bathtime terrors

[milesmama]

My son has never particularily liked baths, especially the sensation of water running over his head and down his back. However, since my husband stuck him under the shower to rinse his hair (he has problems with cradle cap and thought it wasn't getting rinsed properly) my son is now terrified of taking baths. There were short periods where he would calm down and actually play in the tub, but something triggers his fear again and I don't know what it is. If there is anyone who is or has had this trouble, I sure would like to hear from you. Thanks.

[Dragon1973]

Hello there,

I just thought of something that I could add to suggest that might help... We bought our son a bath-seat that is meant to transition babies from a bathing tub to the big bath tub.  Is made by Safety 1st, and we just used it tonight.  It may help your son feel a bit more secure about bath time because it has an enclosed ring all the way around his body and a back rest.  It is extend-able (to make it go higher in and out of the water) and has a ledge that allows you to clip it to the tub side.  (also has an arm rest for mommy or daddy).  Our son has always liked the water, but on occasion was afraid that he would slip in the water.  Since we used the bath seat today, I thought about your post and wondered if it might help you.  We bought ours at Toy's R us, and I know they also sold it in Walmart for a period of time.  It cost us $39.99 and I think was well worth the investment.  You can use it from the time baby is able to sit up with assistance, until he/she is a toddler.  (It's adjustable).  Now, the only problem we had (aside from the fact that he LOVED to sit in it and didn't want to come out) was that it was harder to wash him, because he was sitting on his tuckis (butt).  But, we did get the job done.
Let us know how it's going now...

Sandi (Dragon1973)
Down syndrome Group Founder/Moderator

[martikadragoon]

it could be the sensation of the shower itsself. my son TJ used to HATE baths and showers. he's 19 months old now and when he was about a year old he began to be ok with bathtime. we just moved into a new house 2 days ago and we have a really big tub so I just stick him in the water with me. I was pleasantly suprised to see that he really likes bathtime.  I suspect that the reason your son doesn't like bathtime is because he was exposed to the sensation of the shower.

Does your shower have adjustable water pressure?  We have to make sure that our shower is on a soft spray so that it doesn't irritate either of our boy's skin.