Infant Baths

My daughter Brooklyn was exactly the same and the only thing I found that worked was to cuddle her in the towel while patting her dry. She is three and she still hates the drying part, so we play a peek a boo game of "where did Brooklyn go?/There she is!" as i dry her hair and head.

My daughter loved her bath but didn't like the phase between the tub and being dressed. Try keeping as much of her wrapped in a towel as possible until she is dressed. Keep her trunk and arms wrapped in the towel while you put her diaper on and then keep her legs and trunk wrapped up while you put her onesie or other outfit over her head and arms. This really helped with my daughter.

She may need to be cuddled for a few minutes when you take her out of the tub. Even when I have dried myself off all the way, the air in the bathroom still feels cool to me and my skin feels damp. Anyway, I had to do this with my youngest child, a girl. She loved her bath so much, and still does now that she is 12, but when she was an infant, I found if I cuddled her in her towel just for a few minutes, then I made a big deal out of putting the lotion on her. She almost got a daily massage! Lucky girl! After I started doing that, even at 3 months, she calmed down and quit crying when I took her out of the tub.

Also, if the heat is blowing in through heat vents when you take her out of the bath, that will still feel cool to her damp skin.

Good luck to you M.! It sounds like you are blessed with a beautiful family. And you live in a beautiful area of the States! I live in Idaho and it is very beautiful here also. God Bless you and your family!

It sounds like she's cold. When my girls get really cold getting out of the bath, they say their goosebumps hurt and they whine and fuss about it. When they were little, they would cry if it was cold getting out. We put a heater fan in our bathroom and now no more tears!

My youngest has always loved the warmth of a bath since her first. She's 2 now and she still fusses unless she is totally wrapped up in a towel. I hold her for a while to help her stay warm and then I always have a dry, extra towel waiting for her. I keep all parts covered while putting on lotion and dressing her and she is fine. That's the only way I've discovered she is happy enough with. She just absolutely can't stand feeling cold. It might seem like trouble, but really it's no big deal...it's a pattern we've gotten used to and it is actually fun because we play peek-a-boo not only with her face, but with legs and toes and hands...

My daughter did the same thing. I always wanted to do the massage with baby lotion, but she was NOT happy until her clothes were on. I never figured out a solution...tried the same things as you mentioned. She just eventually out grew it. We just waited 2-3 days between baths so she didn't have to cry as much.

Wrap her in the towel and hold her close for a few minutes.
No matter how warm you have the room, she is still cold.
Babies even at three months, have the memory of being in water and being cozy.
Also make it play time for her and Mommy while toweling her dry.
it's perfectly normal for her to cry.
At least all three of my boys did the same thing, until I cuddle them close in the towel and dried them while holding them close.
Good Luck

Hi There,
My name is Allie and I'm a doula here in Denver and also a mom of a 13-month-old boy.
I find a good trick for me with the cold out of the bath babies is to get them calm first and foremost. So, once out of the bath get her in a really good swaddle. Perhaps put her hooded towel around her and then put a nice swaddling blanket around the towel. Hold her close to you and get her nice and cuddly warm. Even put her to the breast if she is breast feeding or have a nice warm bottle ready. Then, once she is calm lay her on another nice soft blanket perhaps on your bed with a fresh swaddling blanket to keep her covered while you apply her lotion, get her diaper on, etc. If during that time she starts to fuss again, simply get the blanket around her and either rock her back and forth with your hand on her chest or pick her up again.
If you can make the entire ritual soothing with your words and get her calm to begin with, she may stay calm longer.
Good luck!

I have a daughter that does the same thing to. I can't figure this one out yet. I try to do the same thing as you do, but nothing seems to work. She is very stubborn. I have put toys on her changing table and it seems to work at times. Let me know if you get any good ideas from any one. I hope I helped a little, if not let me know. Thanks, K.

Hello M., I always dried off my babies on the steamy bathroom floor (with carpet and/or rug). I also remember that sometimes they would want to nurse when they are all warm and relaxed out of the bath. For your daughter, try anything different than laying her on the bed she doesn't like and just keep trying different ways to get her dry until you find something she is comfortable with. You could even just hold her wrapped in a towel in your arms and carefully pat her dry there. :) ~T.

