If I miss getting a shower before DH leaves...I shower during nap time. If your older kids don't nap then that gets harder. That's when I resort to TV...they watch a video in my master br while I'm in the master bath.

For the love of Mike don't leave your kid in a tub alone. They are super slippery and if they fall the sides are super hard. No shower is worth a subdural bleed. Laundry baskets are super tippy too. I would only use a PNP if you chose the take the baby in the bathroom route.

I picked up a used bouncer seat complete with blingy, sing-songy moving parts just for this purpose. It was small, light, easy to carry but mostly I just kept it propped up in the bathroom where I showered. Plopped the baby in, hit "play," and the little doggy did its dance and played music for her. She loved that damn thing.

Three years later, I can still hear the music in my head!

I left it in the front yard with a "free" sign, and the neighbor across the street picked it up and she was singing its praises, too, for her new baby, two years younger than mine. That bouncy seat has made many-a child and mama happy!

Mine was simple, but this comes close to its features. The key was BLING! Not my personal taste, but I'm not a baby. And the key is: entertain the baby.
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-K2564-Rainforest-Bouncer/dp/B000I2WB6G/ref=sr_1_10/177-7776756-3400924?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1408988239&sr=1-10&keywords=bouncer+seat

I'm not sure what's controversial about this question or why people are getting so defensive. I think it's a great question OP. I have a 7.5 month old as well. I have to shower in the morning to wake up/feel fresh. I TRY and get up before him to shower. That works about 50% of the time. The other 50%, I bring him into the bathroom and strap him into the Rock n' Play with a toy. It's deeper than a bouncer though I don't expect it to work longer than a couple of more months. At that time, I plan on setting up the Pack n' Play in my room and putting him in there with a bunch of boys while I grab a quick shower. I'll probably leave the door open and peak out every couple of minutes.

What about taking her in the shower. Mine loves it and plays with toys while it rains on her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Laundry basket!!! Seriously have to thank my
Mom for this. So simple but my 9 month old loves sitting in a laundry basket with some household objects (SO over actual toys these days). When he was a little younger I rolled a towel up behind him. He's content for 15-20 min in there

I wouldn't suggest this. My son tipped over a laundry basket while sitting in it, on a hard wood floor. Landed right on his face, lots of screaming and tears. Playing around in one while you're there with him is one thing, but I wouldn't leave a baby alone in one. And he tipped it very easily, not a freak accident or anything.

Yeah I'm surprised anyone would do this more than once. It just took my daughter pulling up on one corner and almost tipping over to make clear how inadequate a box or basket is as a child restraining device.

Door bouncers, now, that is my nuclear option for when my toddler gets bored in the babyproofed bathroom and starts trying to hug me through the shower curtain.

agree, my 9 month old would topple that basket in .25 seconds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Laundry basket!!! Seriously have to thank my
Mom for this. So simple but my 9 month old loves sitting in a laundry basket with some household objects (SO over actual toys these days). When he was a little younger I rolled a towel up behind him. He's content for 15-20 min in there

I wouldn't suggest this. My son tipped over a laundry basket while sitting in it, on a hard wood floor. Landed right on his face, lots of screaming and tears. Playing around in one while you're there with him is one thing, but I wouldn't leave a baby alone in one. And he tipped it very easily, not a freak accident or anything.

Yeah I'm surprised anyone would do this more than once. It just took my daughter pulling up on one corner and almost tipping over to make clear how inadequate a box or basket is as a child restraining device.

Door bouncers, now, that is my nuclear option for when my toddler gets bored in the babyproofed bathroom and starts trying to hug me through the shower curtain.

Anonymous wrote:Laundry basket!!! Seriously have to thank my
Mom for this. So simple but my 9 month old loves sitting in a laundry basket with some household objects (SO over actual toys these days). When he was a little younger I rolled a towel up behind him. He's content for 15-20 min in there

I wouldn't suggest this. My son tipped over a laundry basket while sitting in it, on a hard wood floor. Landed right on his face, lots of screaming and tears. Playing around in one while you're there with him is one thing, but I wouldn't leave a baby alone in one. And he tipped it very easily, not a freak accident or anything.

