14 month old suddenly hating baths?

[gizzyntaz]

What's up with this? DS has ALWAYS loved his bath. Since day 1. He and his Dad have a blast. About 10 days ago he screamed the minute DH put him in the water. There was no change in time, temperature, anything that we can think of. Two nights later, I tried giving him a bath. He refused to sit in the water, just stood there shaking and screaming until he vomited :( (I was cleaning him as quick as I could...) We've been scared to give him a bath since then, but this morning I decided it was a necessary evil, so I hopped in the tub. He was in the bathroom and he sat on the floor and cried. DH put him in with me, and he cried more. I nursed him while DH cleaned him, and at the end of the bath he was as freaked out as the beginning.

A few people IRL have mentioned a similar behavior around 14 months. Can anyone commiserate or give me suggestions on how to get him over this? I'm thinking of trying a shower next, but he's not a fan of water on his face, so that might not go over too well either!

[J&K2003]

Here's a recent thread on baths that might be helpful. (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=15328)

[twinnyme]

I can commiserate. My DD started this slightly about a month ago - to the point where one day I climbed in the bath with her, too (the only time I've ever done that). With her I think it's more associated with her getting her hair washed, so I've stopped doing that as much, maybe 1-2 times a week now. I just wash her body quickly now, then let her play to her hearts' content. But she still tries to climb out of her bath chair when she's done and ready to get out. :)

[gf&js]

It must be something about that age - my dd did something similar - but she doesn't mind a bath but refuses to sit down. A month later we are finally now getting her to sit again. I think we finally got her interested in sitting again by putting suction cup toys on the bottom and encouraging her to get them. It seemed to work for us. Good luck!

[gizzyntaz]

He doesn't seem distracted by toys. He hears the bath water running and when we take him into the room he starts crying a very panicked cry. Last night DH took a shower with him and that went a little better but he still cried. I guess we're just going to have to ride it out, I'm pretty sure he'll come around eventually.

[marchfamily]

We are there too (DD is 13.5 months and been doing this for 3-4 weeks). We thought it was related to a rash she had, but now think its developmental.

We've been letting her play in the bathtub with her clothes on, then letting her watch the water fill the bathtub, then mom/dad gets in, then she gets in on their lap....eventually she feels okay enough to sit on her own. It's a long process, but we want to build her confidence back up.

[twinnyme]

Good ideas, marchfamily. DD freaked out yesterday when I tried to give her a bath. She'd gotten better for a while, but despite no changes I can figure out, was very upset when I tried to bath her yesterday. We had her bath seat in the tub and all filled up and she wanted nothing to do with it. Eventually I emptied the tub most of the way (while we were out of the room), took out the bath seat, and let her play with her bath toys on the side of the tub from outside the tub - which she does every night as part of her bedtime routine lately (the bathroom connects to her room) - and gently coaxed her into the tub so I could wash her. I also promised her repeatedly that I wouldn't wash her hair (don't know if she understands me). I also let her stand in the tub, which I *never* usually allow, as a special treat, just so I could get her washed. I didn't climb in with her this time, though. Eventually, she was okay for a few minutes, for enough time for me to wash her, but I'm worried about how to deal with this. She has a ton of hair so we have to wash it every once in a while! :)

The only thing that has occurred to me is that maybe I should start giving her a nightly bath. I'd say we give her a bath 3-4 times a week but maybe she's forgetting in between how much she likes baths?

[texmama]

Wow, I went on here to find a solution but it sounds like our kids have the same problem. Everything was fine - she LOVED baths and then about a week ago, started to freak out and will just scream & cry! We don't know what to do, but we have to give her a bath! Did you try getting in the tub? I did, and it still didn't help.

[dzmattie]

DS started this at 14 months - it lasted about 2 weeks and then he was fine - I think it is just a stage - nothing we did worked - we just let him stand and washed him up fast and eventually it passed - strange phase!!

[hub1176]

I saw a thread about tub troubles a while ago but can't find it.

In any event - we have the munchkin ducky tub but DD keeps trying to climb out. On top of that she used to love the tub and now hates it. Same thing with the hairwashing, you would think I was murdering her the way she carries on (and I've tried everything, using a soothing voice, trying to gently lean her back, covering her forehead with a washcloth while I rinse out the shampoo, to just using the washcloth to try to rinse it out the best I can) She's got a full head of hair and really needs to have it rinsed with water though. I thought about buying a bigger inflatable tub, but I'm still dealing with her climbing, and the hairwashing. Is this just a stage? How do you deal?

