Having Problems Bathing My 14 Month Old

S.:

I was given a huge baby bathtub for my babyshower for my first girl. She is now 2.5 years and I am still using it. Though sometimes they don't want to sit, I have Dad hold the child while I give them a quick bath. For my son, I had a bath chair. Once you put them in there it is kind of hard for them to get out. You've been done by the time they got out. You may look into one of those. They have suctions on the bottom so they suction to the tub. You fill the tub w/water and your done. Just a couple of ideas. Good luck.

Take him in the shower with you. It worked with my daughter when she was that age. She thought it was great.
M.

I had the same problem with my squirmy toddlers in the tub so I bought them markers for the tub walls. Now they stand still on the tub mat facing the wall and scribble while I wash them. If your son isn't interested in drawing yet, maybe you could find some sort of super interesting toy that he only gets to play with in the tub, which will hopefully keep him interested and still long enough for you to scrub him down. Good luck!

I hate to say it bathing is one of the areas of parenting where I am as hard of a parent as they come. Water is a dangerous thing, kids can die in just such a small amount that I don't let them play in it(in the house). It is a get down to business thing in the tub it is a cleaning ritual. If your child can't accept sitting for safety, then give him a quick shower, he can get clean head to toe in about 4-5 minutes and be out and run around and play outside of the bathroom. I don't want my kids thinking the bathroom is a place for place. They can go swimming in the summer where a pool is usually designed for play and parent are usually more alert to their safety while in the pool. He will get clean and you won't spend so much time worrying on a daily basis that he will get hurt and will save money and earth and possibly him from injury with shorter down to the point bath times.

Try shaving cream. Put it on the sides of the tub and have him play in it! Have him pretend to be like daddy or make fun creatures with it. Or, you can try putting him in the shower with a non-slip mat take one with him. Try not to make it a big deal and just try to get in a few washcloth wipe downs a day. He will eventually realize that he doesn't have a choice and that he has to have his hair washed. I give my kids a bath a few times a week, there is no way I can bathe all of them every day. Hope this helps, I have been successful with the shaving cream or lots of bubbles. Also, try introducing new tub toys! Good luck.

My son will be 2 in July. After he turned one he refused to sit in the bathtub, and he also is independent and likes to walk and run aroung unrestrained, so I am familiar with your situation.
We solved the bathing problem by placing a colorful non-slip surface in the bathtub which you can purchase in Target or Babies-R-Us and giving him a shower instead of a bath. We have a hand held shower that can be adjusted to a very gentle stream of water. My son enjoys the shower routine a great deal, still plays with his bath toys and now he can hold the shower handle himself and frequently washes himself as part of the bathing routine. Also from the dermatological perspective frequent prolonged bathing is detrimental to the skin and shorter showers keep his skin soft and non-itchy without any lotions.
May be this approach will work for you.
Good luck!

Hi S.,
You got great advice. I had all methods. There is a sit down chair that actually fluctuates up and down (like a spring action) with your child's weight so they can't get out of it, it also rotates slightly which is helpful (be careful with older models that had wide leg openings that kids could slide down and get stuck in). I bought a small tub from Target (same as One Step Ahead but cheaper) that is a duck. My son loved to grab the duck's bill because it quacks and was the perfect size to keep him contained. Your son may not feel safe in the big tub and instinct will tell him to stand up. In a small tub, kids feel secure. Also, buy safety features such as the spout protector so if he does stand and fall, he won't be hurt. They have soft drain covers to avoid the metal drain pull and non-stick safety mats. If all else fails, only fill the bath with a few inches of water and let him stand while you bathe him. He'll slowly get tired of that and find it's easier to play with bath toys if he's sitting down.