I had a squishy spongy baby-shaped sponge pad that I would put at the end of the tub - in the tub - while I showered. The water did not fall directly on baby, but he loved the steam and I was with him the whole time so it was very safe.

Shower at night before bed. Or take a shower during the morning nap. Or get another exersaucer from a yard sale for upstairs. Or get a pack n play from Craig's list for $30 and put it in front of some cartoons/toys for 10 minutes. I'm surprised that by kid #3 you don't have a plan.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm actually the total opposite of an AP. I don't need my kids attached to me all the time and I'm ok with someone crying sometimes when I need to get something done quickly. I also think independent play is very important and she gets plenty of that. With that said I don't like the idea of her screaming for 15 minutes while I take a shower and leave her in her crib. The tub idea would be great but unfortunately we don't have a separate tub from the shower.

Just do it. Take a shorter than 15 minute shower. 2- 4 minutes. What takes 15? That is a question I still ask my husband with short hair and no legs to shave. Put the baby in a crib or pack n play in your room so she can watch your ablutions. Tubs can be hard surfaces-will eventually pull up and could slither over the side cracking her head on the tile.

We use the superseat (similar to bumbo).

honestly, I found this such a pain that I just took to getting up early in the morning before DD. and if she wakes before i'm done, she is usually content to play in her crib for awhile right upon waking (which she is NOT content to do if I just plop her in there some random time). anyway, I just resort to the 530am shower, often followed by a cup of coffee and reading the news before DD wakes - it's actually quite pleasant.

but, when I was trying to do this, I tried the laundry basket thing (she kept trying to climb out and bumping her noggin.) an infant chair that is more structured than a bouncer (she got bored . . . quickly). a PnP (pain in the butt to take up and down). an exersaucer (barely fit in my bathroom and there wasn't a nearby place to store it.) and a few other things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just see if you can put the pack n play (or similar) in the bathroom. Or take a quick one during a nap while you check the video monitor every minute or so (though I found my kid was almost always out cold for the first 20 mins of her nap).

I don't see a conflict between "AP" and helping your child to play independently. I am/do both. I also don't see leaving a child to cry alone for 15 minutes (not a short time for an infant) as a first or even second choice. Last resort, gotta do it? Yes, they won't actually die of it. But I get the feeling some PPs here are just so rigid, it's like there's one option and if it means the child cries for 15 minutes, oh well! Creativity? Outside the box thinking? Nah. Might as well get used to crying alone as soon as possible. Blah.

Your kid will be crying alone when they realize mom won't change their pull ups in college.

Nah (I am PP you quoted). My kid is already potty trained and playing independently for up to 30 minutes at 18 months old, and I was one of the ones who had her in a sling as a newborn while I peed-- the horror! She's obviously never going to become independent, since I never let her cry if I could help it (and there was anything I could do about it). Oh, wait...

I am so thankful I don't have friends like this. Please try to be less smug and more understanding of the fact that others parent in different ways. Your daughter will benefit from seeing the kindness and patience you demonstrate when other mothers ask innocent questions. Jeez. (Not OP).

WTH? Smug about what? I gave the OP (who, unlike several PPs, seems NOT to want her child to cry in a crib if possible) several helpful suggestions. I was kind and patient with her. I was snarky to the person who implied my kid will need Pull-Ups in college because I prefer to at least try and find solutions other than "oh, well, if she cries for 15 minutes, tough titties, I'm not interested in 'coddling' my kid by thinking of something that might work for both of us."

Reading comprehension. "Jeez."

Anonymous wrote:Laundry basket!!! Seriously have to thank my
Mom for this. So simple but my 9 month old loves sitting in a laundry basket with some household objects (SO over actual toys these days). When he was a little younger I rolled a towel up behind him. He's content for 15-20 min in there

This is also a great suggestion, OP! No need for a PNP.