[lml41981]

I gave up on the baby bathtubs after the first week. Now, I give DD a bath in the big tub and I'm in there with her. This works well for us and I think it has led her not to fear water. Also, she doesn't do anything to get dirty, so we only bathe her when we swim or when her hair starts getting visibly dirty (or when she has just gotten nasty after eating solids). So, bathtime is kind of a novelty for her that she enjoys.

[LeslieR]

We gave up on the baby tub at around 6mos. DS is pulling up now and pulls up in the tub all the time. I don't think there's really ever going to be an escape to the climbing out of the tub issue. lol

[Kiley]

DS (10.5mo) loves to climb out of the tub (baby tub, inflatable tub, big tub, sink, etc.) so we resorted to showers. If we do a bath, I get in there with him.

[jmvan74]

I don't really have any advice, but just want to let you know we have the same issues (especially with hair washing). I just started washing and rinsing as fast as I could. I found that if I use a little cup and pour the water on the back of DS's head while ooohing and aahhhing like it's such fun, I am able to get his hair wet and ready for soap. When I'm scrubbing, I sing silly songs to him. The rinse...not so much fun. I then wash him quickly and when he stands up, we're done. He's starting to understand that if he wants to stay and splash, then he has to sit or he's getting out.

[twinnyme]

* bump * for hub1176. My DD still semi-hates the bath, but it's getting a LITTLE better, after months of her really hating it.

I'm thinking of getting this Bath Brush (http://homegrownkids.com/products_bathbrush.html) to help with washing her hair, which she still really hates. (She has tons of hair, too.)

http://homegrownkids.com/images/product_thumb_bathbrush.jpg

[twinnyme]

hub1176 - I think I found the other thread - and I bumped it up for you. Maybe those responses will also help. We've gone through this, too....

[kimthebride]

Lol!

My DS turned 13 months while I was at the IL's for 2 weeks, and he went from DH & I dragging him out of our tub after 30 minutes of bathtime euphoria, to screaming bloody murder Every. Single. Night. in my IL's tub. :rolleyes: We recreated the same toys etc as we have at home, and it was madness.

Finally I turned the tub faucet on a little and he would calm down, become entranced with trying to pinch, grab and splash the running water.

We got home, and he was doing the same thing - screaming, crying, trying to climb out. So we now let the faucet run, introduce new tub toys and he does much better. Hope its just a stage!

[hub1176]

Thanks twinnyme! I'll take a look.

The tub we have is supposed to be for older babies/young toddlers. I thought about getting in the tub with her, but (and this may sound silly) the thought of her peeing in the tub while I'm in with her gives me the heebies...:o And this from the girl who loves swimming in lakes and pools that people have probably done much worse in. :rolleyes:

jmvan - I guess I have to get more stern and take her out if she stands, but you know how it is when they really need the bath and you're like do I pull them out of just quickly finish?

[Traciann]

we are still using the Eurotub at 14 months. She still sits on the moulded side, because the other side for older kids is too big. I heart this tub and will use it until she cannot use it anymore.

We did have problems with her standing up in the tub around that same age. We would just tell her to sit down very firmly and eventually she stopped. Now if she stands up at the end of her bath, I figure she is done and take her out. We have variety of toys, but she likes bottles and cups the best.

As far as the hair washing I rinse out the back as best as I can with a cup of water, then lay her back in the tub since it has a recline, then really fast rise out the top part of her head. It seems to work...although she doesn't like to stayed reclined for long.

HTH!
Traci

[Renrel]

I think it is a phase many many children go through and it always baffles us parents because there is no apparent reason. It does seem to pass for most kids, with a little patience from mom and dad. I don't remember exactly what we did, it was quite awhile ago. I may have gotten in with him, but that may have been part of our hair washing issues. I definately was bathing with him for a while to deal with that. We do bath nearly every night, which probable helped in getting over the fear. We still have not gotten over the hate of hair washing. I am sorry to say we resort to bribes on this one and very very infrequent hair washing. We try for once a week but he we are out of town over the weekend or he get sick or something like that it might be two weeks which is pretty gross. Anyway hair washing requires both two parents, one to hold and lean ds back and one to pour the water, the offer of goggles and/or a hair washing visor, and the promise of a reward if he cooperates. At first it was a big reward - he got one bath flute from a set of 5, each time he cooperated. Then we moved down to a sticker and a tattoo. Lately he seems to prefer stamps which are even easier on our wallet (ink and a stamp) though when he decides to stamp his face I do get some funny looks in daycare.

Some of our tricks for making bath fun are the tablets that turn the water colors, or even food coloring, bubbles, medicine droppers, lots of cups for pouring water, and other toys.

[twinnyme]

*bump*