Bath time question
Tina Smith
Mommy. The only exception is when the water gets on her head to get it wet
or to rinse the shampoo out. She usually cries during that part and then
settles down quickly to play. For the past 2 weeks or so, she has been
SCREAMING in the tub. I don't know why. The water temperature is the
exact same as always, we use the same soap and shampoo as we have for the
past 2-3 months, same tub, same toys, etc. The only thing that I can
imagine is that I have been having her sit on the potty for a while after
the bath to see if she'll go. She doesn't cry or complain at all when she
sits on the potty, but she does if she pees on the floor as if she's scared
to death (I've posted about this before). I've not been putting her on the
potty for the past few days and I don't plan to again for a while in case
she is associating bath time with peeing. Is there anything else I can do
to help her like her baths again? Any theories besides the potty thing
that I should consider? Tonight she was screaming like I was killing her
and then got worse when I shampooed her hair. I wouldn't have done her
hair tonight considering her reaction, but I skipped 2 nights of baths and
she had food in her hair, so I had to. I haven't tried the swimming pool
to see if she is just afraid of the water or if its the bath doing it. Any
help or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm sure I've been as clear as
mud here. :)
TIA,
Tina
Mom to Ally 12/9/02
Agent Starling
You might just have to do the trial and error thing like you are doing
and see what it is. Toddlers are strange sometimes about things (normal
everyday things). When mine were crankier than usual we usally told the
doctor and he told us to bring them in and mine usually had an ear
infection starting too. Could it be that? Good luck in finding out
what it is that is making her cry.
If its any consulation though Alexis STILL cries when its time to wash
her hair! I have seen one suggestion of getting a pair of water goggles
on them at hair washing time and then if the water runs in their eyes
it wont go in their eyes. It might be that.
Tim, Clarice, Jake, Alexis
whodunit
Don't think there's a potty connection, but you never know
with kids! Maybe she got something in her eyes the last calm
bath she took, so now she remembers and doesn't want that
to happen again?
This bath time stuff happened with Maya too, except she developed an
aversion to having her hair washed after her grandparents bathed her the
first time (when they were staying with us soon after we moved to CA)
and basically just poured water over her head repeatedly
(I heard her screaming OUTSIDE!) and it took a long long time to
desensitize her to getting her hair washed. (They'd raised three boys,
and didn't realize Maya needed to be treated more gently during baths.)
One thing that helped was to explain every step of the wetting hair/
putting in shampoo/rinsing it out routine over and over--we'd start
early in the day talking about "when Mama/Dad washes your hair
tonight..." We also put something (colored glow in the dark stars) on
the ceiling, and had her look at it while we talked our way through
the routine in the bath as well. Maya's biggest fear turned out to be
getting water in her eyes, so we tried using a folded up wash rag
over her eyes, and that really helped, since she was the one holding
it up while we washed her hair. I noticed tonite that the past few
baths she has foregone the wash rag, and simply lifted her head up
so I can pour water on it (from a plastic cup), put the soap in, then
rinse--takes less than 2 minutes when she cooperates and I think
she *finally* realized that struggling made it longer. :-)
Good luck with Ally, I hope she gets past this soon.
Love,
Carolyne in TX
KrisAnne L.
>and didn't realize Maya needed to be treated more gently during baths.)
That is funny to hear, because I always think of boys as being more sensitive,
because that's the situation here. You could dump buckets of water on
Elisabeth's head and she'd have a big grin on her face. With Justin, I had to
try different ways of washing his hair to find things that wouldn't send him
into sensory overload...a towel held over his head, leaning back so his face
didn't get wet, using just a little shampoo and toweling it out instead of
rinsing, and last but not least, not trying to wash it every day. At 7,
washing his hair is still a big deal to him. He washes it twice a week and
still does this whole "leaning back" thing so the shampoo doesn't go in his
face. Tina, I'd just try different things to make it go easier. A lot of
toddlers that age go through a bath-phobic stage. I know that we moms like our
kids to have a daily bath, but skipping a day here or there or just having her
stand in the tub and cleaning the necessary body parts can be a good plan for
awhile til she passes through this stage.
KrisAnne, Mom to Justin Myles (7) and Elisabeth Kristin (3)
Tammy
used to hate having her hair washed and to take a bath. I let her choose the
toys she wanted and that helped a lot. Also we use "funny soap" aka foamy soap
that is liek shaving cream. I can hardly get them out of the tub. I hope she
calms back down soon.
