Ana Gram]

We have a clear view from the couch in the lounge room to the bathtub, so I let DD stay in there as long as she wants. She tells us when she is ready to get out.

[kymmy]

My kids resist having a bath
but once they get in there they don't want to get out.
My older two stay in the bath by themselves.
I have to get my boy out after 15-20 mins
so his skin doesn't get too dry(he has eczema)
and he hates that esp if his sis is still playing.
I will usually put baby in for a short time with them-5mins
but he annoys the older ones with his splashing!

I would like my girl to be more independant when she has a shower
but she can't turn off the taps off properly
soshe yells at me to help her when the water gets cold!

[InSaneOne]

bellagirl,
yes we have a routine. she has dinner then a bath afterwards, then she can play for a bit and she lets us know when she wants a bottle and usually falls asleep while drinking it so we pop her in bed. she wriggles and squirms so much after her bath, it can take the 2 of us to try and dress her sometimes.

[FourAngelKisses]

Matthew (2) goes in the bath with Jacob (8.5) and Brooke (7.5), all 3 of them stay in for an hour or until I get tired of them turning the floor into the local duck pond.

[Baby Girl]

Both girls have dinner then get put in the bath.

I wash them both and then let DD2 (12 months) play for about 10 minutes and then get her out and dress her. DD1 stays in as long as she wants (usually about 20 minutes) and calls me or DP when she is ready to get out.

[Shazbutt]

I bath both girls together, wash them both & let Charlee play for about 10 mins, then Mac plays while i dry and dress Charlee. If Mac has a bath on her own i let her go 'til she wants to get out, generally about 1/2 an hour. I just go and add hot water every so often, as it gets cold so quick!

[Nickster]

Libby will happily stay in the bath for 30 mins playing with her toys, and she always lets me know when she wants to get out.

I often get in the tub with her - and make it a special occasion with lots of bubbles and splashy fun, but whether I am in with her or not, I will always stay in the bathroom with her, but it at least gives me a chance to put on a face mask or do some serious eyebrow tweezing while I wait!

[Jem]

my kids usually all have a bath together.. and can stay in there for half an hour :D

[LucyE]

When DS was 4months and under I'd keep it short to around 20minutes max. These days he loves his baths with daddy so we leave him there until he's ready which can sometimes be 5 mins and other times 1 hr. I don't normally give him showers because he wants to play for so long that it wastes water.

Edited to add that DS is now just over 2 years.

[SnoozesWithCats]

Her Tinyness, being too young to express a preference, gets taken out of the bath as soon as she's clean. She's so wriggly it's a pain in the butt to have her in the tub any longer than necessary, she's just continually trying to stand up and dive headfirst into the water :eek:

Rachel gets to stay in as long as she likes - generally half an hour or an hour. However, since the girls only have a bath once a week usually, this isn't a particularly big investment of time!

[zenifa]

DD is nearly 10 mths old, so we still get in the bath with her. We are usually in there 15-30 mins depending on how long it is til the water gets cold or she's had enough. She loves playing in the bath, and loves water generally. After her bath it can be hard getting her dry and dressed now, she's a real wriggler. Then its a milk feed and bed.

[Me]

DD(5 1/2mths) LOVES the bath so can stay in as long as she likes. Every couple of days i make it special time by running a deeper bath and hoping in with her. With the weather being colder at the moment I just put the heater lights on in the bathroom so the water doesn't feel so cold so fast. Makes it nicer when you get out of the water too.
Perhaps it could be the cold that is why the kids aren't liking getting out of the bath?

[SassyMummy]

I let Chanel play in the bath until I'm sick of getting splashed. The bathroom is cold...and I don't want to waste more time in there than I need to. Normally she is in there for about 10 minutes...I wash her first, then she can play.

I then get her out and let her play in the bathroom (after she's dressed of course) as I have a shower...she usually just watches me and laughs...lol.