Scared of the bath?

Mrs D~S

LO has always LOVED the bath, LOVED water.  We started swimming lessons two weeks ago and she had a great time both times we have gone.  Just this week she started screaming, crying and shaking while getting into the bath tub (not when we went in the pool).  Is this common?  Is she scared of the bath?  She now stands up and is clawing to get out the entire time.  Any advice? TIA!

Sunndraggon

Carson went through this right around the same time. It went on for a few weeks and it was really frustrating because bath time had been so much fun. Plus she was clawing her way out before we even got her clean!!

Do you have a non-slip mat in the tub? Our tub has the built in slip guards but we bought a cute Elmo tub mat. I got her into just a diaper. I sat her on the floor and we looked at the mat and i had her give elmo kisses and all that good stuff. We did it for about 10 minutes. Then i filled the sink with water and sat her with her feet in the water, sitting on the counter. I kept the water running and she liked trying to grab it. she would try and spash her feet and i cupped water and wet her down while she played. when she seemed good with that, we moved back over to the tub, that DH and put some water in and she was excited to see Elmo. She ended up in the tub after about 30 minutes of warming her up to it. She loved it, and has not looked back since. Now she is back to loving the tub and she loves to stand on the outside and toss her toys in while the water fills.

 

I think it is a stage, she will get past it. Good luck

emmgirl

DD did that around the same age. we just kept her normal bath routine and she got over it quickly.  GL!!

Mrs D~S

Thank you both! I thought maybe I traumatized her with swim lessons or something crazy.  I appreciate it.

jess545

My DD went through something similar not too long ago too. She LOVED the bath and then all of the sudden was terrified of it. Wouldn't sit down, cried while in the tub, tried to claw her way out too. i have no idea what happened either.

i did read though that sometimes watching the water drain can scare them, not sure if that was it, but it's all i can think of.

Anyway we ended up doing bath in the duck tub for a while ( or maybe try the kitchen sink) we got some bath markers and let her play with those in the tub a few times without water and then one day i just put some water in and she was fine. HTH and GL!