Today in my series of photos from my travels: this baby bath on sale at the John Lewis store in London's Oxford Street. It's basically a bucket (the instructions refer to it as "womb-shaped") that you wash your baby in. Seems reasonable, but once you use the enclosed stand, it begins to look a little bit too much like "baby in a blender" for my taste. Link

  • Mark Levitt

    Well, having a tub that means the baby can’t slip down under the water is comforting, particularly when they are too young to be able to lift their head.

    Laugh now, Cory, but you’ll soon see. :)

  • J-Po

    Doh! You FOOLS! If Clarke taught us anything in Childhoods End, its that our culture’s inability to let go of cultural icons only hold us back in our evolutionary adaptation….If we could just accept the shape for the purpose intended, we can throw off the chains that hold us back…from…evolving..and…irradicating…humanity..as..we..know..it.

    Wait scratch that. Damn blender.

  • Illuminatrix

    @Cory – Thanks! Now the world knows who stole the lolrus’ bucket!

    And to all here: I actually prefer the TummyTub to those lying-down/baby reclining tubs. The baby’s whole body gets to be in the water, so neither his front nor back gets cold, and I always make sure to hold him firmly so his head is above water.

  • Amphigorey

    What do you mean, “too much”?

  • woodka

    Just getting us ready for the Matrix…..

  • Doomstalk

    I guess this leads us to the inevitable question: will it blend?

  • TheBlessedBlogger

    The base looks unstable and there’s to much water in the ‘tub’ to be safe. It’s a waste of money and it looks like it would be difficult to wash the baby’s back/legs in this contraption.

  • mamadelucia

    I like it!

  • iburl

    Do they not have sinks, baths or buckets already in Britain?

  • Mim

    This is great – because babies need more exposure to heated plastics!

  • danegeld

    the tot is in the pot!

  • Bonnie

    Worst cocktail ever!

  • joe

    How do you fit a hundred babies in a…

    Oh I just can’t do it; too easy.

  • arikol

    Will it blend?

  • Illuminatrix

    My in-laws sent us a Tummy Tub from the UK. I love it, especially because I don’t have the space to wash the baby in a bathtub or sink. I agree they are pretty overpriced – but they’re made of special magic plastic or something. Thank God it was a gift.

    My son loves his Tummy Tub. We didn’t get the weird blender base, though – just the tub itself. You gotta check out the Tummy Tub website and watch the videos of the European babies having a great time.

  • agnot

    I am guessing here, but it looks like the design makes it hard for baby’s head to become immersed. That might be a good thing, even if mothers would never think of leaving baby alone in the tub.

  • noen

    The design is intended to be “womb-like” and supposedly helps babies to feel safe and comforted.

    “Q.Should I stop bathing my baby in the TummyTub® when it is 6 months old?”

    “Although the TummyTub® was originally developed for babies from birth to 6 months, many midwives and parents tell us that their children love being in this familiar and trusted environment for much longer.”

    You have to wonder if that’s really a good idea. How long before we have tummytubs for adults?

  • Lauren O

    You have to wonder if that’s really a good idea. How long before we have tummytubs for adults?

    We already do. It’s called grad school.

  • chef

    “Do they not have sinks, baths or buckets already in Britain?”

    Yeah, but you can’t plug them in.

    I dunno if it’s necessarily a blender though, since it looks like there’s space underneath for a sterno can, which can only mean one thing: Baby Fondue.

  • agnot

    Father Brown: Correction to my post #9

    That might be a good thing, even if mothers and fathers would never think of leaving baby alone in the tub.

    Lauren O:

    We already do. It’s called grad school.

    LOLOLOLOLOL

  • Simon Greenwood

    Noen@10:

    No, but I’ve just patented the idea and will be developing one and two person models for sale next Christmas. Instead of water I’m thinking of a body temperature gel.

  • Philbert

    I have one (also without the base, which does make it look eerily like a blender) and my son loved it when he was still small enough to fit in.

    So I am a believer in the theory that the confined space makes the baby more at ease. It worked for him anyway.

    Still, I wouldn’t use it with that base, it looks unstable, we just put the tub upon a special baby-bath stand.

  • Cory Doctorow

    Illuminatrix, that is the greatest kid photo EVAR.

  • stuart kaufman

    I didn’t see it as a blender. I saw it as a potter’s wheel.

  • rosyatrandom

    Having missed being the 1st to go for the Will It Blend angle by a looong way, can I request that someone who’s photoshop-literate please put it in, ad-style?

  • cubejockey

    Great. Now all they need is a lid.

  • Fortyseven

    #19, it’s not precisely what you wanted, but will this do?

    http://pics.livejournal.com/fortysevenbteg/pic/000kahhq

  • romwell

    #1 – YAY!
    #11 – Hilarious =) Also reading ‘married to the sea’ ? That was one of my most favourite ones !

  • RugerRedhawk

    This doesn’t look very easy to use. Just use an infant tub.

  • Santos

    I own a tummy tub. They work great.

  • Halloween Jack

    The whole aspect of moderately constricting the infant’s movement for comfort seems to harken back to swaddling.

  • Wareq

    “That’s Bouquet, dear.”