Bath Time - Killeen, TX

My daughter did this at one point, but I realized it happened right after we had visited my Mom's house that didn't have a mat in the bottom of the tub. She slipped a little and after that was terrified of the bath, even at home where she had a mat. I would suggest getting one (if you don't have one already) and then you may just have to sit in there with him until he gets over it. I had to do it a few times. I also sang to my daughter and played little games with her to distract her. That seemed to work well too. Within a week or two, she was back to normal.

Good luck!

I second the getting in the tub with him. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't. It's perfectly natural. Just keep it up until he gets over the fear.

I had the same problem with my son (he's 2 now). There was no reason. Nothing had happened in the tub and he had always loved bath time before. When he started freaking out about baths I just didn't make him take one. I just gave him the best sponge bath I could with a wash cloth. I would try again each night and when he got upset we just got out of the tub or turned off the water or whatever calmed him down then I'd clean him up. Within a few weeks he was over it. Now he's back to loving his baths. Good luck.

Crayola Bath Tub Tints are amazing! Take him with you to buy them and let him know that these awesome dots change the color of the tub water to make it such a neat experience. My son will look at the available selection of colors and make his choice each night. He feels like he's in control! I hope they help!

Sincerely,

Prissy Cruz

Okay, my daughter did the same thing at a year. I was so confused because bathtime had always been her favorite. It lasted for like 2 weeks and then it sort of tapered off. What we did is move bathtime to a different time for the first week just to break the anxiety and negative association with bathtime. We then slowly moved back to old bathtime. We also bought a couple new bath toys just to change it up a bit! It worked and now she loves bathtime again! I still try to wash her as quick as I can just in case she has a melt down- that way at least she is clean. If it is a good day then she will just have a play bath for the rest of the time.

Hope this helps!
J.

We are going thru this exact same thing with my 2YO. Last night a new idea came to mind that maybe we could try a different bathtub in the house. My thought was that maybe it would be just new enough and different that it might work. So, we had bath time in the downstairs tub last night, she cried for a few minutes when we took clothes and diaper off but then she got in and was fine. It was nice after 2 weeks to finally have a semi drama free bath night. We'll see tomorrow night when it's bath time again if we've found a solution. If it doesn't work my next option is just taking her in the shower with me.

My son went through this too. It is usually a very tough phase that they will grow out of, and then about a year and a half later, it sometimes happens again for a short while as they start to develop fears or longer term memory of something scary that might of happened in the water.

Try putting him in the bath and give him a cup, and then turn on the water so he can play with it coming out of the facet, so the water will slowly rise around him, instead of puttting him in a full tub.

Just a thought - make sure you didn't increase the temperature of the water...you said, 'when his feet hit the water, it's over'. I let my 3 yr old boy help adjust the temperature, so it's just to his liking before he gets in...we also make it a fast event, not a long bath...his biggest thing was screaming when I washed his hair. If this is the case, put a washcloth over his eyes and ears. This did wonders for us. I also sung to him to distract his screaming, 'abc's, twinkle, twinkle, row your boat, etc..'

Good Luck,
H. :)
Mom of: 2 boys (9,3), 1 girl (11)

Try getting him some toys that are only for play in the bathtub. We keep a plastic bin of toys that stay in the bathroom like boats, batman, diego stuff. The boys really forward to bathtime b/c it's the time they get to play with that stuff. Also, my husband would get in the tub with our first son who hated baths and he would ease him into the water and teach him to wash his own belly. Good luck and know this will pass. D.

Consider taking a bath with him. My daughter loves getting into the tub with me. We also bought some stick-on tub decals (walmart) We let her decorate the walls of her tub and now she loves to say hi to the fish as she climbs in and out of the tub. Good luck!

My daughter recently went through this. So for a change of pace her daddy said he would give her a super quick car wash bath. She was intrigued. He put her in the tub as usual then just scrubbed her down and rinsed her off with a cup (nothing drastically different, just a little quicker than normal). She laughed the whole time. Now she can't wait for her car wash bath. Just try something a little different, maybe just a fun name, a new toy, a small change to the same old routine. Good luck.