Traumatized by bath time

I'm at a loss. It started about 2 months ago now, DS absolutely hates having his hair rinsed. Ever given a cat a bath? Well, he acts about the same, freaks out, turns all over, so it makes it extremely difficult. He's freaking out and absolutely refuses to look up, so I have no choice but to dump water on his head (we were at a place with a removable showerhead for 2 weeks and it didn't make any difference, just made more of a mess).

Any tip? Was hoping it was just a phase but it doesn't look like it's going to get any better.

 

Oh man, that is my son to a tee. What I ended up doing for him was teaching him to lay back in the tub rather than to "look up" to avoid water in the eyes. We put a basket upside down in the tub that acts as a "pillow" to lay his head back on. Of course, I have to be SUPER patient and careful not to get water in his eyes, but it has worked for us. He still protests a little, but no tears and to fits. It has been a long phase for us, too... close to 6 months. Good luck!

 

My daughter is very similar. I just keep reminding her that I'm being careful, that it's special soap that won't hurt, taught them how to squish their eyes closed and hold their breath. Some days it's not so bad, some days I'm soaked from head to knees by the time I'm done with them. She's terrified of the shower too so that won't work. I just keep trying to be patient with her, giving her lots of warning before I do anything, and hope she outgrows it soon!

 

I started giving my kids a washcloth, to put over their eyes while I wash their hair, we usually fold it up about three times, and they press it tight against their eyes. it eliminates most of the water from getting in there.

I have also found that rinsing them directly under the bath faucet, with a little bit of water coming out, helps too.


Good Luck

 

Do you have the special rinse bucket? I use this and a washcloth over their eyes. The bucket really gives you pretty good control.

 

Any chance you could get him to do it himself? Maybe if he was the one dumping the water, he wouldn't mind as much??

 

ours also dump the water themselves (or put their heads back and under the spout) and that helps. we also only wash one of my ds' hair twice/week because he's so sensitive. (and it just so happens the babysitter bathes them twice/week, so i do'nt have to deal w/it! in fact, there's much less drama when she does it so we all win). ... a lot of times i find giving them control over something makes it easier...

best of luck!

 

Is it possible to lay him down on the kitchen counter and wash his hair in the sink? My two started FA-REAKING out like that about 6 months ago. A colleague of mine mentioned that she had been washing her daughter's hair that way for months and that it ended all the battles immediately.

I just lay lots of towels down to make the surface soft and roll up a smaller hand towel to sort of prop up their necks and then give them a towel to "hide their eyes". I talk them through the entire process and remind them that I am not going to get any water in their eyes and that everything is going to be ok. It's a process, but it has saved my sanity and theirs. They now think it's a game and look forward to it.

 

This is what I do-I have them lie back totally flat, put one hand under their head for support (although our baths are pretty shallow so normally their face would not go totally under even with their head touching the bottom), and use the other hand to rub their hair under the water and get the bubbles out. When they were in a super nervous phase I'd give them a folded washcloth to hold over their eyes at the same time. Luke still hates any water in his eyes so if he's showering he has to have a washcloth over his eyes when rinsing out his hair.

Eleanor and Ethan have the rinse bucket that bex linked to, and it does work well. I don't bother with it much any more because it's just as easy to have them lie down.

The only other suggestion I have (if he's too nervous to let you rinse even with a washcloth/special bucket) is goggles. That would keep absolutely all water out of his eyes. It would be a bit of a pain to work round the strap but it might be worth it to not have to fight him every time.

Good luck!

 

I guess this is my "mean mom" area. I just dump the water over my oldest's head (it helps to have a cup or something with the water in it already). And then I just make sure she doesn't hurt herself in the 30 or so seconds it takes her to realize that her eyes don't actually hurt. I tried everything else I could think of and she still fought me on rinsing her hair so getting it over with as quickly as possible became the solution.

 

This doesn't really help now that a fear is in place but I do what the pp does- 3, 2, 1 and I pour.

 

Could you try to have someone else - DH, a sitter, a grandma? - wash his hair. It turned into a similar battle with mine and one evening DH (who had never ever bathed them before) walked in and said let me handle this for a while. I was so thankful. A change of approach and routine and no battle lines already drawn: There was never a tear again and now they also allow me to wash their hair again although I do have to be super careful not to get any water in their eyes.

 

It's the same with DH, it's just a huge meltdown every time. I don't think lying down will work either, he's just so freaked out he refuses to do anything. I guess I'll just keep dumping and try and get it done as fast as possible.

 

My girls went through this phase. When it was happening I just dumped and rinsed as quickly as I could had a towel ready to dry their faces if needed. Now they dump water on themselves and each other and have no issues... but that hating water phase was brutal. Hang in there.

 

Ah, we should torture our kids together. After going through the "this doesn't hurt your eyes," "we have to finish," "count with me," etc, I have just resorted to dumping the water quickly and making it over as fast as I can. They recover so instantly (as soon as I say, "all done!") that I figure I'm not emotionally scarring them. Maybe.

Woah! People think of everything! That looks like it would help enormously.

 

I had that bucket, lol. But it wouldn't work, he refuses to look up.

 

We have that special bucket and we also do the washcloth folded over the eyes. When DH bathes them he has them lie down in the water.