Bath Time a Nightmare

Have you considered sponge baths? Have her stand on a thick, folded towel and you use a bucket (sand pails work well) and make a game of holding an arm out to wash, etc. Sometimes we sing the hokey pokey in the bath. Or we pretend she is a tree with her branches out wide and looking at the sun (head up, no water in eyes).

If she doesn't like her head wet, can you try a visor to keep the water out of her face? I used to tell DD that I'm sorry, but I'd try to be speedy and not get her face wet. She might also like to hold a dry washcloth over her eyes.

My DD went through a no baths phase (no toys would cheer her) and we just did bath time as quickly as possible. Now she likes baths, but will ask for a short bath if she doesn't want to play.

We did a lot of showers with mommy during that time. Is that an option for you?

Hi Lily's Mommy,
we went through the same thing or similar for a while. SOme thoughts:
1. I decided not to bathe each day, so that when we did it would be a 'treat' and lots of fun.

2. On bath days, I fill the tub with bubbles and lots of toys that he has chosen!

3. Over time, he has started to ask to take a bath :)

4. Similarly, we still do not wash hair every day.

5. We wash hair in the sink so that I can cover his eyes and it is less traumatic for him.

Hope this helps.
Jilly

Hi,

My kids don't hate their baths all of the time, they have just gone through phases of not wanting to take a bath. We only wash every other day, and the days in-between we have play day. My kids didn't do well when I would let them not take baths on the in-between days, they actually fought the baths on bath night more. But on play days, if they don't want to actually hang otu in the bath all they have to do is get in and sit down. Then they can get right back out and get their pajamas on. Surprisingly most nights once they are in, they don't want to get out.

Have you tried letting your 20 month old get her own head wet? My son never liked me pouring water over his head, but he has way to much hair for me to wash it with just a washcloth (my daughter was bald for a long time, which made it so much easier). But I learned that he thinks it is fun to dump water on his head himselft. My daughter likes to put her head under the faucet sometimes to get her hair wet by herself. She also likes to lay back in teh bath when it isn't full enough to cover her ears and then I gently pour water on the areas that aren't wet.

Also, I am assuming that you have already gotten some bath toys for your duaghter. Perhaps though, you could take her to Babies 'R Us and let her pick out a bath toy herself.

Good Luck,
D.

How do you wash her hair? I had a little hat made for kids to use in bathtubs to keep water from going in their face and even if you rinsed the hair it sort of kept water from the face, etc. Maybe you could also let some water out of the tub when you are ready to rinse her hair and lay her on a towel in the tub so it's not so cold, and rinse her hair while she is laying down so water won't go in her face. I had to do that too with some of mine. The drain is a big issue for some and not others so don't let the water out of the tub while they are IN the tub. They will outgrow this though. Toys help but just be careful of frightening her with water in her face for now.

My son hated baths and shampoos too. I would only bathe him every 3 or 4 days and reduced shampoos down to once a week (and still do).

We had one of those "pitchers" that you hold right against the child's head to rinse out the shampoo (from Babies R Us). Helped a little, but not perfect.

When he was old enough to hold a washcloth over his eyes when I rinsed his hair, that REALLY helped - I guess it gave him some sense of control over the situation. I also bought special toys just for the tub to lure him in.

He doesn't mind a bath too much now. Still dislikes shampoos, but the washcloth trick makes him more tolerant of it.

Hi! We too went through this with my son. Had to explain that he couldn't go down the drain for one. He didn't like the water touching his face or hair either. We have used swim goggles, no standing water in the tub, (just run the water and rinse, wash, rinse and get out as quickly as possible), had him do it, washcloth over eyes & face, and use a bucket to rinse hair & body. Also, not as many baths as the other kids. Unfortunately for us, his issues lasted for a long, long time. Blood curdling screams were not fun by any means. He's better now, but still doesn't like the water touching his face. He did calm down as he got older so we don't have the screaming any more. YAY! Hope this helped some and good luck!

We have this foam soap that worked really well as a bribe - it was kind of a special treat to use the "special soap" but it was soap so i was happy. We also use the special bucket that you put against their forehead - it worked well enough. One thing you can do is try to give a bath everynight to see if he gets used to it and accepts it as one of those things you do everynight. Hard work for you guys, but it may pay off. Good luck & stay strong!

More toys in the tub? Different toys? Bribery?

If all else fails, make it VERY short and sweet!

Is this a phase or always? My son LOVED the bath from day one, it was actually kind of weird actually, but then about 18 months he started freaking for no apparant reason. It lasted for us about 2 months I think and then magically went away! Whew!

We generally only do a bath every other night so that helped, sort of. Other than that, honestly, it was just a nightmare. We basically just gave him a quick sponge bath while he screamed and tried to go as fast as possible. New toys, showers, etc...none of that worked for us. One day he started gradually going back into the tub. At first he wouldn't sit, he'd just stand, then he'd sit but not play and now he's back to normal (at almost 2). It was a hard two months, but it did finally end!

Oh also, my friend has this bucket thing with a soft front that you can put against your child's head and then pour the water backwards so it hardly gets any in their face. My son still hates water on his face (only in the tub though, pool is fine...weird!) so I may look into it too!

My daughter hated baths too until we started using fizzies in the tub which turn the water various colors. They were a GODSEND and I hightly recommend to give these (or something similar) a shot:

http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-Fizzy-Color-Tablets/d...

You've gotten a lot of great advice. One thing I would add is perhaps put her in swim lessons. My daughter also hated baths until we did swim lessons at the Y and they really made water fun for her. See if that helps :) Good luck!

give her a baby doll to wash - works every time

While my daughter LOVES baths at home she freaks if she has to get in a tub at someone else's house (my moms, mil's etc) so we went to walmart and got the things called bath dropz, it's little tablets you throw in the water and it makes the water blue or any other color of the rainbow (doesn't stain anything) and that was the magic solution. Now when she's at Meme's she asks for blue baths lol. When she went through the not wanting her head wet phase we taught her how to blow bubbles in the water so now when we wash her hair she just blows out so no water gets in her nose or mouth.. which it never did in the first place she was just a drama queen lol.

I think lots of children go through this stage at some point.

We used to cover the drain hole with a towel.. They begin to fear the water going down the drain.

Sometimes you having some sort of new bath toys can help.. also facing your child in the opposite direction in the tub can help.

When it gets really bad, get in the tub and take a bath with your child, or just do sponge baths. wipe her down with soapy cloth and then wipe her down with plain water cloth.. Really scrub her head as best you can. She does not even have to be in the tub for a wipe down..