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Behaviour/development

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

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Original poster

Tantrums at bathtime - what can I do?

13 replies

inycon · 22/03/2006 20:04

My daughter age two just won't go in the bath without a fight. I'm sure the neighbours must think she's being murdered with all the noise coming out of the bathroom. Even worse if I need to wash her hair. How can I calm her down and stop dreading bathtimes. I've tried toys, bubbles and even sacrificing her poor elder brother to the bath at the same time.

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aviatrix · 22/03/2006 20:37

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lilybird · 22/03/2006 20:41

inycon,we had this early last year, dd didn't have a bath for months!! (did wash her tho') then one day she just decided she wanted to go in, we just didn't force her. she watched me in the bath most nights.
still have a major problem with hairwashing tho'!

MrsWood · 22/03/2006 20:44

We had a similar thing with our dd - but she was a little younger then (around 18 months).
To get her to bath, we bought CRAZY SOAP (available in all supermarkets) which is quite thick and you can make shapes. Our favorite is making a snowball and chucking it between eachother 20 odd times. That soap acts as any other, but may sting eyes, so we do it after hair washing. We also bought NODDY Bath paints - again, supermarkets. Oh, and Bath crayons which make a mess, but are easily washed off with a soft cloth.
For washing the hair, I suggest you get her a little bath dolly (small, big, whatever) and get her to wash dolly's hair. You can also try that dolly washes her hair and you go "oh, dolly, you're so silly...". Our dd dies of laughter.
If that fails, try putting small face cloth over her eyes whilst you rinse shampoo off - that worked wonders for us.
There are also quite nice bath letters you can buy (made of sponge) - not just letters - animals, dollies etc.
Any good?

mumatuks · 22/03/2006 20:44

Hang on there ~Aviatrix, but how is your answer any help? Or were you trying to be sarcastic, either way I can guarentee it was no help to Inycon.

Inycon, have you tried getting in the bath with her. I know it's a bit of a PITA, but if it gets her in, I wouldn't worry. Or, how about a plastic baby dolly that she could take in the bath with her, or if you use her old baby bath during the day using a bit of role play to get her involved.

My DS who is also 2, hates having his hair washed. My best solution is the flannel over the eyes whislt looking "right up" at the ceiling and singing something like "Twinkle Twinkle" But he always screams like he's being drowned!!

I hope it gets better for you soon.

fatbetty · 22/03/2006 20:46

I had the same problem too with ds1 when he was 2 (still sometimes a problem now at age 3!). Eventually he grew out of it. Maybe try a reward chart or stickers. Or maybe have her help you get the bath ready. Give her a choice of being washed with a wash cloth, or take a bath with fun toys.

Hattie05 · 22/03/2006 20:48

mumatuks, i thought exactly the same as aviatrix. In fact i did exactly that.

There is no point in causing enormous stress, and the more one perseveres the worse it gets. Once i stopped asking my dd to have a bath, she wanted one!

Provided she gets a wash, it isn't life or death situation if she doesn't bath. Try alternatives until she is comfortable again. Stand in a shower?
Stand in an empty bath letting her blow bubbles and enjoy 'wet' play without a full bath.

aviatrix · 22/03/2006 20:49

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mumatuks · 22/03/2006 20:50

Sorry! I read into it wrong. very sorry!

aviatrix · 22/03/2006 20:57

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Angeliz · 22/03/2006 21:08

Why don't you have a bath and say that it's Mummy's bath and she can just have a wash later. Make it very very nice and fun of course but she can read or play while you bathe.
I bet in a few days she'll want to climb in!

Reverse psychology, i swear by it!

Dottydot · 22/03/2006 21:20

I'm clearly the meanest mummy in the world, 'cos when ds2 went through a phase like this a while back I just carried on bathing him... Much quicker though! Was just very matter of fact, stripped him, plonked him in, did his teeth, quick wash and out again - all while he was screaming. But now he's back to loving it and all's well...

I think my approach is down to me being incredibly anal about routine (can you tell I love GF?!) and I didn't want ds to change the usual tea, bath, bed routine - heaven forbid any changes should impact on him going to bed!!

Ahem... So keep going and hopefully it'll pass.

BettySpaghetti · 22/03/2006 21:25

Have you tried her in the shower? My DD loved showers at this age (which was just as well as we didn't have a bath, only a shower, due to house renovation for some time).The novelty might appeal to her.

If theres a problem with water in the eyes get her some swimming goggles

Original poster

inycon · 22/03/2006 22:19

I haven't tried to see if she'll get in the bath if I go in first. Might give this a go in the morning. Colouring soap and foam letters sound good. Not sure about the not having a bath idea though because I'd have to get her in the bath to sponge her down and there's masses of knotted up curly hair to wash as well. Thanks for all the ideas.

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