suggestions please - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

weepyone · 12-06-2006, 12:11 PM

sam is 9 months tomorrow this week he has started to get very upset when in the bath. i have read somewhere at this age they can start to become frightened of things they are used to such a sthe vaccum. i am thinking ds has learned that every night he gets water in his face when his hair is washed and now he really screams as soon as i sit him in the bath. he stops as soon as i get him out and wrap him in his towel. obviously we can't avoid baths and i don't want him to think screaming gets him out of things but of course i want to respond to his upset. what do you think i can do in this situation or do you think just ride it out making baths quick whilst he howls until he passes through this stage?

any advice appreciated tia. oh btw i think his teeth are about to pop - yes i know i have been saying this for ages but i can feel his gums are swelling up in the shape of teeth yey -boo lol

sweetea13 · 12-06-2006, 12:36 PM

My ds loves his bath but he also enjoys toys and stuff in there. Actually he is more into my stuff like tubes of stuff or bottles of bubble bath to play with. After a bath one time when he was playing with the bubbles it must have spilled so when I ran the water the next bath it was full of bubbles and he LOVED the bubbles. maybe get some bubbles for infants? Maybe something different to keep him distracted? Im sure you have toys for him but sometimes my ds gets bored and just wants something different. I don't know, just a suggestion. Good luck!

sweetea13 · 12-06-2006, 12:44 PM

Oh yeah, one more thing. While in my DS swim class the instructor was telling us that when we do things with ds in the water such as put him under or float him on his back to get excited and say stuff like "look at you, do you have water on your face!!!!" Instead of saying things like "oh its ok". Maybe when you wash his hair you could get excited and make him think it is fun.

weepyone · 12-07-2006, 07:27 AM

thanks for your reply, we have bubbles and toys but he starts screaming before he even touches the water even if we have just been all happy and laughing with him right up to the bath and whilst putting him in. i am a bit stuck here cheers for replying will try more cheering

Mom22greatkids · 12-07-2006, 12:58 PM

My daughter is almost 10 months and is the same way. She used to be fine with water going down her face while washing her hair but now she is really bothered by it. She is in for 5 minutes at the most, just enough time for me to wash her. My other two children were like this too (worse actually). I don't think there is much you can do but give it time. It's a phase that will pass. One thing you can try is taking a bath with him for a while. It will help him feel more secure.