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D.C. Area Babies
need advice on two weird new developments
So we've been having two odd issues with J lately and I'm not sure what the deal is.
Number #1: All of a sudden he is totally afraid of the bath. I mean, we ask him if he wants to take one, and he starts shaking his head and crying. Then when we get him into the bathroom ready to go, he starts shaking and crying. It's awful! Once he gets in, he will eventually calm down somewhat but he won't sit down or relax.
I think it might be related to one of two things: 1) While I was out of town, the ILs came to "help." MIL wanted to give J a bath, but didn't notice that the water was draining out halfway through so J was in there, with no water, freezing. She picked him up, soaked and soapy, and he was a little freaked out, even when they filled the tub back up and put him back in. 2) He's been slipping in the tub, so we got a little liner thing, which he seems to be afraid of/hates. But even when we take it out, he still seems afraid of the bath.
What do you think? Do all kids go through a bath-fear thing? Will he grow out of it and we just power through?
Number #2: He usually takes an 8-oz bottle before books/bedtime, while we rock him. Lately he's been distracted while eating - talking to us, letting milk dribble out, etc. and he often doesn't finish the bottle (last night only about half). Is this a sign that we're giving him too much? Is he ready to stop having a nighttime bottle? If that's the case, should we give him a sippy with dinner, or . . . what? I'm worried he'll start waking up again at night because he's hungry (although he generally eats well at dinner). Thoughts?
TIA!
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Re: need advice on two weird new developments
1. It could be both the new item and the MIL experience. DD seems to be oddly afraid of some odd objects as well (like our new humidifier). Have you tried the shower? You could do the shower for a week or two and then go back to the bath.
2. DD completely stopped her before bed milk about two weeks ago. It was totally cold turkey one day and I am just going with it. She is not afraid to let us know when she is hungry :-) We do give her milk with dinner and sometimes she drinks it and sometimes she does not. We do always have a sippy cup of water around and she seems to be drinking more water lately.
for #2, our pedi says kids usually drop their before bed milk around 12-15mo of age, so I'd offer it with dinner. We stopped DD's around that time but she started asking for milk later, so now she gets a cup of milk before bed, it's a comfort thing for her, she gets it before bed and immediately upon waking up. Go with what your son is telling you. A cup of 2% milk is not that many calories.
as for #1, I think DD went thru this stage but it didn't last long; at one point we had to wash her down really quick b/c she refused to sit. Can you try a bubble bath to entice him? do you think he'd like that?
1. I don't really have any advice. I know that DD was terrified of elevators from about 6 months - 10 months. Any time we went in an elevator she would start shaking and crying. My only guess is that maybe she had a bad experience with elevators in a former life? But the good news is that we would soothe her whenever we would go in one and now she's fine with it. So, maybe it's a temporary thing that he will grow out of.
2. We dropped the last bottle around 18 months or so. I was so worried because I didn't want it to affect her sleep. However, it did not affect her sleep at all. So, it may be that he just doesn't need it anymore. I find that DD tends to get most of her calories during the day. Sometimes, she doesn't eat much dinner but she still sleeps well at night. So, I figure their little bodies will get what they need.
1. So far DS has shown no fear so I don't have specific advice, but it sounds like you have a couple of good ideas. Maybe a couple of new bath toys will entice him? Could a parent get in with him the next time or two? I don't know if that would set a bad precedent.
2. I don't remember how we switched exactly but DS gets a sippy of milk about 30 - 60 minutes before bedtime. I was worried about sleep too, but it didn't affect his wakeup time at all. GL!
#1 - we went through this with DS about 2 months ago and it lasted for about 2 weeks, then he was over it. I have absolutely no idea what it was about. Maybe he was upset about having to stop whatever he was doing before the bath? We have started being the "talking clock" at our house and it has helped somewhat with transitioning from one thing to the next. Hope he gets over it quickly - it feels awful forcing them to do things when they are scared or upset.
#2 - We stopped DS' bedtime bottle at about 16 months when he started doing what you are describing - talking during his books, leaving it unfinished, etc. We replaced it with a sippy of water that he takes to bed with him every night. I'm sure that it's going to make nighttime potty training difficult, but he really doesn't seem to drink much of it, he just likes to have it there.
Thanks for all the advice. It's also good (/funny) to hear about other LO's random fears . . .
I did try getting in the bath with him once and it didn't seem to help all that much, but the new bath toys could work. And I like the "talking clock" idea. I'm just hoping he gets past it soon - he used to love the bath!
Sounds like it's time for the bottle to go. Wow - that means only two bottles a week (he still takes them before his weekend naps). So close to being done with those things!
TTC #2: BFP 12/17/11, m/c 1/7/12 and D&C 1/12/12
baby blog/cooking blog
1. I know SO MANY kids (including my own) who have gone through the afraid of the bath stage around this age. I would agree with some PP's that what worked for us was introducing some extra fun things to the bath. Keep trying it - don't just give in and let him not take a bath as this will only increase anxiety. Even if you can only get him to put a foot in, that's better than nothing. We used bubbles, plastic cups (she loves to pour), bath books, and foam letters/numbers. Now she begs to get in the tub.
2. I agree that he may not need his bedtime milk and that milk in a bottle is not good for his teeth at this age anyway, so it might be a great time to take it away. He won't be hungry. I've seen a lot of 3 year olds come into one of my clinics who are allowed to take milk to bed and have tons of cavities from it. We're struggling to take our cup of bedtime milk away since now DD is attached, so if I were you, I'd jump at this opportunity!
Good to hear about this being so normal! Re: the bottle, he doesn't take it to bed - he has the bottle, then we brush teeth, read books, and he goes to bed with just his paci and blanket. No bottle in bed, but it sounds like we might as well cut it now anyway.
TTC #2: BFP 12/17/11, m/c 1/7/12 and D&C 1/12/12
baby blog/cooking blog
1. Totally went through bath time fright with Maggie - also bad is when she all of suddent got scared of water being poured on her head. Just keep at it and try and go as fast as possible to keep the screaming down. New bath toys can help - maybe some bath time songs too on a CD player for distraction if he really likes music.
2. I bet he will still STTN. We dropped all bottles between 15 and 18 mo for the girls.