Bathtime Terror!

Okay, what gives??? Zoe and Payton used to LOVE bathtime....now it has turned into "terrortime"!!! OMG! They are absolutely and unbelievably TERRIFIED of getting a bath! What do I do? I have tried getting in there with them and they just CLING to me and ball their little eyes out. It breaks my heart! So then I tried going back to bathing them in the kitchen sink--oh, noooo! THAT definitely did NOT work--couldn't even get them in the sink. I don't know what to do. Bathtime used to be so much fun and a great way to wind them down. Now even I stress out about giving them a bath. HELP!!! :drown:

 

hmm, mine went through a phase when we switched from the kitchen sink to the bathtub where they were a little scared, they really didn't like the running water or water on their heads, but it was a short phase and they've loved baths ever since! give them lots of toys to play with in the tub, try to distract them from the idea of being in water. that's all i can think of. good luck!

 

my guys love bath time. it's one of their favorite words and after dinner they'll run to the gate at the bottom of the stairs, point up towards their bedroom and ask, "bath?" still, we've gone through brief bath terrors that seem totally random. in fact last night owen had his very first bath terror so we're going to have to work through it with him. it seems to coincide with changes, and we changed out the non-slip mat in the bottom of the tub, so it may have been as simple as a different feeling under his bottom.

it's usually jacob who has the bath terrors and one of the methods i've tried is leveraging the twin advantage by putting the non-terrified one in first and having fun splashing while the scared one watches. it took 2 days of doing that (and sponge-bathing jacob) before he finally pointed and asked to get in. when he got in he was scared to sit so i let him stand and kept a grip on him. i let him flick his fingers through the water and get comfortable until he was finally okay with sitting down. then i didn't bathe him at all, i just let him sit and play for a few minutes and focused on having fun. it took a few days of "baby whisperer" type work but he got over it and he's been happy in the bath ever since.

tonight i'll begin the same process with owen and hope he can be similarly wooed by his brother's happy bath time.

 

my girls have a love/hate relationship with the bath. when they've got their hate on, i usually just bathe them less frequently - instead of every other day, maybe just twice a week, or if desperately needed. i also find that it helps to prep the bath first, run the water, dump their toys in and THEN let them in the bathroom - i let them take their time to walk over, check out the tub, decide if they want to get in or not. i also take it easy on the actual bathing part - if they're happy to just sit & play i don't worry too much about soaping them up. the other thing we have to be careful with at our house is the shower head - sometimes it accidentally goes off while they're in the tub & then it's game over. they're terrified of the shower. :unknw: hopefully, this will just be a short phase & your girls will be back to loving bath time soon!

 

OK, the answer is probably "no", but I gotta ask because sometimes in the midst of things we overlook the obvious (I know I do).

1st, do they take they baths in a 'baby bath' or the bathtub? If in the bathtub, do they get baths at the same time?

Has anything changed at all about the routine? At all? Time of day, toys, temperature in the house?

When ours were little they were find when Daddy gave them a bath, but when I did, they screamed...

the bathtub said my temperature was fine. However, the water was colder in mine. They were COLD.

Our boys sometimes will get scared for a while after their heads get dunked. they also will avoid the water for a bit if they get soap in their eyes.

That said, without knowing anything else, here are my suggestions:

-Make sure nothings changed... like the water isn't colder/hotter, the bathroom isn't colder, etc.

-Make sure there are TONS of bath toys. For our boys, they get in the bath with their toys and THEN we fill up the water. This seems to work best for our boys.

-Switch it up if nothing else has changed... If they take baths together, give them baths separately (they can feed off each0thers fear) or try together of they were separate (may enjoy having a playmate).

-If they take baths in the tub, and don't take baths with Mommy or Daddy, join them IN the bath so you can cuddle, etc. if they are insecure. 1 parent to 1 baby usually works best. Not forever, but until they start having fun again.

-Make sure soap doesn't get in their eyes.

Hope some of this is helpful... wishing you luck

 

OK, just saw that you got in there with them and the clinging.
Do you bathe with them together or separately? (Try switching it out) If it's 1 at a time now, 2 is hard but if you can get your partner to sit by the bath to hold the other baby (if you only do 1 at a time) that might work? OR try having your partner get in/give them a bath?

How do you act when they cry?

Our boys have learned that at DAYCARE if they hit their head on the ground people yell 'no no no' and run over and make a big fuss over them. I saw my boy B do this and continue crying/whining for a full 5 minutes after they picked him up! then he wanted me to hold him, I said 'you're OK, baby' gave him a kiss and he stopped fussing. At home, we distract them or say 'you're OK' and pick them up for a 2nd, no fuss. They don't do that at home anymore :0, at least, not very much.

Maybe they're picking up on your stress? Maybe part of it, act nonchalant about it, let them cling to you in the bath, etc. but don't make a big deal. Try acknowleging playing with the toys yourself and talking to them as if they weren't crying and try to engage in play. Have you tried any of this? I'm guessing yes, but thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

 

We recently went through the same thing! One of my DD's is all of a sudden terrified of the bath.
The one thing that changed was that we changed out the mat on the bottom of the tub. It was very different and we weren't totally surprised since this DD tends to be a scaredy-cat about everything. But to watch her try to crawl out of the tub screaming like I've never heard before was quite upsetting. Finally after a few times (we give a bath every other day) I put in a new big toy (small bucket) and for some reason that worked! She still won't sit all the way on the new mat but NOW she cries when we try to take her out!

 

I would definitely take it slow and bathe them less often if necessary. I like the idea of filling the tub with water and toys before you bring them into the bathroom. You can let them wander over and play with the water with their fingers if they want, and if they're afraid, you can give them sponge baths.

Another idea I've heard is to try bubble baths. The bubbles might be so intriguing they may forget to be afraid. My boys love bubbles, but I'm holding bubble baths in reserve in case we go through a phase of being afraid. So far they're little water babies, thank goodness!

I hope this is a short-lived phase for you! :hug:

 

Mine love their baths. They've slipped in there but i just play it off as a simple slippy slide and that it happens. If they are hurt or their faces go under water, I immediately pick them up and comfort them, but for simple slippy slides, I just talk them through it and distract them with something they like, for example bubbles. They LOVE bubbles. They forget why they were upset and we continue with the bath.

That's my boys for you. I have never experienced bath fears like you have. I hope you find a way to help them get through their fears.

 

and just to prove that you can expect nothing but the unexpected, the "baby whisperer" routine is totally failing us. jacob cries when owen cries, so there's no happy bath time to woo owen back to the tub. guess we'll keep experimenting until we find some other way to get baths on track. and in the meantime i guess they'll exist somewhere between spongebathed and filthy. <_<

 

We went through a short phase like this. It was exactly as you described, all of the sudden scared of the tub. This was when they were 22 mos. It lasted about a week and now its back to loving it. So hopefully it will pass quickly for you.