I love Papa to bathe me! ^_^

Ying Ying @ 5wks 2 days old

Husband has been in charge of bathing Mei Mei since birth. In fact, no one else, including me, has bathed her so far. He is an expert now - he doesn't even need to use a bath thermometer to check the temperature of the water when he fills the bathtub.

Ideally, he should bathe her in the morning before he goes to work. Unfortunately, he is always in a rush to go out to work in the morning. Plus sometimes he sets off real early like 6-7am when Mei Mei is still deep in her sleep. So he would normally bathes her when he gets back in the evenings around 6-7pm. Ideally, I would also like to have a fixed bathtime for her but the problem is sometimes he gets tied down with work and comes back late. Then her bathing time would be delayed or postponed to the next morning.

So far, I have not interfered by taking over because I believe bathing serves a wonderful bonding time between father and daughter. I used to watch this documentary called Child of Our Time produced by the BBC and their studies suggested children bathed by their fathers (note: not mothers) tend to have closer relationships with each other or grow up feeling more secure (something along that line I think). Unfortunately, some parents view bathing as a chore and choose to relegate this 'dirty' task to their helpers. I think it is sad because it is really a missed opportunity to foster the bonding with their children.

You see, I am the possessive, hands-on, attachment parenting kind of mother. (Some put it as one who finds it "hard to let go" - which I find it a bit insulting - as if "letting go" is the best way to go.) As far as possible, I would like either husband or myself to bathe our children. But sometimes it is difficult for me to bathe Ying Ying when husband is away at work because Mei Mei would start wailing if left unattended in her cot. (Talk about the woes of being mother to more than one!) In this case, I would let my in-law's helper take over since she has been/will be the one in charge of bathing Ying Ying when I am away at work. No one else can help - my mil has some chronic health problems and she finds it strenuous to perform this kind of manual task. My fil feels it is inappropriate to bathe Ying Ying, being a man himself. My sil knows nothing much about this aspect of childcare, apart from providing light entertainment, keeping an eye on her and perhaps giving an occasional feed.

I think husband is doing a good job bathing Mei Mei and I hope he will continue to keep up with his bathing duty. Well, most likely he will cos he doesn't trust any other people (maybe except for me) to do it properly as he does. hahaha. Mei Mei seems to be able to recognise him as the person-in-charge of bathing her now (she has this "look of recognition" in her eyes). Unless she is feeling particularly tired or hungry at the time of bath, she will normally be quiet in the bathtub. Sometimes, she looked so contented and relaxed that I would tell husband to let her enjoy the soak a while longer. :)