I used a three strikes and out policy. I would wash him quickly while the water was running giving him a large plastic cup to catch the water, and then the minute he started to stand, I would place him on his bottom and firmly say "Sit Down". Third strike and bath time was over...no play time, though I did explain why everytime he was pulled out. He did not like this at all. He's 20 months now and I still have to remind him about my policy, but usually he starts to stand up, and remembers then tells me "Sit Down" at which point he sits. I know that some posters chose not to make an issue of this, but this is one area where I, as an otherwise cool headed mom who really lets her son get away with quite a lot, have zero tolerance. Tubby time drownings and injuries are the most common ER visits, and deaths with infants and toddlers. It takes no time at all for an accident to happen in the tub.

Hi S.! My son is only 10 mos. old and always loved bathtime as well. However he's very tall for his age and quickly out grew the infant tub. About a month ago we bought him an inflatable tub for around $12 and he loves it! It's hilarious how he stretches out and actually soaks in the tub. He also plays alot in it but it's deep enough that it keeps him in it and the great thing is if he does fall over he hits his head on the blown up soft tub. I think it's inexpensive and definately worth a shot! Good luck.

this will pass,trust me. i went thru the same thing with my children and it just faded out eventually. the trick is to ignore the screaming(ear plugs or a walkman or ipod will help) while staying consistant. Do not react or give in. calmly say we sit in the tub not stand and keep putting him in a sitting position. It may take awhile but eventually he will get it. Toys are very important in the tub at this age and can help. Good luck and Take care.

When my daughter was figuring out the whole walking thing, I bought this sit down chair that goes in the tub (suctions in) and had her sit in it. She could spin to what she wanted, but she was safe and not walking around and still loved the bath. I also placed her close enough to where the water ran out so she coild play with it like a fountain.
Best wishes!

I agree with Cortney.

I have a seat that I put my son in... with his fat little legs, it's hard for him to get out of it. I chose this route because our tub has a textured bottom (by no means is it less slippery though), so all those wonderful suction cup floor mats won't stick due to the uneven surface... combine that with a soapy, slippery, and heavy kid and I'm afraid of what would happen.

I couldn't find the seat at the babies r us website, I think I got mine at Target, but here's the Amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Safety-1st-Tubside-Bath-Seat/dp/B00...

Good luck!

That is exactly my lil guy he is 19 months old. He will not sit down so I take a wet washcloth and when he is standing out side the tub I wet his hair and shampoo it outside the and I also soap up his body. Then I stick him in and rinse him off within 2 minutes he is done and a little happier. Good Luck.

So don't spend much time bathing. Put him in, soap him down, rinse him off, and get him out. If he cries because you won't let him play, then constantly remind him it is because he won't sit down. He's 14 months but even at that age they can understand a little of what you are trying to say.

He will just have to cry and you get him out as soon as your done. At least bath time will be quick and you can get on to things like reading and cleaning up at the end of the day to get ready for bed.

I guess I'm different than everyone, but I don't understand why he can't stand and walk around if he wants to, as long as you are there watching him. My 16 month old spends the whole bath standing up,then sitting, then standing, then walking. I would never leave him alone but as long as I'm there to make sure he doesn't hurt himself, I don't understand the big deal. He too does not like to be restrained and I want him to enjoy bath time.

Try the shower if for now he doesn't like the bathtub. I had a similar problem with my daughter, and showered with her instead of struggling with the bathtub. That lasted 6 months, as I then started taking baths, with her, and then would get out and leave her in there. Eventually on her own, she'd take her own bath. Sometimes you just have to pick your fights, and this wasn't going to be one of them for me. My son also liked just getting rinsed off in the kitchen sink with the sprayer, soap 'em up, rinse off and get out. Made it simply..not like babies get soooo dirty anyway. Good Luck!

