19 month old hate to take bath

T

taysty

Registered User
Hi all mommies, I want to know is there any mommies out there in the same boat as mine.

So here's the summary, she used to like to take a bath, never want to get out of the tub. 2 weeks ago, my father in law wants to add in a bit more spice by using the shower head on her. Before he even on the water, she started crying. Since then she can't stand the sight of the shower head, don't want us to take off her clothes as she know we are giving her a bath. So everyday is a big fight, crying and crying non stop at bath time. Even just asking her, she starts her crying. We have tried giving her bubbles, bath toys, even bath her with her clothes on doesn't work. Also, we let her play with the shower head hoping to overcome her fear. That didnt work too. I can only remember we only use shower head on her once when she's 1yo. Since she hate it we didn't use it till 2 weeks ago.

Can anyone give some advice?
 
I have never been in your situation but it seems to me your child was traumatised. She needs some reassurance that everything is okay. Is it possible for someone to shower/bath with her, show her that mummy/daddy are not afraid & theres nothing to be scared of? Also, having someone else in the shower/bath can distract her & take her mind off her anxiety. It's a pain to get all wet but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.
 
Sometimes there's 3 of us, one doing the bath the other 2 distracting her. Still doesn't work. Might have to try taking a bath together with her like you suggest. :(
 
Taysty, if you're quite sure it's the shower head then don't know what to suggest. But my son, who is 17-months-old, started throwing similar tantrums when it was time for his bath a couple of weeks ago. I remember another thread on this forum where the kid started suddenly disliking a bath and others on that thread had experienced it too with their kids. One of the suggestions was to shift the bathtime, and that's what we did with my son. We realised that his usual bathtime in the evening coincided with when my husband and I were home from work and my son didn't want to spend that precious time in the bath, plus he was generally hungry then so more likely to get cranky. Shifting his bathtime worked well for us... maybe you could try with your daughter, the change of routine might help.
 
We did try to change the bath time to late afternoon 2-3 times. Didn't work too well. I see if I can find more appropriate time.

We even hide the shower head and let her take bath in another bathroom of our apartment. Sadly, still doesn't work.
 
i remember when my daughter was a baby we bought a non-slip mat to put in her bath - it was bright green with goldfish on it and she freaked out and refused to go in the bath. after that she hated going in the bath and would scream etc etc. In the end i got in the bath with her (we had already thrown the mat away) she sat on my lap to begin with and eventually got in the water. I did this a couple of times and then she was fine.
actually, it was fun to have a bath with her!
 
Glad to know that i am not alone here. Babies are amazing and make our lives very exciting sometimes. :)
 
Will also suggest you bathe with her :) and perhaps starts with a bath vs the shower? My daughter doesn't like the shower too but when she saw me use it she got more accustomed to it. Get in the bath, bathe first then kneel down to her level to shower her. Remember to soften the power of the water jet.
 
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