Bath refusal

[worrieworm]

My 23 month old lb has started refusing the bath. He went through this phase 2 months ago and we persisted but he has since had awful awful case of chicken pox. During his chicken pox he really embraced oat baths for relief of his skin but he is now 2 weeks clear of pox and has so much scar tissue. We have tried bathing him every other night but as soon as his feet touch the water he screams as if its painful (he does have scabs / peeling skin / scars on his toes and feet)

We are 2 weeks now of not bathing because I am so sure its hurting him so I have been washing him with warm water, soap and a flannel all over but I am really worried this isnt enough and not hygienic. Can someone please advise? Am I doing the right thing?

Id say that is the best thing to do until his scabs have gone. Poor thing.

@DorothyStorm thank you. I feel the same. Do you think a good flannel wash and soap is enough?

He might temporarily have a bit of fear especially if bathing was painful when he had chicken pox. You could try putting a bowl of lukewarm water somewhere and encouraging him to dip his hands and feet in maybe? If he refuses to do that, it’s probably a good assumption he has a fear at the minute. If he is willing to do that on his own terms then it could be the temp of the bath is too cold or hot. Also, my son suffers from eczema and when it flares up he finds it painful when we tip water over his head to rinse shampoo etc, I think the water dropping onto his skin makes it feel sore. I would definitely avoid doing that to begin with when you do get him back in the bath.

I think flannel baths are fine temporarily, depending on how much hair he has you could maybe try laying him on the worktop and washing his hair over the sink so it doesn’t touch anywhere else on his body?