14 month old dd hates bath/water!!!

[Pinklady08]

I need advice on getting my dd to like a bath/water.She used to love her baths before bed but the last couple of months she's gotten into the habit of screaming the house down when I put her in the bath, she calms down after a few seconds once shes in the bath.... thats before I've attempted to wash her hair! The second the water touches her head, she erupts once more, tries to climb out of the bath an cling to me for dear life (she has slipped twice an bumped her head in the bath as a result, even with me holding her)
Ive taken her swimming a couple of times and only managed to stay about 15 minutes because she cries so much. She wont even go near a paddling pool!!

Any advice please??

I would suggest limit baths, both in frequency and duration, and certainly don't wash her hair every time. Would she prefer to bathe with you?

understandably she is frightened if she has fallen twice. Make sure to have adequate nonslip mats.

I did try her with me a while ago an she reacted the same, just clings to me for dear life an cries, she wriggles that much it's hard to keep hold of her from trying to climb out and stop her slipping.
I bath her roughly every other day and only wash her hair once/twice a week as she has a little dry skin and still has a little cradle cap on her scalp an its worse the more baths/hair washes she has. So i tend not to bathe her daily.

Maybe you could set some different sized cups up with spoons and stuff in the garden and just have fun with water and work up from there.
Also those bath chairs might help her feel secure.

Hi, it's horrible when they suddenly develop these fears. I just wanted to say that my 16month old daughter did exactly the same a couple of months ago and she is completely back to normal now.

We put less water in the bath, reduced frequency of baths and only washed hair when it was essential. We sang, played with new toys and generally acted like fools. It took maybe 3/4 weeks but she gradually got better and now loves her bath again.

Oh - do you have a bath mat?

No. We're going to look at getting one asap. Shes still in her baby bath tbh, not made the transition to the 'big' bath yet. But maybe a non slip mat will be easier.
Its been hard not to bath her frequently wvith this hot weather, she gets so sweaty!

We had similar and I read somewhere about having a mirror so she could see herself when she's in the bath, and since we did this she is fine...so busy admiring herself you know!!