HELP!!! 19 month old son gets extremely upset when having bath won't even sit down or let me wash him ADVICE please

[foxy1]

Hello

I have a 19 month old son who in the last week has suddenly hated having a bath. When I put him in the bath he will only stand and wants to come out immediately. He really cries and doesn't want me to wash his hair/body etc - he just wants to come out straight away.

About a week ago he did a lovely poo in the bath and this really stressed him out and I think this might have had an effect on him.

I have tried playing with his toys and distracting him but he just continually cries until he comes out. He also does not want to brush his teeth either. Any ideas?

Please help!!! Thank you

don't suppose it is anything this obvious, but we were having trouble with our 18 month old not wanting to be in the bath recently which was solved by turning up the heating in the bathroom.

Just wash him really fast, don't do his hair. It will pass.

Ds did exactly this for a few weeks and we realised his bottom was a bit sore (nappy rash), as it improved so did his reaction to having a bath.

I also got in with him and that helped, as well as going swimming regulary.

my dd who is 15months suddenly went off being bathed about 3 months ago no obvious reasons why, she is slightly better but I bath her 3 times a week and just do it quickly hopefully its a stage she is going through

Have you tried taking him in the bath with you? Remember he doesn't need a bath every day so give him a few days break then take him in with you for a bit of fun.

Think most kids go throgh this phase, both my kids did and ended up washing them in kitchen sink for a few months, Dd was washed in kitchen sink for 5/6 months, THey do eventually get over it. Give it some time but do not force the issue.

Thanks for everyones messages. My husband tried taking him in the bath with him last week to see if this would make a difference but he was just the same. Really strange as he used to love bath time. Hopefully this phase won't last long. thank you

I would lay off bath times and try just top and tailing him. My dd eventually after 5/6 months went in bath as she stood beside us all being in bath.

There's a recent thread about this somewhere (sorry, don't have time to look). The messages tended to show that lots of kids have an anti-bath phase around 16-18 months, which lasts a wee while and then calms down. Probably best not to make a big deal out of it and it should blow over.

Hi

I started a thread about exactly the same thing about 2 weeks ago - the last post was about a week ago so have a look here.

My ds is 16 months and did the identical thing to yours. We have given him a break from the bath for about a week and then reintroduced it and really gone overboard making a big deal about what fun it is BEFORE he gets in a state where he won't listen anyway as crying too much.

He is getting better. We still haven't braved washing his hair again though and I reckon that will set him back again (I think that's what started it - so much for 'no more tears' shampoo - doesn't work with our ds) but it's been 2 weeks and we need to soon.

He also still gets upset if we start sponging him down but is now mostly happy to sit in the water at least so that's an improvement.

Btw I got in the bath with him and it made no difference for him either - still screamed away!

Seems to be a very common phase!

Message withdrawn

Just remember to repeat mantra, 'It's just a phase' Before you know it it'll be something even more annoying!!

I tried letting my ds (15mths at the time) play in the bath with no water in and then started to put tiny amounts of water (1cm) each time he went in it really worked for him.