What about showering with him instead of a bath. You could put a mat in the bottom if your are worried about slipping.

there are sites that sell bathtime safety products (www.kidsafeinc.com is a great place for child safety products). B/c my twins also like to move around in the tub, I had to get faucet cover that they can't hurt their heads with (they constantly fight over who's going to hold the faucet) and an inflatable cover that suction-cups around the inside of the tub (unless you have a textured tub like we do. So we had to improvise and stick the top half on the wall and hang the bottom half into the tub). Works GREAT for any possible head-bumping! Lucky for us, our kids have learned to work around each quite well, and has only bumped a head once on the tub bumper.

Hi S.,
One of my sons did the same thing. He went wild in the tub because he really liked bath time. I got tired of breaking my back to keep him seated so I went back to putting him in the kitchen sink. At the sink, I could stand there without my back hurting and he could still play. Now, my son never tried to stand up because there wasn't alot of extra room to move but there was enough to splash so he still had fun. I might have done this for almost one month (if that) and then I went back to the tub. I never had a problem since. When kids learn to walk, it seems like they always want on their feet. Without the extra room it made it harder to get up. Hopefully this will work for you too.
Good luck,

J. J.

I think he will be too big for the inflatable. I got rid of ours around that age. I just bought a mat for the bottom of the tub to make it not slippery. I never pushed the not walking around thing. He only has fallen a few times. I just wash him as I catch him.....it only gets worse the older they get (in terms of being squirmy). Maybe others will have different advice but I just chose not to make it an issue. Plus the water (and the bubbles if you use them) clean them pretty well. Good luck!!!

I got a anti-slip mat and supervise closely and so if my little sweetie get up, she won't hurt herself.

Have you tried different water games? Buy some water toys and that may possibly keep him busy.

I just went through the same thing with my baby a month ago when he was 14 months!

Get one of those nonslip, suction bathmats that stick to the bottom of the tub and a generous handful of toys. It worked well for us. Granted, in our tub the bathmat doesn't actually 'stick', but his weight holds it down.

Our son was beginning to freak me out with his pulling up, standing up, wanting to walk around, slipping and falling, etc. I was envisioning a trip to the emergency room if he kept this up. We tried an inflatable tub and it did not work for us. It was too small and guess what he wanted to do? Climb out of the tub!

I remember having a similar problem. I solved it by taking a bath with my daughter. We were in the tub together.

Hi S., my first question to you is he good and stable enough on his feet? If he is, as much as it is going to be a pain, try taking a shower with him. have him stand in there with you, and if he doesn't like it....then tell him he has to sit down and take a bath. Trust me they get it. I can only offer this to you on the subject because it worked on my daughter. Good luck. L.

My son is now two and when he was about your sons age, loved trying to stand and walk around the tub. We have three rules in the bathtub - no standing, no drinking the water, and no pouring water outside of the tub. When he does any of these things he gets one warning and then if he does them again he is taken immediately out of the tub with an explaination of why. Whether he was in the tub for one minute or thirty and regardless of how far we got with cleaning. He loves being in the bath and so that was enough incentive for him to stop.

Those inflatable tubs are wonderful. We got ours from Target. Much cheaper than One Step Ahead and does the exact same job.
I also might suggest getting some new bath toys (bath crayons, ABC's, wind-up toys, $1 store toys). Maybe each bath you can bring out a new toy. Then he will be too intrested in it to squirm and fight. Once he gets in the habit of relaxing at bathtime you won't have to give him anything new.

Let him stand! My son always stands in the tub... in fact my son never seems to want to sit down! I bought one of those sticky pads that covers the entire tub bottom and that helps a lot so he doesn't slip and fall. It's easier to just let him stand, the less you fight him, the less likely he is going to get hurt.

We use a rubber bath mat to make the bottom of the tub safer. We also had the same trouble of our son wanting to walk/stand in the bath. We started giving him warnings to sit down and if he didn't take him out of the bath and end bath time. He quickly learned the lesson, especially since he LOVES baths.

Our daughter is 14 mos and is not walking yet, so we don't have this problem. We do however have the inflatable tub and she seems to enjoy it.
Maybe your son would find taking a shower more fun!