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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

DS hates having his hair washed

13 replies

LunaMoona · 22/05/2006 18:42

DS (20m) hates having his hair washed atm. He was absolutely fine up until a few weeks ago (would lay back to have it done, hence no splashes in eyes etc). Now is wriggling, screaming, getting water and shampoo everywhere including eyes and of course, making it all worse. I realise this is probably a common phase and he will no doubt grow out of it, but does anyone have any tips for making bathtime and hair wash time enjoyable again ?

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YellowFeathers · 22/05/2006 19:01

You can buy foam caps which go around the head so theres no water on the face etc. I think we got ours from Boots.

DD went through a similar phase a few months ago. Suddenly everything to do with water scared her. Going to the swimming baths turned into a scream fest, bath times were not enjoyable at all. Dh took it upon himself to sort out the problem, lol. He had lots of baths with her some in the shower to get her used to the water over her face, lots of laying on her belly and pretendng to swim and just watching me and dh in the bath, showing her there was nothing to be scared of.
It really paid off and now if we run a bath when shes up we can't get in without her. She loves it.

nutcracker · 22/05/2006 19:04

I am having the same problem with my Ds at the mo. He was fine until a couple of weeks ago when his sister accidentally poured diluted bubble bath over his head and it went in his eyes.

TBH my advice is to just carry on washing it how you were and as quick as poss.

I just quickly wet it, quickly soap it up and rinse it off superfast. Ds screams but it's over that quick and he is getting better each time.

lunarx · 23/05/2006 13:40

my ds (now almost 23months) used to HATE having his hair washed. screaming, the whole 9.

i got him into liking it, by making it a sing-songy game (yes i know by the end of the day, we're tired etc!) i let him have a bit of shampoo to rub on his tummy or to 'wash' his toy turtles 'hair'.

and when that didnt work, i washed his hair as quick as possible!!! but now, he doesnt mind it at all.:)

good luck!

MrsBigD · 23/05/2006 13:53

LunaMoona just to let you know you're not alone with this. DS (20m) used to love baths and hair washes then suddenly decided NO WAY! So even trying to get him into the bath tub would result in him crying pityfully and clinging to me for dear life!

Only the last 2 nights was he semi-happy in the tub again splashing with his sister (4.5y) and flooding the bathroom. Hey a small price to pay for him to get clean. Though the hair washing thing... I'm mastered doing it in about 30 seconds LOL

Smee · 23/05/2006 13:54

Same problem solved ridiculously simply by looking up for imaginary birds. He knows it's daft, but it means he doesn't get water or shampoo in his eyes at all. I also give him huge claps and cheers for not moaning at the end. He now asks if we can wash it every night

gegs73 · 23/05/2006 13:58

DS 2 this week was like this for about 6 months. His hair is pretty short so decided best thing to do was for me to wash it as little as possible and get dh to do it at the weekend as he is made of stern stuff. Delegation is the key Seriously made things a little better by putting some in his hand so he could put it on his own head. Also discovered shampoo we were using was really cold (after washing my own hair with it)as we watered it down, so now put it on a sponge and less screams.

Original poster

LunaMoona · 23/05/2006 14:02

Just as I thought, seems like there's a lot of you with a similiar problem. Thanks for all your tips. I will try getting in the bath with him again as this seemed to help the other day. Difficult though if DP is not home in time to look after DD while I am doing it. Might try imaginary birds as well. Looked in Boots today for the foam thingy but ours doesn't have them.

He just screams as if I am trying to murder him the poor lamb and he gets so upset - he's normally such an easy going little chap. Let hope he grows out of it.

OP posts:

juliab · 23/05/2006 14:06

LunaMoona - we had this too till I thought of swimming goggles Works like a dream. My ds3 (26m) actually gets excited when it's hairwash night now!

oliveoil · 23/05/2006 14:06

I say to dd1 (3.7yrs) what can we see on the ceiling? Me: Is there a monkey? dd1 - NO! Me: Is there an elephant? dd1: No!

etc etc until you lose the will to live

but it gets them looking up long enough for you to do their hair

MamaMaiasaura · 23/05/2006 14:25

googles and what oliveoil says.. lol soo remember THAT. Is it a pink giraffe..

fletchie · 23/05/2006 14:26

Bribery!! My 3year old dd HATED having her long, thick head of hair washed. A few choccy buttons, a shampoo shield and a lot of praise later, she is the model of good behaviour!
PS Don't judge me - don't usually offer sweets as bribes but sometimes it is the only way!!

MrsBigD · 23/05/2006 14:42

what's wrong with offering chockies as a bribe LOL if it works... DO IT!!!

elandjacksmum · 24/05/2006 10:41

Both ds and dd suffered from this. We used to do 'twinkle twinkle little star' at the swimming baths to get them to lie back, so we did the same in the bath. It sort of helped to get it away from the context of the bath, get ears in water while having fun then go back to it in the bath after a day or two. Just sponge hair in meantime til it all blows over - it will!

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