Skip Hop Moby Bath Essentials Honest Review: Pros, Cons and Who Should Skip It

I almost did not buy the Skip Hop Moby Bath Essentials set. We already had a baby bathtub from when my son Eli was small, and I told myself it would be fine to reuse it for June. It was not fine. The old tub was cracked along one edge, the bath seat had a buckle that stuck, and every bath turned into a two-person wrestling match. The crack ran along the left side, right where June's thigh rested, and it pinched her twice before I noticed. The buckle on the old seat stuck on the third use, then the sixth, then every time after that. By the time June was five months old, I had stopped looking forward to bath night. That is a strange thing to admit, because bath time is supposed to be the easy, sweet part of the day.

So I did what I do with most baby gear decisions now: I read a stack of customer reviews on the listing, I asked two other moms what they actually thought, and I bought the Skip Hop Moby set with the plan to return it if it did not earn its spot in our bathroom. Six months later, it is still there. This is the honest version of that review, including the parts I would have liked to know before I bought it.

How I've Used It

June is eight months old now, and she has had a bath in this set roughly every other night since she was about five months. That is somewhere around forty baths. I have used it in our upstairs bathroom, in the downstairs bathroom when the upstairs was being painted, and once in my parents' tub when we visited for a weekend. It has been drained, dried, and moved more times than I can count.

The set comes with three pieces: the tub itself, a rinse cup, and a little whale toy that squirts water. The tub has a sling for newborns and a seat for older babies. We used the sling for the first few weeks, then switched to the seat once June could sit up on her own. The seat is what we use now, and it is the piece that matters most.

I will say the obvious thing first: the tub is not huge. It fits in our standard bathtub with room to spare, and it takes up maybe a third of the floor when it is drying. That is a feature, not a flaw. A giant tub would be a pain to store and a pain to fill. This one fills fast, drains fast, and does not feel like it is taking over the bathroom.

What Nobody Tells You Before You Buy It

Here is the part I did not find in the product description. The Skip Hop Moby set is not magic. It does not make bath time effortless, and it will not stop a determined eight-month-old from trying to grab the faucet. What it does is remove the small frustrations that made bath time feel like a chore. That is a different promise, and it is one the set actually keeps.

The first thing nobody tells you is that the rinse cup is the real hero. I know that sounds silly. It is a cup. But the cup has a soft spout that makes it easy to pour water over June's hair without it running straight into her eyes. She used to scream during rinses. Now she mostly tolerates them, and sometimes she even laughs. That single piece changed bath time more than the tub did.

The second thing nobody tells you is that the whale toy is not a gimmick, but it is also not essential. June loves it. She chews on the fin, she tries to make it squirt, and she gets genuinely upset when it is drying on the windowsill and not in the tub with her. But if the toy disappeared tomorrow, bath time would still work fine. Do not buy this set for the toy. Buy it for the tub and the cup.

The third thing nobody tells you is that the tub needs to dry properly. There is a small gap between the seat and the tub wall where water collects, and if you stack the pieces while they are still wet, you will find a little puddle the next morning. It is not mold, not yet, but it is the kind of damp spot that could become a problem if you are not careful. I dry the pieces separately now, and it takes about thirty seconds.

I also learned the hard way that bath time starts before you turn on the water. One cold February night, I got June undressed and then realized I had left the washcloth on the counter across the room. With the old tub, that would have meant lifting her out, wrapping her in a towel, and starting over. With this set, I just reached over, grabbed the cloth, and kept going. That is the kind of small save that does not show up on a spec sheet, but it is the reason I keep reaching for this set.

The rinse cup with the soft spout is the piece I would replace immediately if it ever broke. That is not what I expected to say about a bath set.

The Pros

The biggest pro is the seat. June sits in it with her back supported and her legs in front of her, and she cannot slide or tip sideways. That means I can use one hand to wash her and the other to hold the cup, instead of needing Mike to hold her steady while I do everything else. For a mom who is often home alone with both kids at bath time, that is the difference between a bath that happens and a bath that gets postponed.

The second pro is the drain. There is a small plug in the bottom of the tub, and when you pull it, the water drains out in about twenty seconds. You do not have to tip the whole tub over, you do not have to carry a heavy tub full of water to the sink, and you do not end up with water all over the bathroom floor. That sounds like a small thing. It is not a small thing at 7:45 at night.

