All of my kids are absolute water bugs.
Mr. B was slightly more apprehensive as a toddler, as going completely under water in a pool made him nervous; but he was going under of his own free will before he was 3 years old.
It may have been something we geniusly did (unlikely). It may have just been luck (most likely).
But one thing we’ve always done with our kids, both in hopes of fostering a good relationship with water, especially in their face, as well as a mega time-saver, is shower with our kids beginning when their umbilical chord stumps fall off.
Miss H has my crazy sensitive skin, and no one, especially a baby needs to bathe every day. Plus we took off for 6 weeks when she was 10 days old for some hotel living and didn’t want to add that adorable whale tub to our luggage pile.
So showering with her came out of necessity.
And she loved it.
J or I would get in the shower, and when the water was the right temperature, we’d send her in. Whoever was bathing with her would wash or rinse (we admittedly use soap on our kids even less than we bathe them), and then pass her back out to the other parent to dry off and dress.
Once she was solidly sitting, I’d take her in with me even if J wasn’t around, and I’d let her sit on the shower floor while I washed my hair because she was pretty high needs and even if she could see me and hear me outside of the shower, she would freak out if she wasn’t with me (and she didn’t sleep anywhere on me, so no escaping to a shower while she napped).
Now that we’re on #3 I’ve hit pro status and can wash my hair with one hand and hold Sweet M with the other.
So from roughly a week old, all of my babies have become familiar with the shower and with water in their face. And they’ve done awesome!
Honestly, showering with crazy, on-the-go Sweet M is one of my favorite things. He lays his head on my shoulder and just smiles. He’s rarely still when awake, so I definitely cherish those sweet, warm cuddles.
Showering with our babies has been a life saver. We save so much time. It makes it super easy to travel anywhere with them because we never have to fret whether there is a bathtub or not. Plus, they’re not afraid of having water in their face, which can be a challenging childhood issue for the kiddo who so badly wants to swim.