Tammy~Mommy to John 3/8/95, Kane 5/27/95, Isaiah 5/8/96, Trey 3/10/99, Destiny
11/7/99, Thomas 7/3/00 and Hunter 7/3/00
Twinzmommie
no idea why she is carrying on like this, I just wonder if it would make her
happier to have something new. I just bought R&J these little wind up toys
from target. It was a frog, a fish and a duck. You wind them us and then they
swim around the tub. They have been well liked.
Good luck!
Michelle
Tina Smith
stacking frog stuff and it hasn't helped. I may try using bubble bath,
putting stuff on the ceiling to look at, getting the tub paints/crayon
stuff bathing at a different time of day. I've tried the towel on the face
and that didn't work. I may look into the foam shampoo and soap since that
rinses more quickly.
Tina
tam...@aol.combyespam (Tammy) wrote in
news:20040606101003...@mb-m04.aol.com:
Tina Smith
> "leaning back" thing so the shampoo doesn't go in his face. Tina, I'd
> just try different things to make it go easier. A lot of toddlers that
> age go through a bath-phobic stage. I know that we moms like our kids
> to have a daily bath, but skipping a day here or there or just having
> her stand in the tub and cleaning the necessary body parts can be a
> good plan for awhile til she passes through this stage.
> KrisAnne, Mom to Justin Myles (7) and Elisabeth Kristin (3)
I've cut her baths down to once every other day or sometimes 2 or 3 days
will go by, but it hasn't helped either. I'm going to experiment a bit to
see what else I can do. :)
Tina
Tammy
the other things don't work.
karlisa
suddenly developed "fears" or aversions to things that never bothered him
before and we're equally stymied. Balloons?? Why in the heck are balloons
scary? But I digress....
If she's getting soap or water in her eyes, maybe you could buy one of those
little adjustable foam bath visors. I bought one for Mick a while back (the
child has way too much hair!), and he loves it when I rinse his hair with
the plastic cup. They sell them at Target.
I hope she gets over her fears soon!
lisa
micksmom
22 months old!
"Tina Smith" <ti...@nospam.eeman.org> wrote in message
news:Xns94FFDCDA8CB...@63.223.5.250...
Steve Taron
Amelia went through a similar bout of ablutophobia in her 17th month. Hers
commenced after snorking up a snoot full of bathwater one night. She is a
night-bather and I think that the fact that she was having an unusually late
night added to her fear and frustration. She would just start to cry and
hold her arms out to be picked up as soon as her feet hit the water, in the
thick of it she wouldn't even sit down, so much for soaking the dreaded
diaper area. It was heartbreaking. We bought her a cutesy Munchkin
inflatable tub with a quacking beak, that helped for exactly 2 days, then
she was back to inconsolable crying. Her tub sits inside a bathtub/shower
combo so I changed the standard shower head to one of those sprinkler on a
hose handheld heads. She loves it! She was an immediate convert. She even
laughs now when I shower her face. After dinner I ask her "Do you want a
shower?" She smiles and nods her head. Is Ally a night-bather? Would it
help to switch her bath time from day to night or vice versa?
Hope that you find the answer, it's awful to see them so sad and scared.
Julie
Amelia's mama
11/8/02
Robert Goodman
> With Justin, I had to
> try different ways of washing his hair to find things that wouldn't send him
> into sensory overload...a towel held over his head, leaning back so his face
> didn't get wet, using just a little shampoo and toweling it out instead of
> rinsing, and last but not least, not trying to wash it every day. At 7,
> washing his hair is still a big deal to him. He washes it twice a week and
> still does this whole "leaning back" thing so the shampoo doesn't go in his
> face.
I've always favored just the opposite -- tilting the head forward so
the water runs off.
Suzanne
time in the last month or so. We tried everything we could think of also-
bathing with her, showers, changing the time of day we bathe her, new toys,
etc. I think the thing that worked the best for her was to have a bottle of
bubbles near the bathtub. We blow bubbles before bath time now and she
really looks forward to that. Now she doesn't even seem in any big hurry to
get out. She doesn't love having her hair rinsed, but I just do it very
quickly and she is fine. No more tears.
Good luck with it. Hopefully this phase won't last too long.
Suzanne & Allison 1/9/03
"Tina Smith" <ti...@nospam.eeman.org> wrote in message
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