All of a Sudden 2Year Old Doesn't Want to Take a Bath

Oh, I can empathize!

Our 18 month old when through the same thing. We did the following, which seemed to help:
1) we got him naked and put him in the bath with his toys with NO WATER. We let him play for a while and then gave him a bucket with water and other cups so he could pour. We kept on giving him full buckets of warm water to pour in and out of cups until he was sitting in about an inch of water (it took a while for him to fill the bath that much).
2) the next bath we did the same thing
3) the next bath, we introduced bubbles and put in about an inch of water with about an inch of bubbles. He tolerated that water.
4) we slowing increased the amount of water with bubbles in the tub and after almost 3 weeks were able to pour water over his head to give him a shampoo.

Good luck. Our little one now loves the bath like he did before the strange episode...although he still hates having water poured over his head!

My 2 1/2 yo daughter did the same thing. We finally realized she associated the bath with bedtime and didn't want to go to bed. We moved her bath at a different time and she likes it again.

Both of my kids did this to me right before they turned two. For us, it was a short stage, but the crying and screaming can really get to you. With my son we just got in with him and struggled through it until he got over the phase, which took about 1 to 1.5 months. Never knew what freaked him out, he would never tell us, just screamed. When my daughter started this just before two also, I had a bit more patience and was able to distract her enough to get through most baths without all the screaming. For her, she doesn't like how loud the faucet is, so we found if we fill the tub before she gets in, she doesn't freak out as much. Then we use a cup to wash her hair, instead of the shower head. She stays much calmer this way, although sometimes she still gives us a hard time. I have always been one to pour the water right over their head (I didn't want them to be afraid as adults since I have friends who won't put their face in the water) but it does help when my daughter is upset to be very careful and try to not let the water get in her face. When they are crying, they tend to breathe in more water and that just makes everything worse. Also, someone told me not to pull the plug until the kids are out because at that age some kids are afraid of being sucked down the drain like the water. My kids have never seemed afraid of this, but someone suggested that to me when my son was freaking out about bathtime so I thought I would mention it here. Fortunately for us, my daughter communicates at just 2 much better than her brother did, so we were able to identify the problem and deal with it. Luckily, from most people I've talked to about this say that there kids went through this too, so it seems pretty normal and doesn't last forever. Oh yeah, with my son we started to let him take showers with daddy for awhile, and that seemed to work for less screaming, so it is worth a shot. An added bonus, a shower was quicker than the bath for us since he didn't want to play forever after his hair was washed. Somthing that worked for my friend was to get her daughter a baby doll that could go in the tub. While her mom washed her hair/body she washed the baby's. It worked for them to stop all the bathtime hastles. Good luck.

This sounds so familiar! My youngest went through this a few months ago (she was 2.5 then). She would just absolutely freak out about the idea of taking a bath. I would have to literally wrestle her into the bath (like your daughter, she would get dirty at preschool and truly needed the bath), then wrestle her to get her hair washed. Sometimes it would take my husband holding her while I scrubbed her clean. After that she'd want to get out right away.

Then, oddly enough, one day I said, "Let's go take a bath!" and she said, "Okay!" and ran to get in. It was like she decided that fighting it wasn't working out, so she just stopped fighting it. She's been very cheerful about her bath ever since.

So here's the kicker. I signed her up for swimming lessons this summer, pretty much fearing the worst. She's a volatile kid anyhow, but given our whole Bathtime Battle most of the year, I was worried. Nope, she LOVES swimming lessons! Doesn't want to get out of the pool! So... I just chalked it all up to a weird Terrible Two snit.

So yeah, wrestling. That's my advice. Have fun! =)

Hi M.,

i would just keep trying. You could also get some of the color tabs from crayola ( Babies R Us ) and have her create her own customized bath! She can be a princess in a pink bath, or a mermaid in a green one! If that doesn't work try switching to a shower. Get in your swim suit, and take a shower! There are great bath crayons and painters that she can use, and a gentle soothing spray is always nice. Just be sure you can adjust the shower flow, the softer the better, she pretend to be singing and dancing in the rain!

Hope this helps!

A little about me:

I am 34, married to my best friend of almost 11 years, and a stay at home mama to 4 beautiful boys ages 9,6, and twins that are 4! We are Christian, we love the Lord, I love my family and enjoy singing, cooking, camping, hiking, and spending time with family and friends!

one of our twins went through a phase where it seemed she thought the shower head in the tub was some scary monster and we used to have to put a towel over it. I honestly can't remember what else we did for bath-phobia but I've heard some parents managed by putting on a swimsuit and getting into the tub with their child to bathe him/her so that might be worth a try.
good luck! this too will pass!