Sudden Fear of Bathing

We went thru this same thing. One thing I finally fiquired out was that the "normal" routine had changed. So one thing we do different is daddy gives them a bath at least once a week so that they now things can change and it is okay. The other part is I got them swim mask and snorkles. Since daddy had washed their hair differnt than mommy did they had gotten a little water in their face, not really anymore than I would so they can wear their mask and keep it out of their face. This also helped when it came time to get them into swim lessons.

However stay out of the bathroom when daddy does the bath night- she will still act like major drama the first couple of times but now mine want daddy to bath them since he plays silly games with them. They make bubble beards, coneheads with shampoo in their hair. They also have a few bubble blowing toys they take and use the soap to make bubbles. Now the bathroom is never the same after their bath but there is not the drama there had once been when daddy gave the bath. The funniest thing is the kids body paint soap, the have little foam brushes and paint the wall in the bathtub, each other, daddy. IT is a easy to get them clean and has had no problems with little girls.

Hope this helps.

This happened to by son at about 18 months. While in this phase, he took a bath with my cousin's 2 boys that are about the same age. He was still screaming, so my sister rolled up her pants and got in with them to wash him off while he cried. Next bath, (just him) he was just fine. (I tried the bathing with him. He stopped screaming, but he still cried the whole time)

Happened to my little girl. Cured in a couple of days with two doses of the homeopathic remedy calcarea carbonica.

i recall something similar happening to my daughter. i have 2 girls and it was after a similar set of events when my ex husband (the girls dad) got involved in bathing...what helped me to get her back in the routine and pleasure of bathing was to actually get in the tub with her a couple of times and then providing a set of new toys for her single bathing experience...good luck!

That happened to me with my youngest several times. He seemed to go in phases where he hated the bath for a month or two and then loved it. I never figured out a pattern. That month or two he hated it was awful because I would bathe him while he screamed, but it would pass. Sorry I am not much help except there is hope...he loves them now and no screaming for 6 months or so and he is 2.

Do you trust your pediatrician and have confidence in her/him? Not to be an alarmist, but take your daughter to her pediatrician and explain the situation. She/he will help you get your daughter through this new fear. As a parent, it is fearful to us when our beloved child has a dramatic change in behavior and you need to find the underlying cause.

God bless,

C.

I had that with my kiddo and I asked my sitter about it. The exact point when my daughter would start screaming was when I was trying to get her to sit down in the water.

The sitter mentioned that my daughter was going through a "want to stand up all the time" phase. I tested this by holding her hands and letting her stand up in the tub as long as she wanted on the third night after this started. That turned out to be the issue, she sat down after about a minute and was happy. Now she only cries in the tub if she is sick or over tired.

Good luck!

It could be just a phase. It could be something as simple as the change from Mommy to Daddy. My youngest daughter was terrified of the bath at about the same age. I discovered that her older sister was pulling the plug before they got out of the tub. The youngest was afraid she'd be sucked down with the water.

It is very normal for your daughters age to have a sudden onset of fear. It is one of the most challenging emotions to help your child overcome. One suggestion would be to get into the bath tub with her to help her experience it differently and have your presence very near to comfort and reassure her. At the same time I would also introduce a new bathtub toy that may help focus her attention on something besides the fear. Simply being there and reassuring her is the best thing you can do!!This too shall pass:)

Peace,
L.

Oh my goodness my DD did the same thing a while back. The thing that triggered it for her was my husband dumped the water on her head using a small cup. She freaked out the only 2 things that helped was letting her take a plastic baby in the bath and let her give the baby a bath while I gave her a bath and the other thing that worked was we bought a floating Ariel vanity for the bath tub. Both of those things solved the bath time freak outs. You can get the floating vanity at WalMart. I hope this helps.

A similar thing happened to my son when he was around 16months. I could never really explain it either.

The way I got him back to loving baths was, I took one with him. I felt kind of strange about it, so I used a swimsuit, but he absolutely loved having me in there with him. He calmed down and started playing and I got out after about 5 minutes - and went back to our normal routine of bathing him from outside the bathtub. Hope it helps.

It's probably a stage. My son went through this, I ended up putting him in the shower with me. I gave him a couple of his tub toys and used those disposable washcloths to make soaping up quick. He enjoyed the shower, I'd had my doubts because of the water spraying on him. But he was ok with it and chased the bubbles as they went down the shower drain. I had my husband get him out and dry him off with his favorite elephant towel. He was back to being ok with the tub a week later and now that he's 2 I can't get him out of the tub.

My daughter reacts differently to Daddy bathing her- he pours the water differently/faster than i do to wash her hair. He is also more active with his playing (ie louder, more splashing etc) One minute she will be laughing, the next crying. The water could have been a different depth and made her uncomfortable (my hubby did this by accident once too), or did he start letting the water out when she was still in and she wasn't used to it? My daughter has gone through phases of this- i just try to reassure her that she is safe, praise her for doing such a good job leaning back while i wash her hair, bring a different toy in to distract her, add bubble bath- whatever it takes for her to be happy in her bath again. Good luck!

I also say try bathing with her. My dd loves baths now. She didn't like water in her face and a sitter poured water over her to rinse her off. She would scream when it was time for a bath. I also showered with her and she liked that as long as the water didn't hit her face.

I am wondering if maybe it was because you were not there and Daddy was. Maybe she had a bad dream involving the situation.

It could be a phase but try letting Daddy give her a bath while you are in the house and just see if it is a "mommy cling" thing.

J. S.

My son did the same thing when he was two; I think Dad triggered it by pouring water over his head which got on his face. He used to love baths and then suddenly it was a battle trying to get him into the bath tub each night. He wouldn't even get into a wading pool. It took a good 6-8 months before everything was back to normal. I did end up buying a special cup at Baby's R Us which has one rubber side to it.....the rubber side takes the shape of the child's forehead when you lean it against them to pour water over their head; it minimized the water from getting onto his face. I realize it wasn't absolutely necessary to use this cup, but it reassured my child that we wouldn't get water on his face. This is probably just a phase/fear that children go through.

My son did this the first time our sitter gave him a bath, around 12 months...it turned out that she had the water too cold. She was overly cautious about the temp (which would normally be a good thing), but he likes his bath fairly warm. Might not apply to you, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I've also learned that sometimes they do things for no apparent reason and then quit doing them just as randomly.

Good luck & enjoy your girls!!

Hi C.,

Just a thought... why don't you get in the tub with her. Make it fun. Maybe some bubbles and toys. I know that my girls used to love to take a bath with me when they were little.

If this doesn't work, take her to the shower and let her play on the shower floor with you while you shower. She will get clean enough until she decides that water won't hurt her because YOU are there to protect her. I used to sometimes block the shower drain with a facecloth. It is another tricky thing to make a bath without a child realizing they are bathing.

Good luck!

C.

I posted a similar question in October with my daughter - maybe some of these suggestions will help. FYI - now my daughter is 21 months old and is over that phase - she'll even try to stick her face in the water to blow bubbles.
http://www.mamasource.com/request/13358919913868099585