New fear

My DD has all of a sudden developed a fear of taking a bath, she used to love it!!! My other DD is fine with it (they bath together)...

But poor Elly she screams and crys and isn't happy until she is out, but she will stand next to the tub and reach in and splash the water and play with her sister that way....

Anyone know what I can do?

She does fine if I am in the bath but I can't bath with her everytime....

Please Help so I no longer have a smelly elly jk

-Cari

 

My DS recently went through this, so I did a lot of reading and googling. From what I read, it seems that there are two approaches you can take. Some people suggest the parent just insist and "force" the child to take a bath. Other people think you should try some type of compromise until the child gets over the fear. Some compromises I've read about include: taking a shower together with the child (instead of a bath), taking a bath with the child, buying new toys for the bath, having the child see how much fun the other child is having in the bath, bathing the child while he/she is standing up in the bathtub, or just doing sponge baths for a while.

Can you figure out why she's suddenly afraid? With my DS, I bought him some new socks and there was some fuzz on his feet which washed out in the bath and was floating in the water. He was very upset and afraid of this fuzz and kept saying "No fuzz." My DH finally got the smart idea to tell DS the fuzz wasn't fuzz, but it was very small fish (my DS loves fish). Luckily this worked (knock on wood). So, if you can figure out the initial cause of the fear that may help you.

Good luck!
thea

 

My girls went through this phase, more Katrina than Kira. It lasted on and off for over a month. We don't know why it happened but we think it had something to do with the drain but never figured it out for sure. We bought new toys, helped for a little while. We took baths with them which also lasted for a little while. Then we just started giving quick baths and dealing with the crying. We only give baths every other night and sometimes if they weren't to smelly and we weren't going anywhere the next day we would wait three days. But after a while they both went back to enjoying baths again. Kira got over it quicker (which they both did it at two different times). I hope you find out what has caused this problem (if anything) and I hope she starts enjoying her bath again.

 

My twins are starting to take shorter bath time! They even stand-up and tried getting themselves out of it. I was like what? No fun? Also, they used to love when I wash their hair and a lot of times the water get in their eyes (never really bother them) until now they jerk away from me. I realized they are more developed and not wanting that water in their eyes. So, I am trying to make it easier w/no water in their eyes.

If everyone else says it may be a phase for us too?

D, w/Rianna and Justin (18-1/2 mos)

 

We went through this around this age -- I posted about it and it seems to be very common. For us it only lasted a month or so. When they (particularly Sarah) were really afraid of the bath, all we could do was just do it quick. Fortunately she is not really a fighter -- she would scream the whole time, but would let us stand her up the in tub and just wash her (standing up) and take her out again.

When (after a couple of weeks) she started seeming a bit less afraid, we could entice her by getting some fun new bath toys. We still had to put her into the tub over her screaming protests, but when she saw the toys, she was willing to stay and play awhile. Then, after a couple of weeks of that, she seemed to start to remember again that bathtime was fun.

 

HI there, One of my daughters is also going through this phase. At first it seemed as though she was afraid of some new bath toys but now I think it's getting her hair wet and rinsed with a bowl of water. She screams as though satan is in the tub! It's very stressful for all of us....she screams MAMA...over and over so pitifully. She is truely frightened (I mean hysterically frightened!) let me know when you get the answer! I have been taking baths with her and making it fun which has worked very well!

Sarah

 

My DD is also in this stage. I started from an episode of curious goeorge where the toys go down the drain and clog it. We had to switch to showers. She is not afraid of that drain, for some wierd reason. Then slowly we have gotten her back in the tub but she always reminds me "you no touch the drain mama!". Menaing that I cannot let the water out until she is out of the tub. She absolutely freaks if any toys are still in the tub when I let the water start draining.

So it has gotten better with letting her shower with me or DH. HTH
Laurie

 

My girls randomly go through these stages. sometimes there is soemthing that I need to remove or fix. Most of the time, it's a phase. I try everything and nothing works until 1 day, they get over it. Syd had a 2 wk bath hating period. Lately it's been Sam crying. We've been bathing them separately more often. Just keep trying things. As soon as you figure it out, there'll be another parenting puzzle.