Mom Defends Decision To Put Her Baby To Sleep In The Shower Whenever They're Traveling
She insisted that it helps her baby sleep through the night, but many were divided on whether or not it was something she should be doing.
Sorapop Udomsri | Shutterstock As a parent, traveling with children is probably one of the most stressful and exhausting experiences, especially if you're traveling with an infant or toddler. There are tons of tricks and tips people are willing to share, but at the end of the day, what might work for one family doesn't always work for everyone else, which seemed to be the case for a mom named Chloe Molina.
Molina, a 25-year-old first-time parent, recently shared a travel hack with other families about how she puts her 5-month-old baby to sleep in the shower whenever they're on vacation. Unfortunately, her unconventional tip turned into a huge debate on social media.
The mom defended her decision to put her baby to sleep in the shower whenever they travel.
"When we travel, our baby sleeps in the shower. Let me explain a little bit," Molina began in her TikTok video. She explained that while it may sound a bit ludicrous and potentially dangerous, she assured viewers that she doesn't just put her son, Ezra, down on the shower floor and walk away.
Instead, she and her husband, David, put his crib in the shower for him to sleep in, and the reason why they decided to do this is that when their son sleeps in the room with them, he smells them, sees them, and he just knows that his parents are there. This causes him to wake up all the time, so to combat this, they give him his "own room."
"Usually, the bathrooms are way too tight to fit a crib, and the shower's big enough, so we put the crib in the shower," she continued. "We crack the bathroom door open so we can feel like he has his own room."
Molina also pointed out that she can pull the shower curtain back to really make sure her son sleeps peacefully, and both she and her husband can still use the bathroom without disturbing him or causing him to wake up.
She insisted that it was her "number one travel hack" because not only does her baby get his own room, but she and her husband don't have to pay for another room either.
People had mixed reactions to Molina's travel hack. While some didn't have a problem with it and even praised Molina for being able to work around the stress that comes with trying to have your baby sleep when on vacation, others were concerned about how unsanitary hotel baths can be.
"Personally, with the strong cleaning agents that hotel room bathrooms are cleaned with, that is the LAST place I would be putting my baby of a night breathing that air plus likely mold," one person commented, while another added, "I’d be too worried about water pipe would burst in the middle of the night."
Molina explained that she got this hack from her sister-in-law after going on their first vacation with a baby.
In an interview with People, Molina said that she and her husband, David, had used the shower trick for the first time during a trip to Mexico in August 2024 with their son, who had been "up all night long" when his crib was next to their bed.
"They know if you're two feet away from them so they're going to constantly wake up and see you sleeping right next to them and want milk," Molina said. "Especially if you're breastfeeding, they can smell your milk, they can smell you."
After her sister-in-law, who's a mom of four kids, explained the bathroom hack, Molina decided to use it as Plan B for the next time her son refused to sleep in the crib next to their bed. Addressing the concerns about mold and the shower randomly turning on in the middle of the night, she admitted that she never really thought of any of that.
"I never had those fears," Molina told the publication. "I don't really live in that parenting fear mindset in the first place ... We don't sit and live in fear. My takeaway is you have to do whatever you feel is best. Everyone has their own parenting style, and you're able to choose what is right based on what you believe is right for your child."
Considering how difficult it can be to ensure that a baby is sleeping through the night, parents sometimes have to come up with unconventional methods to catch a few ZZs.
It's clear that she's not just putting her baby in the shower, closing the bathroom door, and forgetting about him. In fact, it seems to work for Molina and her husband.
Eventually, their son will outgrow his crib and the shower sleeping arrangements will be no more.
Parents truly are just doing their best to ensure that their babies are healthy and safe. There is no rulebook to parenting, and frankly, we should all learn to just be a bit more empathetic and understanding. People should learn that parents aren't looking for unsolicited advice or opinions unless it's actively harming or putting their baby in distress or danger.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.