My son is 19 months and has only recently begun hating his bath! As it's summer, I am bathing him nightly, and as soon as he hears the bath running in the tub, he starts getting upset. He cries through the bath and becomes hysterical during the hair washing. He is always so happy after I dry him off. I feel so badly, as I want him to enjoy the bathing experience. Any ideas?
Hi everyone and thanks again for all of your helpful answers....well, the other night my hubby got in the tub and I was making much ado about "giving Daddy a bath" etc, with all of the toys, bubbles, etc.....my son just ran in and out of the bathroom crying. We finally put him into the tub with Daddy and continued trying to make it fun. He was having NO part of it! So we finally just washed him up and washed his hair as fast as we could. My Mom suggested trying the shower, which is my next move!!!! Thanks anyway!
Sometimes, when DD would just scream, we put her in the baby tub, let her stand, and sponged her off really quick.
Change it up. Try a shower. Try getting in the bath with him. Try reading a story to him while he sits in the bath. Or buy a new bath toy. I think kids go through phases, they fall out of love with the bath, then love it again. My kids went through that too. Now they want to stay in forever and I have to drag them out.
My daughter did this at one point as well. She and I went to the store and bought new bath toys. I just showed her what options were available & let her choose a few. (bath crayons!!!! Yay!!!!)
Good luck. You must feel so stressed each night at bath time. I hope this passes quickly for your little boy.
Have you tried taking baths with him? My son also became suddenly terrified of baths at around that age. So, I would get in, and play with his bath toys, and tell him how much fun I am having. After observing me, he would test the water with his big toe and slowly but surely would join me. I would have to sit there with him for the first couple of times, then he starting taking them by himself. He is now 2 and a half and loves bath time. He acutally asks to take a bath 3-4x a day just because he loves playing with his bath toys in the water.
It's a phase. My daughter turned on a dime and went from a bath addict to a bath hater (and eventually back again)
I would 1) run a bath and if she started getting panicky I would just tell her "Oh that's mommy's bath." Once I got in and said "Ahhhhhh..this is NICE" and would start arranging the foam letters on the bathroom wall she would inevitably want to join in on the fun
2) Foam letters! Squirt bottles! Bubbles! A beach ball!
3) I'll give her something really important to do like "wash mommy's back"
4) Tell them it's a "swimming pool"
Oh and she still doesn't like getting her hair washed -- I just try to do it as quickly as possible (still using Mustela's infant shampoo which is foamy and tear free) and I dump a bucket of water over her head and then apologize. The whole thing is over in 25 seconds. It beats fighting with her to "tip her head back" or "close her eyes and mouth" - neither of which really make sense to her.
I introduced bubble baths when my daughter did this. Worked like a charm, and Johnson's has a bubble bath that you can use every night if you so choose.
My son doesn't like the hair-washing part, and hasn't since he was about 18 months or so. Ideas -- get some new bath toys (and bubble bath). Or allow him to take some of his hard/washable toys into the bathtub and let him help you wash them. I always let my son play for 5-8 minutes while I brushed my teeth and flossed and maybe washed my face in the sink. Then I'd soap him up, I'd let him play another 1-2 minutes and then we'd wash his hair. I used a large plastic quart container to rinse the water. Make sure it's not too hot or not too cold. That may be part of what's bothering him. Sometimes, I'd sit on the edge of the tub with my feet in the water and just play with him too. Try to make it fun and not a chore and he'll (hopefully) follow your lead.
