I know this may sound a little strange but my 2 year old daughter is terrified of soap bubbles. It all started about 1 1/2 weeks ago. She has taken baths all her life and never seemed to care much about bubbles. Then all of a sudden she became very scared of them saying no soap when you even mention a bath. She screams and shakes in fear while we are giving her a bath. It is getting a little better, since we have tried distracting her with toys and singing to her, amongst other things. Bath time used to be a fun time at our house where we played in the water, sang songs, and got ready for bed. Now our entire routine is thrown out of whack because of the soap phobia. We do have a swimming pool and she will swim in there fine without worry. Has anyone gone through anything similar? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
If it is not a UTI... then it will probably pass...I think every toddler I have ever known has gone through some kind of bath fear... every kid picks a different thing but they all go through the "scared of everything" phases...
Keep up the baths and soon they will become fun again! My kids still prefer showers most days, but we started then with showers as babies with us...
My son went through this also for a couple of weeks, we never did find out what happened as to why he was all of a sudden he was afraid. But we did the same thing distracted him while we washed him, we also let him pick out his soap at the store. It was a kids soap that was wrapped in a mesh like cloth that way the kids could hold on to it and wash. That really helped. He did grow out of it in a few weeks or so.
Hi K.,
I found this resource for you which discusses children's fears, why they might have these fears, and how to deal with the fears. In the document, it lists #2 as soap bubbles.
Visit http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1312-e.pdf (it's an online pdf file).
In the meantime, she may have more of a relaxing time taking a shower with you. Maybe use a big poof scrubber for some fun... and one of the shower massagers (the shower-head on a hose) so that you can get the water down to her.
Anyway, best of luck conquering this fear. Seems as if it's just another rite of passage.
Take care,
D.
K.,
I don't really have any suggestions but I do understand. My 10 month old, who loves to be outside and has no problem with any plants outside, is terrified of fresh flowers in a vase on my counter. When we walk by them she will stiffen and then try to climb up me. For some reason they just look different to her in a vase. =)
R.
K., Cetaphil is a great lotion soap that doesn't cause bubbles and it can even be used on those days you just don't have time for a bath because it doesn't have to be washed off with water you can just wipe it off with a dry cloth. It will clean her but there are no bubbles. I don't know what you should do about her hair, maybe just wash her hair last and then get right out. Most of the things our kids go through are just phases so I'm sure she will outgrow this soon. Good Luck. D.
Since you can't exactly reason with a 2 year old, what about switching to a low-bubble soap, maybe something more like a lotion soap? I'm sure there are some hypoallergenic options that would be fine for her skin. Maybe if you can reduce or eliminate the bubble part of bath she will forget the phobia in time and you can try to reintroduce them later on. Just a thought...Good luck!
It is not uncommon for kids that age to become afraid of something they used to love for no reason at all. She could have had a bad dream about them, some got in her nose or mouth and she didn't like the taste/feeling. Hard to say. Best bet is to just do the other things she likes in the tub for now and try bubbles again later down the road.
~S.
Give her baths without soap bubbles. Use non-tearing, hypoallergenic shampoo. You can use that for the soap, too. Or at least buy a different type of kid's soap/wash in different 'flavors' so she knows that the kind that she didn't like or that irritated her isn't being used anymore.
How about giving her a shower instead? A friend of mine mentioned that her daughter was getting lots of UTIs and they switched to showers. The bath water/soap may be irritating her. Something else to try!
Who knows why kids do what they do sometimes? You can certainly bathe her without suds. Perhaps, now that warmer weather is here, you can just start little exposures to demystify bubbles for her. Blow bubbles in the yard and show her how pretty and fun-to-chase they are. Get a pan of water and some dishwashing soap to splash around in out in the driveway. At some point, she'll get over it.
Also, consider: sometimes little ones know things intuitively. Make sure the soap you are using for her baths doesn't irritate her private parts or her skin. Or just go with Ivory for a while to make sure...
I had a friend that had a little girl that happened to, she was finally able to convey the bubble bath hurt her privates also.
My girlfriend stopped using reg babble bath she would use the no tears shampoo for bubbles like a year later her daughter was around 2 yrs old, I always wondered it just it was either the brand of bubbles or her body was changing. I have boys they didn't seem top have this problem except recently just one of my boys so we use shampoo and Pears soap he's doing fine now.
My daughter also doesn't like bubbles. She didn't get as bad as your daughter. But I ended up having to take her to the dr because she started having pain when she went to the potty. Come to find out (like some of the other mom's have mentioned) the bubbles were causing her to get a UTI.
The dr said to limit bubble baths.
If your little one enjoys the pool, then I would say, cut out the extra bubbles. Just use soap to wash her but don't let her sit in the soapy water too long (that will also contribute to a toddler getting UTIs).
I hope she soon feels better about bath time.
:)
This is so weird my 2 year old daughter is just doing the same thing and I cant figure it out cause bath time is her favorite time she will stay in there for ever. The past 3 days she wont go near a bubble.m I think im going to have a Doctor check out her bottem for a bladder infection or something cause i think it hurts her. She says no no bubbles they hurt my peepee
Most children are allergic to soap bubbles, it irritates their private areas, so just try plain water w/ lots of toys instead
Hi K.,
My daughter is 4 now and she did the same thing. She finally told me the bubbles were hurting her private. And that can happen so we stopped with the bubbles for awhile and now when she takes a bath she only wants bubbles occasionaly. Also, soap on a washcloth would hurt her too. So now it's only Avon kids bubble bath and mild, sensitive skin soap. Hope this helps and I'm sure this fear is only temporary, but try asking her if the bubbles are hurting her.
