Should I Stop Her or Let Her Keep It Up?

Sounds like she's doing this now because she gets a reaction from you. hint, that smile about being so clever. If you stop responding she'll do it less tho it is a stage and she will continue to do it some. I've never heard of babies getting sick from drinking bath water. I think it's OK.

I doubt it will hurt her. It's just a phase. Don't pay it much attention and she'll stop eventually. It will help her with swimming skills later, she's learning not to inhale the water while she practices her little newly found drinking skill.

yeah it's just a phase. I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and they both did that at some point in their little lives. It is gross but in all honesty it's not gonna hurt her. I just ignored them when they did it and after a while they stopped. I really don't think soapy, warm water taste that good so after the new wears off I bet she'll stop.

Rather classic phase, eh? The baby drinking the bath water is kin to the dog drinking from the toilet.

I always brought a clean cup from the kitchen, filled it with clean tap water from the tub or sink and encouraged her to drink from the cup and discouraged drinking from the tub with my yucky, no-no face.

The tub is a great place to practice drinking from a real cup and also pouring from one vessel to another.

Hope she stops soon. But remember, no matter how many germs and dirty places there are on her, I doubt she'll get sick unless there is too much soap in the water.

Mine did that for about a month. I stopped freaking out about it and just told her thats "yucky" and "gross" and say "eeeewwwwwww." She stopped. The less I told her no, and just said its icky, the less she wanted to do it.
Funny thing is, at that point, mine didn't even like to drink water, it was just fun to her.

Both of mine did that too. I give my 2 year old a clean cup with water from the sink and remind her not to drink the bath water. She usually plays with other cups and toys in the bath. If I leave the tap running a little I can usually get her to drink the tap water instead of the bath. If did eventually take with my older one, I think by 2.5 or 3 I didn't have to remind him much.

I don't like my kids drinking the bath water, because all the germs that were on them are in the water. When my boys drink the water I give them one warning not to drink the water and the next time they drink they have to get out of the tub.

I wash my boys under running water and rinse them, then fill the tub with clean water. They are 2 and 4. You can't really stop it. I usually tell them it is gross, but they are boys. My toddler loves to pretend he is drinking tea with the cups he uses to pour, so he sips cup and cup and chants "tea, drink some tea, mommy!" When I told them their bottoms were sitting in it so it was really like potty water, he started saying "potty tea! drink some potty tea! It's good!" The soap is not going to hurt her but might make her spit it out. I think we can all say "that's gross, don't do it," but honestly it will be dirt, worms, and pond water in a few years anyway. =)

my baby does the same thing, i use less water, because it worries me... but I think its no big deal, its just a little sip, not a large amount. I wash her down after shes played and then get her out.

I let my kids drink the bathwater (although I try to limit it, b/c I don't want the 4 yr-old peeing the bed); I use oatmeal soap on them and they don't seem to mind the taste. They eat stuff off the floor before I have a chance to tell them no, I've caught them "tasting" rocks, you take them to any public place and they've constantly got their fingers in their mouths... Most kids are just gross like that. (And if you think about it, amniotic fluid is made up mostly of fetal urine; the baby drinks that before its born w/out a problem.) However, you ARE the mom: if you don't like it and you want her to stop, get serious and tell her no. Remove her from the bath if she keeps it up. If kids ask for something you've got to be quick to respond "yes" or "no" (or when she's older, "Give me time to think about it") b/c if you're leaning towards 'no' but you hesitate, they pick up on that and keep at it.

