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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

dd hates bathtime

15 replies

greenwitch · 28/07/2008 21:07

Hello

My 14 month old daughter absolutely hates bathtime. Sometimes we only manage 2 minutes before she's trying to climb back out. All hell breaks loose when it's time to wash her hair. I'm thinking about getting all her hair cut off to lessen the trauma.

Has anyone been through this? I've tried morning bathtime (once so far) instead, but she still hated it.

ANy ideas
from a very frazzled....
greenwitch xxx

OP posts:

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RhinestoneCowgirl · 28/07/2008 21:11

Somethings we have tried when bath-time has got stressy with DS:

Get in with him
Give him a shower (DS is 2 now and loves this, best when they are steady on their feet tho
Skip the bath, just a quick flannel wash

greenwitch · 29/07/2008 19:11

Hiya
Tried getting in tonight and it went really well.....
Don;t want to do it every night though!!!!

OP posts:

MatNanPlus · 29/07/2008 19:13

sit with your feet in the bath so it does seem such a large deep place for her, maybe get some toys that cling to the sides so it breaks up the space.

RhinestoneCowgirl · 29/07/2008 19:14

Glad it went well tonight I know what you mean about not wanting to get in everytime tho, maybe not bath every night?

moocowme · 29/07/2008 19:38

we had bath phobia briefly at 10mo. got some fun toys for distraction. that did the trick plus lots of silly songs and calming talk. managed to get over it in a couple of weeks. i could not get in the bath tho as we only have a shower here and baby bath.

onwardandupward · 29/07/2008 20:08

Not just "Get in with", but

Get a steaming cup of something nice (or some wine)

Put in some lovely smelly bubbles

Take in a book whose spine you don't care about.

Child plays at deep end with toys and bubbles.

You lie back, read book and enjoy glass of wine.

The only problem with this strategy is once your Dh cottons on to it and starts offering to do the bath on a regular basis...

onwardandupward · 29/07/2008 20:11

Oh and sod the hair washing. I know lots of children up to the age of 7 or even more whose parents never ever use shampoo on their hair, just give it a rinse every now and then when it gets too skanky.

And it doesn't take long for the natural oils to regulate themselves again, so that the hair looks glossy and healthy, and it doesn't smell. In adults, I think it takes a month or so for the hair to stop being smelly and greasy but it's not as long for children. Maybe a week or 10 days? Hard to tell since I'm one of the sod-the-hair-washing brigade

greenwitch · 30/07/2008 09:24

DD tends to plaster food in her hair, we only wash it when it the porridge to hair ratio gets too high! Avocado is bad too. But strawberries smell nice!

When I got in the bath with her, after I'd gotten out she stayed in for ages. I put a lot less water in too. Will try again tonight and see how it goes....

OP posts:

CoteDAzur · 30/07/2008 09:35

How do you wash her hair?

I used to pour water over DD's head and she hated it. Then I started shampooing her head and then lowering it back into the water, supporting her neck with one hand, and rinsing shampoo off her head with the other hand. This worked much better. I highly recommend it, but careful with the ears.

These days, she sits in bath and I rinse her hair with the shower thingie. Then again, she is almost 3, so a different ballgame than when they are 14 months.

sorryihaventaclue · 31/07/2008 11:36

had same, eventually it was a macka packa bath toy that got our ds back in the bath, we'd tried everything else. is there a favourite animal or something that you could try? I even had macka packa diving off the taps and sliding down the bath having a nice time without ds eventually he got jealous and tried the bath again and realised he liked it after all.

The next night he cried getting OUT of the bath (this phobia had gone on for 8 weeks we were at ends of tethers)

As for hair washing, he is partial to plastering it with food and the current need for sunscreen doesnt help. we got a special jug from john lewis with a kind of rubber edge at the front so no water goes in his eyes. He still creates but much less so. when possible, husband gets in too on hair washing nights and DS is encouraged to wash daddy's hair at the same time and it take his mind off it completely. Not always practical i know.

greenwitch · 03/08/2008 13:43

Could you put in a link to the jug from John Lewis? I've heard about a kind of visor thing as well, but not sure who sells it.

OP posts:

merryandmad · 03/08/2008 13:52

" John Lewis"

merryandmad · 03/08/2008 13:56

Mothercare also do one " here"

merryandmad · 03/08/2008 13:56

Ps, Sorry to hijiack, just practising links x

onwardandupward · 03/08/2008 13:56

And there's one in the NCT catalogue too

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