10mo suddenly crying when put in the bath?

[stiltonontoast]

My 10mo has aways loved baths. He's a pretty chilled chap and rarely cries at all.

The last 4 baths he's been ok for the first min or two and then he's started wailing - properly crying almost like a pain cry - until we get him out again.

I just can't understand it, the water is a pefect temp - we've tried ranging it from 36-38 degrees. He's got all his toys (and you can tell he's interested!) and I've also tried sitting in with him.

The only things I can think of are - he's a bit constipated at the mo and sometimes cries when he poos because it hurts his bum. Also we've been bathing him before bed, so probably when he's a bit on the tired side.

Has anyone else experienced it?

Have you tried brining things forward by half an hour to see if he’s just over tired?

Does he sit on a bath mat or in a baby bath seat? Try an inflatable one to see if that makes it comfortable for him.
You could also try him back in the baby bath to see if that makes any difference.
How about making the bath really foamy with bubble bath so he can't see the water? Or turn the lights out and bath him in the lowest possible light such as a nightlight or a couple of candles.

I haven't tried any of those things - thanks! I will see what happens when we do a midday or morning bath I think.

We got rid of his baby bath and now he sits in a bath seat, or just straight in the normal bath.

my 16month old has just started this, literally starts howling as soon as I take her upstairs from dinner, like she knows whats coming. Refuses to sit down and stands at the side of the bath wailing, clinging to the side. No idea why, I can only presume her awareness has heightened that shes being put in water. I continue to speak in a calming upbeat voice yet get her out quickly. I hope she grows out of it as quickly as it started.

My daughter did this at around 14 months for about 2 weeks. Screamed like she was being tortured. It passed just as quickly as it came round with us none the wiser as to what caused it!

Yeah, my dd went through this at about a year. Screamed and sobbed like I'd murdered a kitten in front of her from the moment her feet touched the water. It took her a few weeks then stopped as suddenly as it had started.

In the meantime I variously got in with her so she sat on me not the bottom of the bath (some success); put her in an empty bath and showered her instead; bathed her quickly and endured the screaming; sacked off bath time altogether and chucked a couple of wet wipes on her

That’s quite a cold bath for a 10 month old. Try making it a bit warmer.

@Jackshouse is it? he makes a gasping type noise when I put him in like you make when you get in a hot bath so I figured it was about right.

I suspect that is because it is cold to him. Just just using your elbow to work out what is warm.

Mine always had quite warm baths, however they did also go through a phase of hating baths for a couple of weeks so it’s quite normal.

DD went through a phase of this as well, she screamed like we were torturing her. We never worked out what was causing it. It seems pretty common though!

I don't think it's a cold bath! I'm 28 and I have my bath at 38° which is definitely hot enough for me!

My DS went through a phase of doing this, he had a well hidden nappy rash which was the issue

I just wanted to come back to say we've finally cracked it!

We ran a 37degree bath and put all his toys in it (lots of new ones from Christmas) then his daddy got in, I sat with DS on the edge of the bath, slowly dipped his toes, then his feet in! All the while daddy was playing with toys / making it all super fun for him. We managed to get him all the way in the bath and sitting down again for the first time in about a month!