At our wits end! Shampoo shields/crowns/nightmarish baths

[theadoory]

Hi!
Looking for recommendations for a eye shield/shampoo crown etc to help us at bathtime. Our four year old won’t let us wash his hair as he’s afraid of water getting in his eyes/ears.
We’ve tried everything. I was hopeful when I saw shampoo crowns and similar - but the reviews of seemingly all these products are totally terrible.
Can anyone recommend something like this which is actually worth getting?
Fancied this one, but the reviews of the company were absolutely shocking. The one sold in Boots has a terrible review as well!
Thanks!

How often are you trying to wash his hair?

Keep his hair very short and sponge it.

With ours we had to wet and rinse hair with a damp sponge, it was all he would tolerate.

Have you tried him laying on his back on the draining board head over the kitchen sink.

Also, the no rinse shampoo caps?

He will outgrow his fear. Everything is a phase and the less you turn it into a problem the quicker it will end.

I brush water through it with a wet tangle teezer brush, then lather the shampoo in my hand first to make sure it's wet enough, then brush it through with more water afterwards.

Are you able to wash his hair with him leaning backwards like at the hairdresser. If you have a chair high enough for him to sit at so he's back into the sink or something like that?

How about trying swimming goggles. Yes the elastic will be in the hair but shouldn’t get in the way of rinsing.

Try a shower instead. I know he seems young, but it worked much better for my ASD dd.

We used swimming goggles for DS…and washed his hair once every 7-10 days until he built confidence up. He also went swimming once a week which gave his hair a rinse in the pool.

The best thing I've found is building their confidence laying in the water and reassuring them that water doesn't go in their eyes when they do that. Or just giving them a flannel over their eyes then getting on with it with a jug. But signing my 3YO up for swimming lessons really helped with this.

Mine got on OK with a jug like this one. Or a shower.

www.boots.ie/mothercare-rinse-cup-white-10336521?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidshopping&utm_campaign=baby&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2N2_BhCAARIsAK4pEkV8uU2kJ0qdTM3Qj3bT8y2dep_kRU7LbHRU1kpNOb5Wp9IgsWGMWwYaAvgwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have no answer but fully sympathise, my 35 yo DS still manages to get out the pool/sea with bone dry hair!

We played a gravity game in the bath by tipping water over each others arms/feet etc to make him understand that tipping his head forward was a bad idea which helped a tiny bit.

Will he lie back in the bath? That was always the easiest way. Mine like to float in the water. So shampoo in hair, then they float on their backs and it washes out mostly on its own without needing to make a fuss.

That said, with my son (different with a girl with long hair), I literally only wash his hair if we’ve been to a bonfire or the beach and he’s stuck his head in the sand. It’s like once every month or two. He gets it wet in the bath or shower in between so it gets rinsed, but really isn’t worth the hassle of properly washing it unless actually dirty.

We used one of the soft neoprene type when our daughter ( who had SPD and autism) was young
As a PP suggests the no rinse shampoo caps are great. There are also shampoo wipes and no rinse shampoos.
Would a fun bath like Jelli Baff or some of those underwater lights help to distract? Just for hair washing?

Consider how often little children really need their hair washed. And maybe just don’t do it?

I have two boys with short hair and I just didn’t wash it until they tolerated it. If they’d been swimming or had a hair cut they’d let me. I would run a wet hand through it. We’re talking several years of this and nothing bad happened.

You can get visors on Amazon. Don’t know how effective they are though

I agree with this. I’ve gone straight in with the rinser attachment on my son’s head from day one so that he doesn’t develop an aversion to it. But, if your boys have short hair you can just run a damp cloth over their hair. They’ll be fine.

My DS with ASD has this one, it's quite big though so depends how big your childs head is (DS has always had a massive head and is 5 now!). It's much too big for my 3 year old.

https://amzn.eu/d/6mNWIHd

Swimming goggles?

Gosh yes it's tough, we had similar at about 2 year old and honestly I just didn't wash his hair for a month or so, then since then I let him take control, give him flannels to cover his eyes and face, and let him say stop and go.
At first it took ages and I just washed the top spent about half an hour! but now I can wash properly about once a week and it takes a normal amount of time. He's 5 now.
I did think about fancy solutions but in the end I just focused on building the trust and taking it slowly.
Good luck!

Flannel over eyes (damp/ already wet, so as not to suddenly feel soaked and elicit screams!) and the jug with a squishy side, opposite the handle- the idea being you form it to the forehead and tip water over without fear of it running onto face. I think the jug might have been by Nuby. It is on Amazon anyhow.

How are you washing his hair? I use to get my dd to lay back so her hair was under water but her face wasn't. Then I'd put a dy flannelbon her forehead for when she sat up again. She only had 2- 3 baths a week though