Bathtime hysterics in 16 month old ds - top tips needed, especially in hairwashing matters!

[MuffinMclay]

Ds used to like bathtime, but has increasingly taken against it in recent weeks/months. He now stands in the bath, and refuses to sit down (all hell breaks loose if I try to sit him down). I've persisted in going through this farce each day, in the hope that it was a passing phase.

When I attempt to apply water to his body he starts screaming, and with hairwashing he gets completely hysterical and it is impossible to carry on. I tried this evening and he was starting to go blue in the face from screaming so loudly, and then he climbed out of the bath.

Help!

poor u!

dd suddenly decided she didnt like the sound of the shower so now i just use a jug to wash her hair! have u tried giving him a toy to play with before the bath and letting him bring it into the bath with him? also those crayon that u draw with in bat? or bath books?

DD (18 months) is doing the exact same thing! and what's more annoying is she still loves the swimming pool and will happily run around in the showers in there [grr]

She only gets a bath twice a week now (plus swimming at least once) and I wash her hair once a week, the other time I wet it but no shampoo.
I have started putting loads of bubbles in and letting her put bubbles on my face, then I blow raspberries back at her. It amuses her long enough for me to wash the worst bits and chuck water over her head with a jug, then I just quickly wash and finish one handed while holding her in teh bath with the other before she climbs out.

try just letting him stand in the bath, give him lots of cups and stuff to see if he'll drink as they have to bend to get the water (hah!) I also put balls in the bath and let them pop up from teh water which amuses her...

I posted about exactly the same thing a few months ago. Our cleaner had taken it upon herself to throw out our full length bath mats, I had only been able to find short ones, DS slipped a few times and it put him off his bath.

Luckily for us it was very short lived, but here are some of the top tips I got:-

• Don't bother having a bath every night, leave it for a couple of nights, then try only a few inches of water in the bath

• Take him swimming as he will get clean that way

• Buy some new bath time toys

And thats all we needed really, but I think the biggest thing was to give it a rest for a few nights. Its hideous when neither you nor DS are having a good time and I know I got all worked up before bath time which didn't help either.

Good luck

ds has a bath once a week....and his hair washed when it really needs doing. He loves his bath time now, but when i have to wash his hair it breaks my heart to see him cry so much.He hates having his hair washed and it was getting increasingly hard to get him near the bath. I decided it's not the end of the world if he only has a bath once a week, and his hair doesn't really get dirty so there's no need to wash it so often.
DS is two now but this started when he was about 18 months....

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I've tried swimming, but he screamed when I held him under the showers there. Obviously his hair did make contact with water in the pool itself though.

I don't think he has actually had his hair washed properly with shampoo etc for about 3 weeks.

He has bath toys and books, but perhaps he is bored with those. I haven't tried the crayons, so that might be worth a go.

Think we'll have a day or two without baths though, to give us both break.

We has simialr problems with DS1 - all MIL's fault as he was staying with her when he was about 12-14 months old and she turned the shower hose on him, and for a good 2 years afterwards he got hysterical at hair washing time.
It was so bad that our procedure was that DH would hold him in a sort of underarm bear hug, and I would wash his hair. We would both be stripped off to our underwear, and the bathroom looked like downtown Basra by the time we were finsihed. The whole procedure took maybe a minute, with DS1 screaming very very loudly - he would go purple with screaming.
So loud in fact that the neighbours from either side came round to see what was going on.
We only did his hair once a week. Eventually, after much persuaion (and praise) he would lie with his head back in the water, with a face cloth over his eyes and we would do it that way.
Of course you need to get over the obstacle of your DS not actually sitting down.
It can't be a thing with the water though, as you said he goes swimming ok. Has he ahd a fright in the bath at all

I can't remember exactly when it all started (feels like a very long time), but the only thing I can think of that has changed is the bathroom. We've got 2 bathrooms, and he used to be bathed in one, but that died, and is now bathed in ours.

Work starts on refitting both next week, so perhaps he'll be happier then.

Have you tried having a bath with him & washing his hair? Ds hates his hair being washed too but he can come for a cuddle whilst i'm trying to rinse his hair and he soon forgets about it and starts playing with his toys again.

What a good idea! I'll try that this evening and report back.

My dd1 and 2 were became hysterical about hairwashing for about a month. V. slow, but getting them involved, by holding damp facecloth over their eyes or even tipping a cup of water over their hair themselves seemed to help.

Also putting bubbles on Mummy's nose was quite diverting.

try having baths without actively trying to wash him. Don't try and get him to sit down, just stand him up in the bath and let him play. This will get him used to the idea of having a bath. In the next few days encourage him to lie down and pretent to swim. Give him the flannel and let him wash himself. Think at this age they want to have as much control over their enviroment as possible. It does not really matter if he is dirty for a few days

I had this same problem a couple of months ago. Does your lo have a sore bum? This may be why he doesn't want to sit in the bath? My lo went completely off baths so what I did was let him play in the bath during the day when it was empty to get him used to being in there.Took all his favourite toys and let him play for hours. I also took a basin of water into the garden and let him splash about to let him get used to it. Dont rush it but it works! Your lo just needs to regain confidence by sounds of it. Let me know how you get on x

Sorry to hijack, but just don't know how to wash dd's (13 months) hair.
It is disgusting as she wipes her food in it and it is quite long

Dp chucks a jug of water over it, but she hates it and gets really fraught. I have tried laying her back, but she screams with that as well.

How do you wash hair? When ds was little, he would just lie down in bath

Well, after 3 or 4 weeks fo bathtime hell it seems to have solved itself! She happily sat in teh bath, stood up a couple of times when I was rinsing her hair as the water went in ehr eyes but generally splashed and played as normal...there is light at teh end of the tunnel!

fizzbuzz, have you tried using a shower or watering can? DD loved the shower as we would put it on gently and tell her it was raining...(we have a mixer tap thing though so it reaches)
Otherwise I use a jug!

Hmm she loves her watering can, there's an idea.
Not sure she would like it on her head. Much more gentle than dp's method though

I used to 'water' her on her skin and then the back of the head, it seems to be the water in the face that makes them freak as far as I can tell so leave the fringe until last (DD's fringe is always covered in food, I dry shampoo it so it only gets water in the final rinse!)

My DD went through a stage like this. We got new bath toys including bath crayons which she loves. This helped with getting her into the bath. Also a fishing net set from mothercare, she fished over the side of the bath then when the fish drifted away and she couldn't reach them she asked to get in so she could carry on fishing1
To wash hair I drape a big towel over my shoulder and she burys her head in it while I wash her hair. Or she crayons as high up on the tiles as she can reach. While she is looking up I shampoo and rinse and high speed! She is much better at it now..