19 MO toddler terrified of bath

[MrsJamin]

3 weeks ago DS2 fell down in my in-laws' plastic bath and went under the water briefly. Ever since then he screams blue murder in the bath even though he used to love bathtime :( We are persevering with trying to make bathtime really fun but he isn't having any of it and refuses to sit down, just screams until we get him out. Any ideas of how to get him over his fear?

[fivegomadindorset]

Can you get in with him, if he sees you are OK with it then this may help to calm him.

[HattiFattner]

my son was scared of falling down the plug hole in the bath. For about 8 months, he bathed in a large plastic box placed in the bathtub. :D

[MrsVidic]

can you get him to get in when its very shallow and then get him to pour water in frm the sink- ie have a jug and pass it him and he tips it in the water- or dont call it bath time and say youll be washing his toys- let him keet a top on or something

[AyesToTheRight]

DS hated the bath for a while at around that age so I stopped giving him a bath for a while. He still got washed but I decided that the pain for all of us of trying to put him in the bath wasn't worth it. I think I tried every week or so and at some point he was fine again.

[AKMD]

Can you take him into the shower with you? If you try that, just check the temperature with a bath thermometer before you get in because showers can feel colder than they actually are :)

DS hated baths when he was first born until the day I took him swimming. He's loved them since then!

I don't know if your DS would be too big for one of the bucket baby baths where the baby is scrunched up?

[MitrochondrialEve]

I second the swimming - though it took 3 classes for DC to go in without screaming. The instructor was great and insisted I keep DC in the pool despite the awful racket - at the first class I was ready to run for the changing rooms after 25mins of screaming. Only a couple of minutes yelling on the next two visits. DC now asks for baths and to go swimming. No showers, though!

[Imnotaslimjim]

My DS went through similar. He suffered a bad ear infection (though we didn't know) and we were bathing him every night. His ear perforated, so it will have been full of water :( took us months and months to convince him that it was ok. hope you find something, for us, we used to sit in an inch of water and flannel wash him, and gradually make it deeper

[MyLifeIsStillChaotic]

I third the swimming. DS1 (2.9yo) was petrified of water but thanks to a few weeks of me taking him (just us, not his dad or brother) he has totally transformed into a happy little water-baby.