Review - Aquababy Bath Ring

I figured I would get out of the deep posts with a baby product review. This is an Aquababy Bath Ring and it is awesome!

I just got it a couple of weeks ago and I wish that I had found it earlier. Before then I had never seen or heard of them before, they are made by a French company so they aren't all over the place here, but they should be.

It is made of hard plastic and has suction cups on the bottom so it doesn't slide around in the tub. Before using this bath ring, to say that H disliked baths would be a gross understatement. She screamed bloody murder whenever I put her in the tub. This resulted in very quick and unpleasant baths for her. K hated baths for the first couple of months of his life too, but by the time he was sitting up by himself around four months he started enjoying them. By six months K loved bath time. H was showing no signs of coming around and I was getting frustrated being that she was already six months. I would sit her in the shallow water and she would get upset over being in the tub and would inevitably throw herself around in anger. I was always there to prop her up but it was annoying. I also hate using the traditional baby tubs because they are cumbersome and don't work well for bigger babies in my experience.

I saw the bath ring in a post online somewhere and it immediately caught my eye. I googled it and ordered it. The first time I put H in it she started fussing because she was in the water but as soon as she realized she was well supported she immediately calmed down. It was a miracle, she stayed in the bath for twenty minutes enjoying herself and splashing around. She even played with bath toys that she had previously been too distraught to notice let alone play with.

The suction cups on the bottom worked well to anchor the seat in place despite what some of the online reviews said. My biggest issue is that the seat part where the baby sits is hard plastic that is slippery so H slid around in the seat. She would slide into a reclined position that I would have to pull her up from. It looked none-too comfortable but she never whined. I'm thinking of cutting a rubber bath mat to fit the bottom of the seat to prevent this. The best part of using the bath ring is that I can now bathe both kids at once. I would never leave H unattended in it, but I don't have to hover over her anymore.

Here is H in her bath ring upright and in the reclined position she would fall into occasionally:

I give it a 9/10 overall rating

Update June 29 2011 - We are still going strong with the bath ring. H is very capable of sitting up on her own but the ring gives her added security and the ability to relax. This is especially nice since her big brother is usually in the tub with her and he swishes the water all over and might otherwise (accidentally) knock H over. Outside of the tub she crawls all over and cruises everywhere, but in the ring she is quite content and stays put. I think we will use it another month or so and be done before the 12 month mark.

Update July 20 2011 - Last night H took her first bath without the bath ring at 10.5 months old, and she did great. She is very sturdy so there is no need for it anymore. The only thing I miss about the ring is that it prevented her from pulling up on the slippery tub surface. It was great while it lasted.

Disclaimer - I do not have any affiliation with Aquababy. I was not payed or given anything free in exchange for this review.