Hello! I have an 11 month old baby girl. As an infant, she loved her baths and smiled all the way through, but since she learned to stand about 3 months ago, she has started hating them. She insists on standing during the whole bath and screams and sometimes even cries to get out. I used to bathe her in the evening as part of her nighttime routine like I did for her 2 year old sister, but now I'm down to bathing her every other morning after her morning nap because it was not at all soothing for her. She especially hates when I wash her hair, no matter how careful I am. We've already tried bathing both girls together to see if it would be more fun for her, but that didn't work. Any suggestions!
Hello N.,
By any chance, have you tried to find some cute toys for her to get in the bathtub with, so she can see it as play time. Some foam forms to stick on the tiles or something she can enjoy. My daughter used to have some special toys to get in the tub with. So I was able to make some days a "fun bath" day and some others just a regular "quick" bath.
Hope this will give you an idea. Wishing you the best of luck!
First of all, unless she is really dirty, she doesn't NEED a bath every day. Every other day is plenty.
With my kids, bathtime was mostly about playing with toys (for them). They hardly noticed they were getting bathed except when they had to "look up at the ceiling" so I could rinse the shampoo out of their hair. Buy some of the bath crayons and some squirty toys. Let them play with measuring cups (or other colorful cups) in the tub and practice pouring things. We used to practice making letters on the wall of the tub, or just drawing pictures. (If you are familiar with Dr. Suess's "Pale Green Pants" story.. we even drew the green pants on the tub wall, LOL).
Sing songs with them while they bath... ("This is the way we wash our __, wash our__, wash our __"). If you aren't too anal (it can be messy), you could even give her a turkey baster to squirt water with. My son's favorite bath toy was one of those medicine syringes... from when he had an ear infection... I just washed it and let him use it to squirt the wall in the tub..)
Let them play (yes it will be a half hour long--- till the water turns cold even), but so what. They will enjoy it and you won't have to stress. My kids still enjoy the bath (10 yrs and 7 yrs old).
My youngest son went through the same thing around the same time as your daughter. I just stayed consistent on when and where I gave him baths and he finally realized he was going to get a bath no matter what. Now, at 2 years old, he absolutely loves taking baths and sometimes hates getting out!
HTH
S. WAHM of 4!!
Does she have any dolls or plastic animals she can take into the tub so she can "wash" them? That's how I get my 2 year old in the tub lately
N.,
take a bath with her for a couple of weeks to get her to have fun again. It works.
T.
Mom of 4
We have a 13 month old who loved to stand in the bath... a few months ago I started counting to 3 times and then the bath was over. She now stands only to get out when she is finished with the bath. We noticed that she loved being in an infant tub in front of the mirror, so we put non-breakable small mirrors in the tub and that made a huge difference! Odd, but true!
I had the same problem and I figure out that it was the temperature in the water. Try to change it and see if that helps, now as soon as I open the faucet he runs to the bathroom to get in and he has a blast offcourse it includes me getting soaked because of the splash zone.
have you tried distracting her with new bath toys?
K. G.
It is a love hate relationship with the bath that I don't get. Both of mine have gone through various phases of loving and then hating and then loving the bath again. Just do the best you can to ride out the wave. My 3YO has always stood in the tub, I don't know why, he just does. Now he will get down and play in the water a little, but still stands for most of the time. Now my 21mo suddenly hates having his hair washed. He screams like he is in pain. I just get it over with as quick as I can, and then let him go back to playing.
So let her stand! You can put a small towel for her to stand on (I don't trust the non-slip rubber mats). Try using a shower extension she can play with. You can ask her to wet her feet for a while, then her legs, up to her neck, etc. She probably doen't like getting her face wet either! :) Or you can towel wash her and only wet her directly when you rinse her.
Dear N.- God, do I know how you feel. My son did the same thing and nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could change it. You just have to wait it out. Its a stage and eventually they get through it. He runs to the bath now. He's 3, so strap yourself in and don't stress that they need it every day. Sponge baths every other time to make it easier on you and her. You'll get through. Send me a direct e-mail if you get crazy and I'll be happy to talk you down from the ledge. Good luck.