The doctor once told me that it was very bad for a child to drink bath water b/c of the bacteria, the soap, her own germs, etc My baby used to suck the water from the washcloth and I thought it was hilarious but was told not to do that. Not to mention, at her age, she could gulp in too much by mistake, fall over in it, etc you are right there to catch her but once she gulps or falls and gulps it is too late for you to stop her from gagging, puking, etc. I would just put little water in there so she can't bend all that way and drink. Get it on video or camera so you have the memories then stop her. :o)

as long as the tubs clean let her do it! soon she will prob want to put her face under water which will be good when shes ready for the pool! my girls are water girls and im so glad they are we introduced them at a very young age. i saw a little girl at the pool this summer who was 4 and clinging to her mother screaming b.c she had never been in the water before.. meanwhile my 3 year old was jumping in holding her breath and swimming to the edge unassisted... getting used to the water at an early age is GOOD!

HI R.,

I just want to say that bubble baths gave my dd a urinary tract infection that went to her kidney and now she is 14 and still affected by it (fadrenal disease or life.)
Docotrs will say that bubble baths arent harmful but if the child pees while in the bath- the eurethra opens up, and then the soap acts as a catalyst to wisk any bacteria in the water or tub area right up into the bladder.

Anything that is treated lightly is basically allowed to continue and often made into a game by babies. With that in mind, sometimes I have to come down more firmly on something "small" if I really don't want it to continue and escalate, even though technically it's not always fun for me to do that, especially if they're laughing and playing and obviously not trying to do anything "wrong".

Like table manners stuff, or messing around with the computer...all of mine "played at throwing food or banging spoons etc" or "played at messing with the computer" and even though it was cute, I gave a firm "no" and consequence, because really, I wanted them to learn from the get go how to sit nicely at the table and not form bad habits, and I didn't want to be cooking dinner one night only to find a broken computer from kids messing with it when I wasn't looking, you know.

The upside to being calm but firm for small things when babies are this young, is that they do learn immediately, so you can go back to playing and quit worrying about that. Also, any time you do discourage a wrong behavior at it's beginning, they learn to control themselves for other things when you say so (yes, even at 8 months!), which helps to keep discipline at a minimum going forward, so even if the small thing is no big deal, it's good to address it in the bigger picture.

Other times, I'll ask myself if it's really OK that they do it, and if so, I totally let it go and don't even try to discourage it, or I just play the game with them, so I don't send a mixed message. Playfully doing things for babies, is often their way of asking permission to do it until you let them know if it's allowed or not. Clear no, or clear yes is best for teaching this age, so you have to choose your stance on tons of little things. You say fighting makes her do it more-your consequence may not be clear enough for her-she probably likes having her chin lifted and being acknowledged even if you feel it's fighting.

Call me crazy, but I do believe based on my own experience, that 8 month olds can learn to push buttons (my 3rd daughter AHEM!) and the fact that she is escalating this when you address it would make me know she could understand a clear lesson and could benefit, but many people would wait until she was older to address it.

We just had a realization that my youngest is now 18 months, the exact age my oldest tried her first blood curdling tantrum (and learned it would ever be allowed after a couple of tries), and since my youngest was so much more strong willed so much younger (tried those from 8 months), she has already learned not to try that a long time ago. So whereas we felt she was more difficult and exhausting from an earlier age and we have had to work much harder with her, we now see she's actually ahead. Phew. But still has the fire in her for sure.

For this case, since she's 8 months old, and you will never turn your back on her in the tub, you could just play with her and let her do it since you can stop her from drinking too much, and when she's a bit older, you can be more firm about it if she still does it, or you can be firm and have her quit doing it. Your call.
Personally, I gave my middle bathwater drinker a very firm "NO" as in "consequence warning" the very first time he did it, and I would have followed through if it came to that, because I just didn't want him doing it ever, and he didn't form the habit. But I know he gets super obsessed with doing stuff, especially if he can tell I'm mildly not in favor of it, so I'm more "clear" with him. Whereas his big sister would always lose interest on her own, at my "suggestion" so I didn't need to be so firm.

My kids both went through this phase too. It is gross but no it won't harm them in the long run. My sister in law lets her girls do it since she did when she was a kid. GROSS. Any way my kids eventually stopped so your daughter will get the hint too. Try having a cup of clean water for her to drink instead.