Suddenly hates bath time

[SAS]

Hi all

My 7 week old daughter used to love her bath times. I put her in a bath stand inside her bathing tub wich frees up my hands to play with her and bath her. She would lean back in her stand and smile away at me while I bathed her. All of a sudden for the past 5 days she starts screaming when I put her in the bath. She will be quiet for the first 5 - 10 seconds and then starts screaming. I have always used a thermometer for the water so it's not like the temperature has changed. In the last 5 days I have tried making it hotter and colder to see if that makes any difference but that hasn't helped. As soon as I take her out she is fine. I find this strange because for the previous six weeks she was fine. Has this happened to anyone else.

[Chickadee]

Yes. DD went through a few weeks of hating her bath, sometime between 1 & 3 months. I can't remember when exactly. I just bathed her really really fast and only once or twice a week if possible.

You could try removing the bath stand, maybe that is pinching her or bothering her suddenly. Or you could just do a sponge bath on her change mat for a few weeks and then try the bath again.

[Milly]

Yes, from memory my DD did this too. I think it is just one of those newborn/new baby phases. I remember that we also did the quick bath thing, but then it all settled down. She went through another phase of hating the bath a little later in her first year, but grew out of it. Just a baby quirk :)

On a side note, until very recently she hated baths when my MIL was watching and carrying on with her. I don't think that was a phase :D LOL

[Lucybelle]

she may not feel secure enough in the seat. I used to put my son in the nappy bucket in the lounge room so we could be in front of the heater when it was cold!

We also used to bath him in the big bath, fill it with a couple of inches and folded a couple of facewashers to go under his head, and keep the water out of his ears. You can sit next to the bath, they feel secure and can wave arms and legs everywhere!!

[Rell]

My son went throught the same thing and we found he loved it when we put him on his tummy instead of on his back

[BJelly]

Hi SAS, it's Laura's Mum here - I think we know each other in real life.

PM me

[Shazbutt]

Help!!! This is off the subject a bit, but i suddenly have a 2 yr old that now hates the bath!! She used to love her bath, you had to drag her out of it, even in winter, but all of a sudden she kicks and screams and won't even get in, let alone let me wash her....i don't know what has happened. All i can think of is that she now hates the sound of the water going down the drain? :confused: She never used to mind it, she'd even try to sit on the plughole while the water was going down (and no...she never got a scare that i know of...). I have tried sitting her on her step stool in the bath and putting one of those shower head things on the tap for her to play with while i wash her...(it worked for one night and i thought i had the problem solved...but the next night, she wasn't having a bar of it!). What can i do, does anyone have any suggestions, apart from putting a big dish on the floor with water in it...(i'm having a caeser in a few weeks and won't be able to lift it, never mind the water all over the bathroom! :D ) I have also tried puting her in the shower with me or hubby and she won't let us put her down... I need to sort this out before bub arrives, she's stressing me out in all corners at the moment...talk about hitting the terible two's!!

If anyone has any suggestions or has had the same prob...please let me know!!!

[Chickadee]

It's not unusual for young children to be frightened by the water going down the drain. It's not just the noise but apparently that they don't have good perception of size (& so don't realise they don't fit in teh drain) and so might be scared that they'll go down the drain too. Even though your daughter used to play at the drain, it might be scaring her now. We always leave the water in the tub until dd (20 months) is out of it, and preferably until shes out of the room.

I don't really have any solutions for you. I was going to suggest showering with her but you've tried that. Have you tried turning the shower head so it just sprays the shower wall instead of down? It might be that she doesn't like the spray (or even the splashback as the spray hits you). When I used to shower with dd I went through huge amounts of shaving gel, letting dd use it as fingerpaint while I washed her.

If you still have a baby bath, could you try putting that in either the tub or shower. So the baby bath has water in it for her to play with and for you to wash her with, but she can stay out of it if she prefers? And any spilling is contained and easily goes down the drain at the end of bath time.

My only other idea is to get one of those baby dolls that can be bathed, and see if she'd like to give it a bath while she has hers.

[moomoz]

Hi,
My boy hated the bath from birth to about 4 weeks old. I tried everything to get him to like it but after a few weeks of constaint routine, he came to like it.
I used to put a face washer or hand towel on the bottom of the bath (I have a change table/bath all in one) so it took away the coldness of the base off his body and this seemed to help as well as plenty of talking to him. Also I took a bath with him every now and then to show him it was ok, fun and he wasn't alone - think this helped too.
Now my baby is in the big bath and loves it! So I reckon its something they go through.
Good Luck :D

[Shazbutt]

Hi there again....after i posted this today, i tried to bath Mackenzie and my mum suggested using some of those bath paints that you can get....i'd had them for ages and totally forgotten about them!! I gave them to her in the bath without the water on for a while and then once she was playing i put the shower hose on the tap, and she played with them happily for ages!! As soon as i told her it was time to get out though, she literally jumped out of the bath, she must have been worried again, but i left the water in until she was out of the room.

Fingers crossed we won't have a problem any more!! (until i run out of paints!!) Though i have read that you can make your own with shaving cream and food colouring?? Does anyone know if that will stain the bath and surrounds? Anyhow...thanks to the people who replied to my post....great to know you can get help when you need it!

Take care everyone...until my next 'terrible twos' dilemma!! :D

[talon]

shannon - am pretty sure that Avon sell kiddie roll on soap in red and blue if you are looking for some. Haven't heard any complaints about them as yet.

[melzy]

my daughter hated bathtimes too. You could try putting your child in the bath without any seating...just lay her in the bath on a non slip mat but not very deep, amuse her with a toy or two or you could even get in the bath with her. I also found that if I held my daughter (put one arm under her arm and supported her head) and swayed her from side to side and up and down the bath like a fish movement it relaxed her. This can also happen when they are older too. My daughter then started to enjoy the bath and when she turned one she would not sit or lay or like it at all. Now that she is two she has started to enjoy playing on her stomach pretending to swim etc. It reminds me of the food factor...they go through phases and change without notice. Hang in there...it will get better, especially when the weather warms up.