Rinsing 2-Year-old's Hair

Don't bother washing it with soap. Does not get that dirty (except when then rub food into it). Plain water will do. Just try it. Will solve the screams.

Get the visors already mentioned. Then play "Waterfall" and let him enjoy the water going down his back. Call it "water off a duck's back" and have him "quack", or anything to make a game of it. SIng a song, count the # of seconds it takes to rinse him, etc.

You can also get a shower hose - detachable shower head nozzle - there are many in all price ranges. You can alter the flow of water with them and make a gentle massage, a fine spray, etc. He might like that. These are helpful anyway when kids have accidents and need to be hosed down just from the waist down. You will use it a lot when potty training!

Good luck!

2 suggestions: 1. Use a tear free shampoo--I use the one by Burt's Bees which has helped a lot and 2. Use a dry facecloth as a visor (don't need to buy a special one), slap it on his face and dump water with your other hand.

My rugrat had the same issue. Good Luck, Nat

I've had luck getting my 2 y.o. to look up by putting bath toys on the faucet, water handle, and spout, making them dance up there. We do that for a minute or two while he is laughing, then I tell him we are going to make them jump into the water. I push them off into the tub, sometimes trying to get them into cups. We play a game of this for a while, and when he's looking up checking out the duck, penguin, etc. I'll rinse his hair. I try to get him close to that end of the tub so looking up means his head is tilted far back. It works well most of the time, and I do it as quick as I can.

I'm not sure how often you wash his hair, but young kids really don't need their hair washed every day. It just doesn't get that oily/dirty unless they are playing outside in the dirt/sand or running around a lot in the hot sun. So, maybe try washing it less often - not every time you are in the tub.

Good luck!
L.

My son has always been the same way. He screams and cries every time I try to rinse his hair. His grandmother gave him a tubby a few times with no screaming. We finally realized that she was giving him a "kid shower" with a removable shower head. She told me I should do the same, however, I live in an apartment and we don't have a removable shower head. It probably sounds strange, but I used a colander to simulate a shower. Good Luck.

this rinse pitcher worked wonders for us.

http://www.parentsconnect.com/goods/good_1218047023657.jhtml

my daughte was like that too, and what i used to do is have her lay back in the tub and then i'd hold the back of her head and use the other to get the shampoo out. she found it fun because i told her it was like floating on the water like a sail boat or seagull does. hope this helps

Hi K.: I had this same issue. I found some foam head visors at Babies R Us, and that did the trick for us. It made it fun, too, because there are character faces on the top. This may help -- good luck.

I have three kids and we have gone through this stage with each of them. I tell them that we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is having them look up and counting before dumping the water on their head gently. If they don't cooperate then they get it done the "hard way" and that is just me dumping it on their head with no shielding for their eyes.

they learned pretty quickly that the "easy way" is much, much better than the hard way!

I have same problem with my 2 yr old and one yr old. I let them be part of the rinsing, I turn on faucets and get clean warm water, i ask them to "test" the temperature, ask is it too hot?, too cold? etc. and then ask them to "help" me pour it over their heads. ... also find my one yr old calms down if I just pour water from jug into the bath that he can play with (prior to the big rinse). Good luck!

i don't actually have any suggestions, i'm just writing to tell you you're not alone. my daughter immediately jumps up and tried to jump out of the tub which is dangerous but i can't leave the soap in there, so i just do it really fast like three times and she screams and then its over. it's terribly unpleasant at the end of what is usually an enjoyable bath. i guess we wait and hope they get over it. we do give her a cup and sometimes she experiments by filling it with water and pouring it on her body - sometimes almost as high as her chest which is a start.... good luck and congrats on #2.

Check out this shamproo rinse cup from one step ahead. I don't use it but I remember seeing it in the catalog and it looked pretty cool. It's supposed to prevent water from getting on their face/eyes.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

Hi K.
I love the way you spell your name!
My daughter was like this. I used to have to lay her on the counter and wash her hair in the kitchen sink. Then just talk her through it the whole way. She is Bi -racial so her hair is not only thick but VERY curly. This is the only way i could wash it when she was young. I tryed all the gagits and she wasnt having it :)

My son did the same thing.Starting at like age 1 1/2ish I found the best way to get him over this was making it really exciting and fun when we shampooed his hair and rinsed it.Telling him what I'm doing and when so he at least knows, telling him to look up to the sky and after, Literally pouring the water right over his head and being like YAAAAYYYY!!! and clapping, re-enforcing him being a big boy and doing a great job....after the first pouring I will again suggest him looking up to the sky and that if he doesn't want the water in his face that's what he has to do. I'll sometimes use my hand to swipe his eyes clear right after, but now I really dont have to, he mostly looks up and when it runs over his face he gets happy and laughs about it. just stay up beat and excited it will rub off on him too!! I found that the more relaxed and whatever i act over it the better he was. I also always keep routine in the tub so he always has his hair washed right after face as soon as he gets in there, that way he has more time to play and knows that he gets this part done and its all play, well after the body washing! but yeah he knows what to expect.

They do sell these special water pouring cups with a rubber side thats supposed to be pressed to the forehead to avoid water running down the face, but I never tried them they sell them at Babies R Us. Good Luck!

Walmart sells a pitcher with a rubber edge..the rubber edge prevents the water from going in their faces. It is sold in the baby section.

Sam
Mother of 3
Devin 7, Donovan 6, Mya 4

I think you've gotten similar responses here, but this is a link to another question on the same topic: http://www.mamasource.com/request/5754247487883902977
Good luck,
J.

I don't know what kind of shower you have or if you even have a shower in your tub. But I have a 4 and 5 year old. The way we have done it is we have a removable shower head. Remove the shower head from the holder and we would turn the water on just as warm as if it were a bath. Then let the child play with the water a little bit then play with him with it for a while. Our kids just loved it. I don't know if this will help but it was just an idea for you.

We had a simialar problem. I found these foam visors at babies r us in the bath secton. They come in a 2 pack and have solved our problem. It keeps the water out of his eyes and ears. Now he loves the tub and will even pour water over his own head.

My son did the same thing hates getting water in his eyes in the tub(hes 5 now)He loves swimming in the pool and has no problem getting the pool water in his eyes...LOL...So what we have done is bought him a pair of swimming goggles that he wears in the tub...They are the TUB only glass's since we have done this for almost 3 years bath time is more enjoyable for all of us..he is starting to out grow baths and like taking showers now and the goggles are the best..We tried all the hat and stuff we found in store But the goggles are the best hope this helps
Jennifer

My daughter, even now at four has always hated having her hair rinsed, mostly because of the water in her face. The best thing I did was went to Lowes and bought a new shower head that detaches from the wall. We bought one that has two heads, one that stays mounted and one that can come off and you have a level that can redirect the water. Then I roll hand towel and press it against her forhead and use the shower head to rinse her hair. It really works great. Dumping water pours too much out and its hard to control the flow, but the flow out of the shower head is much more gentle.

My almost three yeal old used to be fine with water getting on his face but now he hates it. So, I wring out the wash cloth, fold it into a blindfold and he hold it over his eyes when I rinse his hair. I also ask him to look up to make it a bit easier. That seems to work! Good luck.