The third pro is the material. The tub is made of a smooth plastic that does not have a lot of nooks and crannies. Soap scum does not build up in the corners the way it did in our old tub, and a quick wipe with a cloth after each bath keeps it looking new. I have never had to scrub it. I have never had to soak it. I just wipe it and set it aside to dry.

The fourth pro is the size. It is compact enough to store on a shelf in the laundry room, and it is light enough that I can carry it with one hand while holding June with the other. That matters more than you might think when you are moving from the nursery to the bathroom and back again.

One night in March, Mike was working late and June had a cold. She was fussy, and I was exhausted before we even got upstairs. I set up the tub in about two minutes, got her in, and we were done in twelve. With the old tub, she would have been crying by minute five, and I would have ended up washing her in the sink with a washcloth. This set gave me a bath that actually happened, and that is worth a lot on a night like that.

The Cons

The first con is the drying issue I mentioned. The gap between the seat and the tub wall collects water, and if you do not dry the pieces separately, you will find a damp spot the next morning. It is not a dealbreaker, but it is an extra step that the product description does not mention. On the nights I am too tired to bother, I lean the pieces against the wall on the laundry shelf and they are dry by morning.

The second con is the toy. The whale is cute and June loves it, but it is the kind of toy that will eventually lose its appeal. It is also the kind of toy that you have to keep track of, because an eight-month-old will absolutely drop it on the floor and then cry until you pick it up. If the toy were the main reason I bought the set, I would be disappointed. It is not, so I am not.

The third con is the price. The Skip Hop Moby set costs more than a basic baby bathtub, and if you are on a tight budget, you can absolutely find a tub that does the job for less. What you are paying for is the design, the rinse cup, and the convenience. Whether that is worth it depends on how much you value a bath time that does not feel like a wrestling match.

The fourth con is that the tub does not come with a hook or a hanger. You have to find a place to store it, and if your bathroom is small, that might be a problem. We keep ours on a shelf in the laundry room, but I know families who do not have that kind of space.

How It Compares to a Basic Baby Bathtub

If you are trying to decide between the Skip Hop Moby set and a basic baby bathtub, here is the honest comparison. A basic tub costs less, takes up less space, and does the job. It holds water, it holds a baby, and it gets the baby clean. What it does not do is make bath time easier for the person doing the bathing.

With a basic tub, you are holding the baby with one hand, reaching for a cup with the other, and hoping the baby does not slide. With the Skip Hop Moby set, the seat holds the baby, the cup is designed for rinsing, and you have both hands free to actually wash. That is the difference, and it is a real one.

I am not going to tell you that the Skip Hop set is worth it for everyone. If you have a partner who is always home at bath time, if you have a baby who loves baths and never fusses, if you have a bathroom with a built-in ledge for a cup, you might be fine with a basic tub. But if you are the parent who is usually alone at bath time, the extra cost is worth it.

Who This Is For

This set is for the parent who is often alone at bath time. It is for the parent who has tried to rinse a baby's hair with a regular cup and ended up with soap in the baby's eyes. It is for the parent who wants a tub that drains fast, dries fast, and does not take over the bathroom. It is for the parent who is willing to pay a little more for a bath time that does not feel like a chore.

It is also for the parent who wants a set that grows with the baby. The sling works for newborns, the seat works for older babies, and the tub itself is big enough to use until the baby is ready for the regular tub. That is a longer useful life than a basic tub, and it is part of what makes the price easier to swallow.

Who Should Skip It

You should skip the Skip Hop Moby set if you already have a baby bathtub that works, if you are on a tight budget, or if you have a bathroom with no storage. You should also skip it if you are the kind of parent who does not mind holding the baby with one hand and reaching for a cup with the other. There is nothing wrong with that. It just means this set is not for you.

You should also skip it if you are looking for a tub that will last until your child is two or three. The Skip Hop Moby set is designed for babies, and once your child is big enough to sit in the regular tub, this one will be retired. That is not a flaw. It is just a fact.

The Bottom Line

The Skip Hop Moby Bath Essentials set is the best bath set I have used, and I have used a few. It is not perfect. The drying thing is annoying, the toy is not essential, and the price is higher than a basic tub. But the seat, the rinse cup, and the drain make bath time genuinely easier, and that is worth a lot when you are the parent who is usually alone at bath time.

If you are on the fence, here is my honest advice. If bath time currently feels like a wrestling match, this set will help. If bath time is already fine, save your money. And if you do buy it, dry the pieces separately and keep the rinse cup close. You will thank me later.