Afraid of Shower/Tub

[wegrowsheep]

Let him play in the tub without washing. Lots of toys. Just wipe his head off with a washcloth after he gets out. Doing that a few times might help.

[sugarkissed]

We went through this twice with DD1. The first time was probably around this age. She went from absolutely loving the tub to being competely afraid of it. It also coincided with when her hair started getting longer and it took more water to wash it. She was so afraid to get water in her eyes, but of course the meltdowns and fighting don't help the situation. It took a long time to get over it, and then she starting protesting baths again right after she turned 2.

She still is terrified of the shower and always has been, so when we are on vacation it's a lot of washcloth or in the sink bathing.

[billyhorrible]

There are a couple things you can try. Let him play in the empty tub in clothes, go in the tub with him during bathtime so he can sit on your lap, let him play in the tub with just a film of water and gradually add inches as he gets comfortable.

[silv3rlining]

No real advice as have gone through it with both kids. LO seems content if I can get her splashing. It's more the initial upset and when her head gets wet. With DS we used to get him excited with splashing sou d's as we got his hair wet. And cheering. But even at almost 3 getting him to lay back is a challenge. I think it's mostly a phase and kids that go through it just eventually outgrow it. Like DS loves showers now but would scream horribly if we tried before.

[purple]

L always loved the bath, until she started being afraid a couple of months ago. We tried showering instead, which worked for one shower at a time and then it was back to screaming. Then for a while we stopped washing and it was just playtime. Now she's back to loving the bath, but she absolutely will not lie back. We have to wet her hair and then rinse it with a toy watering can. We sing, "It's raining, it's pouring" and make a game out of it.

She's started to hate floating on her back in the swimming pool, which she also used to love. I'm hoping it's a phase. Most things seem to be!

[Deleted]

Put toys in the bathtub w only an inch of water and let him splash the water then wipe him down. Hopefully he'll get excited about the toys.

both my kids do not like showers but they like baths. If Ali is overtired she also gets cranky at bath time and wants to get out

[periwinkledaydreams]

What wegrowsheep @poppyc8 billyhorrible said.. try re- introducing bath time paced and consider his response as you add more water/hair washing back in.. including the most fun aspects, those he really enjoyed when he did enjoy the bath. He can go a few days without the full thing, don't worry if it takes a little while just wash the most important areas and move on. I think at this point the smaller deal we make of the necessary things that they oppose, the quicker they come around to them.

Do you all play in a pool ever? If so and he enjoys the pool, perhaps try a bit of water on his hair while he's having fun splashing in the pool. He might not even notice..

[ombradellarosa]

E used to really like baths but since we switched her to the big tub she has screamed when we put her in. Of course I attribute part of that to my failure to give her baths often enough. DH gave her one at my parents' house while we were there. Mom helped him and baby screamed bloody murder. My mom later asked me very seriously, "Why does your baby hate baths?" Like I'm supposed to have an answer for that? She kept trying to help me by giving the baby a bath and later I told her "You know babies don't need a bath every day, right?" She seemed incredibly disbelieving. She doesn't mean to be judgmental but it just seeps out of her.

[carolyngrace]

Oscar recently got sick of baths and just tries to climb out immediately. So we tried showers and he loves them. He plays around the edge and eventually sticks his whole head in. It's very surprising and bizarre.

Sorry that doesn't really help budders, but thought it might help someone else!

[hannahl201477]

We just went through this about a month or so ago. Loved the pool hated the tub. I started taking his favorite ball in the tub and got in with him first couple times. Now he loves it again. Hopefully just a phase for you too!!

[Widget123]

DD is okay with the bath tub including washing her body but screams bloody murder not to put any water on her head. We wash her hair with wash cloth and dab her eyes to make sure they are dry and that doesn't ease her anxiety. Its been a long time like this (over a year?) so I'm hoping LO doesn't start hating the tub anytime soon.

[gigi3126]

No real advice, as I bathed Jude in his kiddie pool yesterday to avoid the bath meltdown. Everyone else's suggestions seem really good though.