Are we going to be stuck inside all summer?!

Hi there- Just posting on a frustrating day. I took my girls, 13 mo., outside to our backyard for what I thought was going to be a fun time in our new baby pool. I filled it with less than 2 in. of water and let it warm nicely, but they apparantly don't give points for effort in baby school, cause mine went nuts... screaming bloody murder despite me and my husband's every effort to calm them (even coming into the pool fully clothed). This was almost 2 weeks ago, and now today I tried to take them outside on our deck. I set out their favorite outdoor blankie (previously we've sat on the lawn on nice days with a few toys and they did great), and a small bowl of water with their favorite outdoor toys floating in it. I then went to take Sarah, who was previously standing at the door requesting to get out, out the door, and upon setting her down, she started screaming bloody murder again. Twin 2, Hannah, then got in the act, seeing her sister so upset. And they screamed and screamed and screamed with no backing down. AAH! I don't want my kids to miss their first summer inside. I don't want them to miss out on fun time in the pool splashing or on the deck. And now I'm frustrated and angry at myself for getting angry at them, and I'm venting to you all. So there! Hmm, okay I'm done now.

 

How high is your deck? Maybe it's the fact there is no 'ground' for her to see and it seems like she's in the sky and that may be a little freaky!

Try the water thing like you tried on the deck outside on the lawn since you've already done that with success.

As for the pool? We took heated water from the kitchen sink - almost like bath water - for the boys to 'swim' in. It just may have been too cold for them to sit in, even though it would have been perfect for us.

Good luck!

 

Our twins were about 9 months their first spring. The grass totally freaked them out. If they barely touched it, they would scream. We just let them play in the driveway on a blanket and eventually, they got used to it. We never had a baby pool for them. We just took them to the local pool. They loved playing in the water puddles outside the baby pool.

 

My girls (22m) were so freaked by grass untill about 15 months, they were fine on gravel or sand though. If we went to the park would just put down a extra lg blanket or tarp. They are fine now but they really don't sit much anymore so maybe that's why?

Good luck

 

Did you heat the water for the pool? It might of being too cold for them. I used to fill it with the hose then put some boiling water from the kettle into it until it was warm enough for them. My girls loved the little heated blow-up pool. They hated our big inground pool because that wasn't heated.

Even now they refuse to swim in water at the beach or backyard pools that they consider too cold. Some kids will swim no matter what the weather and no matter how cold the water is but not mine. It has to be comfortable.

 

Thanks for the replies- Actually, they are still afraid of grass, but we were on the porch for that reason, on the same blanket we always play on. And the water was very warm, like cool bathwater. But I'm thinkiing it may have been that I had them in their bathingsuits when we went out, and they may have associated that with the last pool attempt and thus been scared of the whole idea. I will try the blanket on the grass idea, though, instead of the porch, since we usually sit with the blanket on the grass. I was trying to avoid wet grass that day, though.

 

My thoughts are.....
Let them crawl around on the deck and explore and pull up on stuff etc. (we had to babyproof our deck somewhat) and let them get used to it. THEN introduce the water. Ali did that to me once when I put her swimsuit. Just keep trying!! They'll get used to it!! :hug99: