Any tips for getting toddler back into bath?

[SwivelHips]

DS 2.5 loves his baths, or at least he did until about 2 was ago. He had a bad cold/earache few wks back and that's when it started. He will go in, but won't sit down and starts to cry to come out. Hair washing is virtually impossible and I don't want to terrify him by forcing him.
I've started getting in with him, bought him some bath stickers but is this the right way to go? I'm sure he's not scared by the bath he just seems to want out. When I go in with him he still wants out but I distract by singing etc did manage a hair wash without tears earlier. Thanks

My daughter did this for a while when she was unwell often. I used to ignore her please to get out and distract her, and also potter around in the bathroom (or pretend) and make myself seem 'busy' so that she learned to settle. She is now settled again and loves bath time :) good luck with it xx

DS (2.2) sometime isn't keen on the bath - it helps if I sit on the edge and paddle my feet in, and he does the same, then usually he wants to go in properly once he's got the feel and knows I'm 'sharing' it too.

PS he also discovered a calpol syringe makes a great squirty bath toy!

I had this and it was really annoying. What solved it in the end was buying some age appropriate bath toys which I don't allow out to be played with during the day. Good luck.

DS had awful nappy rash once, when he was younger, and when it stung in the water he assumed it always would. It seemed to come out of nowhere! At one point we ended up with him standing in the bath in his wellies just so that he wasn't avoiding the bath and to show it wasn't scary and wouldn't hurt . I figured that if he didn't go in it one night then we'd have a job getting him back in at all.

It took a few weeks. We just did it gradually.

I tried counting each time he went in. Today we're going in for a count of ten, tomorrow fifteen etc. It was ok but he still sobbed and would only stand, not crouch or anything.

I hate to admit it here as I'll probably be shot down in flames but in the end, I took the iPad in the bathroom and put on Timmy Time. It totally distracted him enough for me to do a thorough wash, including hair. Plus he crouched down when I asked and even played with his toys for a bit after.

Once it had finished we talked about how it was fine and didn't hurt. We only did it the once and I think it helped him.

He still wasn't keen but didn't scream at us anymore and from that point he was prepared to get in and crouch down. It took a bit longer and some new bath toys but one day he just sat down and all was fine.

Hope you get there in the end - it's usually just a phase!

This happened with my niece when she was 2 and she just wouldn't go in the bath. What worked was my 4 yr old going in and having fun and she forgot she hated it and was desperate to get in. Are there any little friends or relatives who could help out?

This happened with my DS around the same age. He would just stand there and scream, having previously loved his baths! Still don't know why - but I do remember how we solved it. A friend gave me a great tip - put a toy in there that normally doesn't go in the bath. Hopefully the novelty of this will do the trick! Good luck.

This is where a twin comes in handy! My DTS went through a phase after bad nappy rash but eventually seeing his sister in the bath (and being praised for it) persuaded him in.

My 2 year old had this. She did a poo in the bath one night and for a few weeks she was absolutely terrified of it. Unfortunately it coincided with us going on holiday and poor bub didn't go in the pool once - you could tell she wanted to but when we got near it she would whisper "poopoo bath" and start crying :(, so sad. We got her some new bath toys - letters and numbers that stick to the side of the tub were a big hit. We convinced her to get in the shower with us holding her and after a few days of that I just sat her down. I put the plug in so that the bath filled up and she would stand it - I tried to keep her happy by telling her to stomp in the puddle etc... Eventually she was willing to sit in the tub after I got out. The whole process took about 3 weeks - quite a challenge! You could also try just giving him a break from the bath for a few days and he might forget about it.

Mine was younger when this happened, but new bath toys (just cheap ones, nothing amazing) worked really well. My dd is quite materialistic, though!