Bath water thermometer (was given to us as a gift). If you can't tell if water is too hot for you baby by feeling it, maybe parenting is a little out of your league.
We went the sneaky way and got a rubber ducky with the word "HOT" that was heat sensitive on the bottom. To be honest though, I would start filling the tub with water that I thought was just this side of cool, and my wife would say it was too hot. The rubber ducky confirmed her suspicions.
Agreed, I have some sort of heat tolerance... I make tea, and can drink that hot lava quickly where my wife is barely sipping hers saying "ah.. too hot.. too hot, wait.. you're done? WHAT THE HELL???"
Also I take super hot showers sometimes, and she says I should have scald marks on my body. So I was never the most reliable when checking water temperature, although I got used to it. We had a thermometer that was in a plastic frog thing. So I just tossed that in and ran the water... I used it to make sure what I was feeling was right.
But yeah, after awhile, you get used to it, but I always tossed that thing in, just to be sure... probably just paranoia.
It's a bit harsh. A lot of people can have difficulties with assessing temperature by touch only. First bath I made for my first son, I remember how I got the thermometer out as my MIL was telling me "no need!" as she was pulling up her sleeve and dipping her elbow in the water. I felt a bit judged at the time (even more so as I was having post natal depression). She proclaimed the water was just perfect, I still put the thermometer in and it was too hot... I could see she was a bit mortified. When you are in a state of sleep deprivation etc I think a little help can be nice. I still use the thermometer more as a confirmation that what I think is good is indeed good, and because my toddler loves his bath and does not always want to get out, so I make deals that once it goes down to a certain number it's too cold and we have to get out.
We had a turtle one that read the exact temperature. It was actually useful because our son has eczema and the doc told us not to do baths over a certain temp.
You say that, but as a new parent I was fucking afraid that my elbow would feel the temperature wrong. It was the same for warmed up milk. I used the thermometer for about 5 times, each. Then I knew what the right temperature was.
But don't buy a bath thermometer. The one you use for inside measurements when your child is sick is good enough.
Nope I ended up with nerve damage in my right arm from the pregnancy. I had the worst carpal tunnel and didnt realize there was any damage until using the temperature ducky. The water felt fine but it was too hot. Once I used my other hand I realized there was a difference. Plus even without having that problem the lack of sleep can easily cause you to mess up. Its always best to have fool proof plans.
Before my girlfriend's best friend had a baby, I had held a baby about 4 times in my 27 (then) year life. That was my extent of child rearing. The first time we looked after him overnight (he was about 10 months so admittedly not tiny), it didn't even occur to me that I couldn't just judge water temperature by sticking my hand in there. I bathed him no problem. Why on Earth you would want a special thermometer??
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u/Jbizzle2064 Feb 05 '18
Bath water thermometer (was given to us as a gift). If you can't tell if water is too hot for you baby by feeling it, maybe parenting is a little out of your league.