27mo suddenly scared of bath

[superflybaby]

My DD was happy to get in the bath, couldn't get her out usually.
But recently she will cry & scream and wriggle about on the floor saying 'no bath! no!'
I tried wrestling her in, quickly washing her & then out. That was difficult & stressful.
I tried softly softly 'you don't have to have a bath if you don't want, we'll just use the flannel for a good wash' but I don't think she understood & I ended up forcing her as gently as i could into the bath. When she was in, she evetually calmed down and had a little play. Then remembered she was in the bath & started crying again asking to get out.
How long does this phase last for? it's driving me nuts. How can I make it easier?

My DS went through a phase like that - for a bit we bathed him in one of the large plastic toy boxes on the bathroom floor, then we moved the box into the bath and eventually he was happy to be back in the bath. It didn't last long.

Is she scared she's going to get sucked down the plughole? Try reassuring her that won't happen, or not letting the plug out until she's out.

knew I shouldn't have freecycled the baby bath

yes they are awkward stubborn strange little things

You could buy a small bottle of baby bubbles and suggest if she hops in nicely and has a bath you will blow bubbles for her? Works in our house, they think bubbles are completely fantastic.

My dd (2.5) has just had a phase of this, it turned out she was scared of the drips coming from the taps! We put a little bag over the taps and she is ok now. Usually when she has a phase of this we give her a new little thing for the bath (arm bands, swimming goggles, bath crayons) and it sorts it out, until the next phase....