Daughter Doesn't Want to Take a Bath

Updated on July 11, 2007
A.K. asks from Saint Louis, MO
4 answers

Hi Moms,

My 21 month old daughter is suddenly afraid to take a bath. She doesn't want me or my husband to get her undressed for a bath, and certainly doesn't want to take off her diaper. She does fine with diaper changes and changing her clothes, but it's obvious she doesn't want to get in the tub. I made her take a bath a few nights ago (I got in with her to see if that helped) and she cried and clung to me the whole time. Do any of you have ideas to help us get through this phase?

Thank you!

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A.T.

answers from Dallas on

Have you tried putting her in the shower. Try that it also helps if you have one of those shower heads that is on a hose. She might like a shower better.

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C.B.

answers from Dallas on

My 17 month old son recently did this same thing, for almost 2 months we both dreaded bath time. It came on suddenly and for no apparent reason, if it is any consolation it ended just as sudenly as well. Here is what worked for us. If you are bathing at night before bed, make sure that she is not too tired which may mean moving bath time earlier. Next we found that my son likes the water to cool, almost what we would consider cold! Next we took out all but 1 or 2 of his toys so he would not be so overwhelmed. My son also likes to stand in the bathtub rather than sit, which involves me being right there every moment but we have traction in the bottom of our tub so he does not slip. Finally we include him in as much of the bath process as possible and make it as fun as possible rather than something he is forced to do (this is sometimes easier said than done!!!). He watches the water run, "makes bubbles" with the soap to wash himself, and drains the water when he is done. Our bathtimes are still very short most of the time just long enough to soap up and rinse off and maybe play for a few minutes. My son also like getting into the shower with me. Hope this helps!

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S.H.

answers from Dallas on

Did she have a bad experience recently? Did she get any soap in her eyes or anything like that? My daughter didn't like the loud water rushing into the tub for a while. Her allergies were bothering her, and her hearing was sensitive. Does your daughter have allergies?

Her stress about the diaper with a bath is probably just that- she knows what comes next- a bath! What about trying to give her "baby" (doll) a bath, and see how that works? I know my daughter loves changing her baby's diaper and clothes and such. Maybe even a bath-time song might work? :) (Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes...lol.) I agree with Nicole. Try having her watch that you're okay in the tub. My son was this way with the swimming pool. We let him go at his own pace, and now he's trying to swim on his own! He just needed to see that it's okay, but he needed to do it at his pace. Maybe it would help for her to see you in the bath, too!

If you'd like to try one, we sell these Character Soaps for Kids that have a toy inside. I only have SpongeBob and Care Bears listed, but I am adding Dora and Little Mermaid later. Let me know if you have any questions.

Here is the link to that page on our site. http://favoroo.com/index.cfm/Birthday_Favors/fuseaction/L....

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N.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter went thru a phase where she didn't want to get into the bath tub. I remember the exact moment it started. She was in the tub and we had put in all her toys to play with and all of a sudden, she started crying and picking up all of her toys trying to keep them out of the water. Her arms were full and she was just crying and wanting to get out. She wasn't old enough to verbalize what she was afraid of, but it was like she thought her toys would drown. We had to switch to having her take showers with us until she got thru the "scared of the bath tub" phase. The phase did pass, but it was several months before she would get into the bath tub again. One thing that helped was she would see me taking a bubble bath and she would come in and play with the bubbles standing next to the tub. I guess after seeing that nothing would happen to mommy in the bath tub, she got over her "fear". To this day, I don't know why she all of a sudden didn't want to take a bath. My son, who is 2 1/2 has never had a problem with the bath tub. You may just have to get used to showering with her until this phase passes. Good luck!

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