hi dippyrowse
we didnt use a separate bath for long, but my friend gave me a tummy tub (like a bucket) which babies love as they are up to their neck in water and feel all cosy, its supposed to be very calming and it certainly was for our LO. Our bathroom is so tiny i couldnt have changing mat, towel etc in there with me while i was bathing lo so it helped that i could put the full tummy tub on a towel on the nursery floor, then get him dressed and feed him and put him to bed all in the same room. Once he outgrew it he just went in the big bath. I had a bath with him a few times but tbh couldnt cope with having it as cool as LO needs it! and now he's so wriggley would definately need someone lifting him to and from me.
OH insisted on getting a normal baby bath, we used this less than half a dozen times as i couldnt lift it full of water and i had the tummy tub. And as it had a plug in the bottom and needed to be used in the bath, it seemed just as easy to use our bath. But we aren't on a water metre! x