My son screamed and wailed when we took him out of the tub for the first 3 1/2 months or so... Usually it was because he was wet, and HATED the temperature change. I started singing to him, and giving him a mini foot massage while i put on his lotion, and when that didn't work, my hubby came in and played with him while I got his jammies on. Distract, distract, distract, that's all I can really say. You should try body massages, while you do the lotion though. It feels really good for them, and it will show your little girl that getting out of the tub really IS a good thing! Congrats on your little one, best of luck.

Hi M.,
We had the same problem, but it was anytime we put our son on his changing table and he was a very fussy baby in general. For 3 months we chased our tails, and this may be hard to believe but we ended up at the chiropractor. He had 3 vertebrae out of place from being cramped in the womb/from the pushing in labor. He was a NEW BABY the day we took him to the chiropractor. Just make some phone calls and find one who is used to working with babies. I am such a believer now that my son is 3 (has been going since 3 mos.old) and my daughter is 1 (has been going since 6wks old.) It is very safe. Also, my children ended up being very allergic to city water. In water supplies across the country they started adding ammonia to the chlorine as a disinfectant. This combo. of chemicals is called chloramine. It burned both childrens skin and took me 6 months to figure out what was going on. Call your water co. and ask what they use as a disinfectant. Try bathing your baby in arrowhead spring water (IT has no chemicals) if this helps. contact me and I'll give you more info. I wish you the best.
Sincerely,
B.

I know that you keep the room warm for your daughter but it might be that it is warm for you and not so much for her. Try putting a nice fluffy big towel in the dryer to warm up when you bathe her. Then, after her bath, you can take her to the dryer wrapped in a temporary towel and make the switch with the warm one. Babies body temps don't adjust very well until they get older so that might be her problem.
Keep her wrapped in the warm one until she seems comfortable and the towel gets to room temp so you don't shock her again going from what she feels as warm to a "cold" room. Once she has adjusted you can then go about your normal after bath routine.
I hope this helps.

You might try using a full size bath towel. You can wrap her in part and use the extra material to dry while she's still completely wrapped up. Some kids just cry. Having a brother to take baths with finally helped our oldest. GL!

Hi Maya. We had the same problem with our daughter. She would scream her little head off every time we took her out of the bath. What we found worked is one, make sure you swaddle her nice and tight when you take her out of the bath. Also, try to distract her as much as possible right when you take her out. We found that just talking to her and walking her around the home while she is swaddled helps. When she is distracted she forgets about the trauma of getting out of the bathtub. Also, does your husband help with the bathtime? I found when my husband helped to keep her distracted, ie. singing to her, showing her diapers, playing with her, etc... was really helpful while I got her dressed.
Hope this helps.

My daughter hates the after bath (much like her mother) so I have incorporated a heating pad. While the bath is draining I turn on the heating pad to med-low and cover it with a blanket. I get her out of the bath and make sure she is swaddled well before we leave the bathroom. Then I put her on the pad and unwrap her. She lays there, contently while I lotion and clothe her.

my two month old does the same. My last attempt was letting him watch his mobile while i do my thing. It worked until he was half way dressed. Basically, distract them with something. Make sure she's not hungry too

Hi M.,
My daughter used to do that too--it was like it was the end of the world. I figured out that she didn't understand that being cold had a solution! We started playing a little game when we got her out of the bath: I wrap her snugly in a towel and chant, "Cold! Cold! Cold!" and rub her vigorously at the same time. It sounds so silly, I wouldn't have thought it would work, I just did it accidentally one day, and by golly it calmed her down! I think it helped her know she was getting through to me. We still do this (she's now 13 months old now) and if I forget she still gets fussy. It's a fun part of the bathing ritual for her.

I'm guessing she may just like to be swaddled in the towel or blanket, and maybe she doesn't like being exposed or unswaddled. I'd just keep her wrapped up, rather than open the towel and dry her that way, and see if that helps.