by Pinky 

It’s five o’clock - arsenic hour! Your child is fractious and you want him in the bath because you know this will help him (and you!) feel calmer. How do you get your toddler into the bath without a fuss?

-Low blood sugar can make any parental request seem unreasonable. If you need to interupt a game, take children a snack and then announce, “I’m running your bath.” Then they’ll have a few minutes to get used to the idea and move on.

- Are there fairies in your bathroom? If there’s fairy dust around your bathtub, your little ones might believe there are. Sprinkle some glitter around the rim of the tub, when you fill the bath, then call the children in to look for the fairies.

- How about a magic color bath? Add a few drops of food coloring to the water. Of course, if you want to bath two children together, you can be certain they’ll want different colors. No problems. Let them watch Jack’s red water mix with Mia’s yellow water and see what happens.

- Bath toys don’t need to be commercially available ‘educational’ products. Empty plastic bottles, sponges and blocks to flat can be just as entertaining -and educational.

 For more tips to engage and play with your baby (so she doesn’t grizzle from boredom), see 100 Ways to Calm the Crying  and Toddler Tactics by Pinky McKay . www.pinkymckay.com.au