Until your baby can sit up unsupported - at about seven months - bathe her in a small plastic bath set at about waist height to avoid hurting your back.
If you are buying a bath tank, make sure that it is very stable.
Putting a rubber mat in the bottom of the bath will make it less slippery and give your baby more grip, but you should support her back and shoulders with one hand the entire time you are holding her.
Above all, never leave your baby unattended.
Help your baby enjoy her bath by smiling and talking to her throughout; be gentle and avoid getting water on her face.
Take care to ensure that the bath water remains warm.
Some parents prefer to soap their baby before putting her in the bath.
Others put liquid baby soap in the bath water.
In general, wash the cleanest parts of your baby first and the dirtiest parts last.
This way you cut down on the risk of transferring germs from one part of her body to another.
Bath aid
A rubber mat in the bottom of the bath makes it less slippery and thus more secure.
You can also purchase foam supports that hold your baby in a safe position.
Lower your baby into the bath
Unwrap your baby and cradle her in your arms, supporting her bottom half with one hand and her shoulders and head with the other.
Lower her into the bath, bottom first.
Rinse her torso
Support your baby in an upright position while you gently splash water on to her chest and stomach. Smile and laugh to amuse her.
Wash her upper back and neck
Sit your baby up, holding her under the armpit and supporting her chest across your arm.
Rinse her upper back and the back of her neck.
Rinse her bottom
Still supporting your baby across her chest, turn her around in the bath so that her face remains clear of the water. Rinse her lower back.
Remove her from the bath
Keep one hand firmly on her shoulder and slide the other under her buttocks.
Rotate her gently towards you so she faces upwards as you lift her out of the bath.
- Taken from the book Babycare for Beginners by Dr Frances Williams Published by Human and Rousseau R64.95