3 week old hates bath - help!

[littleduck]

My little girl will be 4 weeks on Wednesday - she is my first baby.

We have recently started giving her little baths before her early evening feed, having topped and tailed her for the first few weeks. She really seems to hate the bath and screams blue murder from when the water is put on her. We have checked the temperature and it is at the correct level so it's not too hot or too cold for her.

I really hate to see her getting herself into that state and we are keeping the baths as short as possible but clearly she does need to be washed so we can't cut them out altogether.

I wonder if part of the problem is that the bath comes before the evening feed. I tried to give her one breast before the bath to settle her a bit but she then just screamed for the rest of her feed so it didn't change anything.

Any advice much appreciated, it is so upsetting to see her hating bathtime this much.

Many thanks

My baby was exactly the same at that age, they don't like the feeling of being undressed. At about 2months old she became much better, shes now six months and cries when we get her out of the bath!
my health visitor recommended to fill the baby bath pretty deep so the water covers their tummy, this makes them feel more secure. (the flannel will do the same thing)
Talking softly and smiling lots really helped my baby calm down as well.
Just make the bath as quick as possible, by putting some baby bath in the water you won't really need to wash them and gradually they will get used to it.
Also i would stick with it, we started the bath, bottle and bedtime routine at about six weeks and she started sleeping through the night from about 8 weeks ( from 6.30pm to 6.30am)
I love going to bed feeling nice and clean and my baby does too!!
we are all creatures of habit and by following the same routine at the same time each evening your baby will learn its nightime. this is especially useful now, during the summer when it doesn't go dark until late.
Neway, i kinda went off the subject of baths and onto routines but for me they go hand-in-hand.
Good luck xx

you don't need to bath her at all