How to bath your baby, safely

Featured products

Never leave your baby unattended

This is the one rule that matters more than everything else on this page. A baby can drown in a very small amount of water, and it happens quickly and silently. Do not leave your baby in the bath even for a moment, and do not leave an older sibling in charge.

Get everything you need within arm’s reach before your baby goes in. If the phone or the door goes, take your baby out, wrap them, and take them with you. Empty the bath as soon as you are finished rather than leaving it full.

Set up before you start

Bath time is much easier when nothing is missing halfway through. Lay out a towel, a clean nappy, clothes, cotton pads and a face washer before you run the water. Set the change mat up where you will use it.

Height matters as much as equipment. A bath on a stand at your waist height saves your back and is far easier if you are recovering from a caesarean. Kneeling over a bathtub for ten minutes several times a week adds up quickly. If you are comparing setups, our guide to a baby bath set up covers what to have and where to put it.

Water depth and temperature

Fill the bath before your baby goes in, not while they are in it, and mix the water so there are no hot spots. Run the cold tap last so the tap itself is not left hot.

You need much less water than people expect. Enough to keep your baby warm, not enough for them to float. Check the temperature with your wrist or elbow rather than your hand, which is less sensitive, and use a bath thermometer if you are unsure. Babyhood’s own bath guidance sets out the temperature range they recommend.

How to hold your baby

Support the head and neck the whole time. Slide one arm behind your baby’s shoulders so your hand holds the far arm, which supports the head in the crook of your elbow and gives you a secure grip that does not depend on your fingers. Your other hand is then free to wash.

Lower your baby in feet first and keep hold throughout. A bath support or mesh seat helps but does not replace your hands. Wash the face and eyes first with plain water on a soft cloth, working from the inside corner outwards, and leave the nappy area until last.

Keep it short

A newborn does not need a long bath and does not need one every day. A few minutes is plenty, and two or three baths a week with top and tail washing in between is fine. Babies lose heat quickly, so have the towel open and ready before you lift them out.

Skip bath products in the early weeks. Many dermatologists recommend plain warm water for a newborn, and a gentle wash later on is a personal choice rather than a requirement.

Making it easier as they grow

What works for a newborn stops working around the time your baby can sit. At that point they need room to sit supported rather than a support insert, and by a year they want space to splash.

Most families manage with one bath and a removable support rather than buying twice. Check whether the model you are looking at takes an insert and at what stage that insert is outgrown. You can compare the current range of baby baths and see which come with a stand.

After the bath

Have the towel open and waiting before you lift your baby out, and wrap them straight away including the head, because that is where most heat is lost. Pat dry rather than rub, and pay attention to the creases at the neck, under the arms, behind the knees and in the nappy area, since moisture left in a fold is what causes irritation.

Dress your baby somewhere warm and draught free. If the room is cool, this is the part to do quickly rather than the bath itself.

Fitting it into the evening

A bath is a useful anchor for a bedtime routine because it is the same sequence every night and babies settle into predictable patterns. Bath, dry, feed, bed works for a lot of families.

It does not have to be in the evening though. If your baby finds the bath stimulating rather than calming, move it to the morning and use something quieter before bed. There is no single right time, and it is worth changing if the current arrangement is not working for you.