Baths and change tables

Hi Ladies,

I'm looking at starting to shop in the next few weeks and wanted some advice.

I've seen the change tables that lift up and have a bath with a hose all on castors. Are these useful or just a gimick? We don't really have bathroom space for the bath on the floor and have two German Shepherds (one of whom is addicted to water) so water near that ground is asking for trouble.

In your opinions, which is the best bathing option to buy? Bath by itself or an all in one unit?

I used a normal bath without the stand or plug or anything and hated it ... it was good to put on the table but then having to lift it to empty it in the bath or sink was a mission.

I would highly recommend buying one that at the very least had a plug and pipe to easily empty the water afterwards. If you get one that is on a stand with wheels - I think that would be a fantastic idea.

Brilliant. Thanks Ladies. They're not cheap so I wanted to make sure but it sounds like it's worth it.

If anyone is looking at cots, I got a really solid white cot (nice simple design) from the warehouse for $299.00. It's chunkier than the cheap ones from Farmers.

Went looking for basinettes but it turns out mum kept mine. It's solid rosewood with all the nets and stuff. way cool.

AND, the white cupboards and storage units etc (nice ones) are less than $200.00 at Bunnings. Way cheaper than any of the shops. And they're modular so you can choose heaps of shapes and sizes. The come in timber too so you can paint what ever colour you like.

That sounds like a great price but we're stuck in Palmy North for now.

We have a change table (wooden with wheels) and we just put the standard baby bath with plug on the top. Sometimes I lifted it on and off which wasn't bad as it wasn't that full but most of the time DH did it. I didn't have a c section so it was easier for me

We used an old wooden trolley from my parents (they used it when I was a baby) and got a cheap baby bath and put it on top (DH was in charge of filling it and lifting it). Never used a change table as such, always changed Ella on a mat on the floor and never had any problems.

At first we used a little table with wheels on it.. it was an old tea cart and it did the trick perfectly, but now Keziah is bigger we normally just pop her bath inside the big bath because she makes so much mess plus it means I can fill and empty it myself without damaging my back

We've tended to use the babies bath on the kitchen bench, fill it using a bucket and then pop the plug out and drain it straight into the sink. We don't have a big bath at our place so it's either that or a shower. So depends on the day weeknights it's generally a bath, and weekend mornings a shower with Dad

We used a baby bath on the island kitchen bench too. It was great as it saved my back and my sore knees after birth and we just emptied it in the kitchen sink. The only problem we had was that the baby bath had a molded seat in it and we couldnt get our baby far enough into the water to be comfortable because of its shape. We ended up using a fish bin after a month or two. Also got DH to carry the baby bath with water in it - he had the bathing responsibilities mostly so it was very rare that I even got to give our son baths.

Danaj, i had just a normal baby bath for DS but found it too much hassle to move from kitchen tot able when full. We ended up putting him in the bath with DH from bout a month old.

This time i insisted i get the combo unit. I got it for $30 off trademe. Might have been $50? But stil WAY cheaper than brand new. I use the change table quite often. This one is heaps taller than my other one so not using it as often for ds now. but was using old one. hope that makes sense. DS is now 22mth. Just easier on the floor. lol.

I like the idea of the combo unit as you can move it to where you want & it's easier to fill & empty. means we can bath baby in a warm room, & change him too. It also has heaps of pockets for the bath things i.e cloths, lavendar oil etc