How do you get a 4.5 year old out of the bath?!

[milkyman]

My ds would stay in the bath at bedtime for over an hour which is a bit draining! How do you get him out??

Mine get a 5 minute warning, then the plug gets pulled.

Sounds like my ds! But now I let him play for a while, take toys out and pull plug when he's all washed and soaped up. Then pull plug while I hose him down with the shower head, drag him out the bath and get him dry. (I say drag because he's to heavy to pick up! Sort of lift and drag!)

Had to check for a minute that this wasn't on AIBU!!! Think some of the replies are a bit harsh. My DD is just the same she loves water in any way shape or form so she loves to wallow in the bath and to be honest I let her, however we only do proper bath time 3 times a week on the other days it's just a quick swish in about an inch of water. I just pull the plug when it's time to get out , we have fun watching the whirly pool of water down the plughole then she has a few slip slides around and out she gets. Try to make the end of bath time just as fun as the rest of it. Doesn't always work and I have to lift her out crying and whinging but most of the time she's distracted by the games that she just gets out .

plug pulled out and then splashed with cold water.

Pull plug out, turn the light off, he'll soon stop screaming and won't do it again
no pain, no gain.

You make being out of the bath more appealing than in it.

Plug out
Warm towel
Snuggling down with story

Both my DS's would prefer longer baths and both of them are quite happy to jump out when I say because warm and snuggly beats cold and shivery any day.

plug pulled out and then splashed with cold water

Not sure that will encourage no fuss - I'd be screaming with that!

I agree with CathFizz, some very harsh replies here (not all).

I would absolutely discourage splashing your child with cold water. Taking the plug out is required and functional, but I would class the cold water as a physical punishment.

Mine have tv/ Ipad time after the bath, they can't wait to get out.
Maybe if your child loves water he would like to do some water play or jumping in puddles during the day..

'Bribery' is the way forward here- making it more attractive to get out the bath. My kids love the bath and so we do 5, 2 and 1 min warning, followed by plug out. I would always stay in the room though as it is easy to slip. They always get out once the water starts to drain. We have a warm towel, and 'quick- hop out the bath so you can pick your story/ have 5 mins cuddle time/ sing a song'etc.
It doesn't have to be all unpleasant-
Earlier suggestions to put the lights out and spraying with cold water are unacceptable and dangerous.

I meant cold water into bath not onto child. I turn the cold tap on. It's hardly 'physical punishment'

Earlier bath time?
Choices work well at this age too. Don you want to pull the plug out or shall I? Or would you like five more minutes and one story or come out now and have two stories?
Try not to be too head on... but also set your boundaries and be calm.

Cat I assumed your post meant letting the water go cold, not putting more cold water in (which I equally wouldn't advocate).

I was referring to Peggyundercrackers post.

Another suggestion; you can depersonalise the issue a little bit by having a timer of some kind. When the timer runs out, it's the timer's fault not yours that he's having to get out. Harder to argue with an inanimate object for some children.

At this age I used to put the towels in the dryer to warm them up and then race into the bathroom and say quick quick before the towel goes cold and then would get out and I would wrap them up in these enormous hot fluffy towels and then sit on the closed toilet lid and give them a big cuddle

Sometimes asking them in advance "let's agree on when you should get out of the bath - when do you think you'll be ready ? You tell me the plan and we'll stick to that. Would you prefer x or y?" (And make sure your happy with either x or y - you get your plan and he feels like it was his choice)

quick quick before the towel goes cold

I do this, it only works in the winter when the towel rail has been on though.

I also point out that the longer she takes to get out and put on PJs the less time there will be for stories and cuddles at bedtime.

If all else fails I lift DD out of the bath.

I warn dc 4.3 then we do the plug and she empties the toys out. She can stay in until the water goes.

Sometimes I use a sandtimer on my phone which she watches and gets other when it shouts.

You can't lift a four year old? Really? I can still lift my seven year old.
Time limit set. Wash and clean hair etc then x minutes playing. 2 min warning. Choice. He pulls plug or you do it. Promise of something nice after bath. Story etc.

Phone in timer, plug out when timer goes off. Scream as much as you want but you'll get quite cold quickly.

I pull the plug out and tell DS that the noise the water makes going down is a shark coming up the plug hole, he can't get out of there fast enough And before anyone says I'm going to scar him for life I did it with my older DD too and she's totally fine.

Sand timer with a reward/ sticker chat star for getting out on time?

Or a threat that if he doesn't get out in the he'll loose tomorrow's bath, and then stick to it. One night off won't hurt but you must stick to it if that's what you say.

If you can't lift him out then it sounds like he is overweight

Maybe she has a bad back or something, I'd knacker myself if I tried forcibly lifting my ds out of the bath, it's a really awkward lift.

Show him the episode of Laurel and Hardy where Laurel gets sucked down the plug hole. My younger brother used to properly panic when we pulled the plug after watching that! We didn't ever abuse that knowledge, of course... ;)