Bath Time - Minneapolis,MN

Have you tried just a shower? My first never took to the tub, screamed, cried, fussed....but would always 'shower' no problem. He would sit in the bottom of the shower with his toys, so no slipping, and we would just wash him, rinse him and let him play. We had a detachable shower head with hose and he would sit there, put it shower head up on the ground to make it 'rain' and we never had another problem. Well, we did.....he never wanted to give the shower head back up!!!

My son got to a point where bath time wasn't very fun for him anymore so we tried showers and he absolutely loves them. He turned 2 in April and either showers with us which you said you didn't want or we stand outside and help him wash up. At first he was scared that's why we showered with him now he never wants to take a bath. Hope you are able to find a solution soon.

Have you tried filling the tub, sitting with your feet in it for a couple of days. Let him sit on the bottom of tub. He may get use to it. Then slowly sit on the outside of the tub. Just a thought

Clean him while he is standing up by using a large cup or bowl. If he isn't happy just do it as fast as possible and then get him out. Eventually he will probably come around and enjoy bathtime to himself.

Does he like to swim? Our daughter went through a stage like that too. My husband discovered that if we put her swimsuit on she was just fine. We would let her "swim" for a little while and wash what wasn't covered by the suit. Then she knew it was time to take off the suit to wash and rinse.

There are some nice ideas here. Also try playing through the scenario with whatever toys and figures that you have. Make sure the bathing toy has a fabulous time playing in the tub. Start with a toy tub, if you have one, as that is less threatening. Then after a while you can move to play using the real tub, but still don't pressure him to get in. Begin with dry play, then after a while, use toys that can get wet and have them take a bath in water. Don't expect him to want to get in right away, it may take several sessions of play, first. He'll let you know when he's ready, then you can oblige letting him get into the tub. It may help if you have the characters be his voice for the worries that he might not be able to articulate yet. For example, you could have a bathing toy say, "are you going to stay right here?" Then you can respond to the toy, "Absolutely! I'm going to stay right here until you are all done!"

Sometimes a product like bath bubbles will help to distract and make the bath interesting enough that a child will forget to be upset about it. That may work if his skin doesn't react to products like that.