14 Months Hates Baths

My daughter went through this at 12 months, and we ended up giving her baths in shallow water in the kitchen sink for a couple of weeks and then I could start putting her in the tub again with very shallow water, the water could not be running while she was in the tub. Good luck.

I am surprised no one has yet mentioned this possibility. Does she have frequent colds and/or ear infections? My son was a terror in the bath tub if water got on his head at all until he was four. He had lots of allergies and colds and was always on some kind of antibiotic for ear infections or croop and stuff like that from the time he was born. When he was four we finally realized that he never responded to the games and songs on Sesame Street and that he had quit talking much. The doctors checked him and discovered that his ear infections had caused so much scar tissue on his eardrums that they had to surgically remove soome of the tissue and put tubes in his ears. The doc said that it was quite likely that he hated baths because water would get in his ears and cause him pain. Not long after the tubes were in, he started playing in the tub and pouring water over his head with a sand pail. Bit it took us until he was 8 years old to get him to go into a swimming pool. Once he learned he wasn't going to die in the big water, he learned to swim and then we could never get him out of the water. Anyway, it might be something to check out.

She may have had a bad experience with water or a bathtub -- one of my kids became terribly scared of the water after he slipped in the tub and went underwater for a few seconds. He grew out of it, but for a while it was difficult to give him a bath. She also may have watched a movie or TV show that scared her, in which somebody went down the drain, or a scary monster came up out of the drain (even a funny TV commercial about germs in the bathtub or drain could be scary to such a small child).

I would suggest minimizing baths -- there is no need for her to take a daily bath unless she gets dirty. Wash her hands and feet as needed; use wet wipes on her diaper area, and she'll probably be fine with just a weekly or twice-weekly bath. (In fact, daily bathing can irritate skin conditions like eczema; and there are a lot of doctors who think that we are now "too clean" and that our lack of exposure to normal dirt is causing health problems like allergies and stuff.)

She may be terrified of hearing the water run; so if it's possible, you may want to fill the tub while she's elsewhere, and just take her into the bathroom when the water is turned off.

And if she still doesn't like baths, then just wash her with a washcloth. She can get "clean enough" that way, without scaring the bejeebers out of her. :-)

Fears of all kinds can start cropping up at this age. You can try playing in the dry tub and adding water in a bowl or pitcher for her to play in. Maybe use it wash the dolls, gradually adding more water. My kids always loved the foam animals/letters/bath paints/soaps that they could use on the walls. My kids did like showers at this age.

Put her in the tub a few times without washing her hair, face or putting any kind of soap what so ever on her. Just put some toys in and let her play. Make sure it is warm (maybe a small space heater on the far side of the bathroom). Once you make it fun for her and she knows she isn't going to get it in her face, she will gradually begin to like it. When you do have wash her hair, make sure you get her to look at the ceiling and be sure to now get any of it in her eyes at all.
All babies go through that and I think it is that they don't like it in their face. Maybe it burned their eyes at one time.

My oldest daughter did the same thing when she was younger. Try putting a baby doll in the bath and let her give a baby doll a bath. Use washable marker or anything you can come up with and make the baby "dirty". Let her help run the water and undress the doll. Let her scrub the baby clean using real soap and shampoo. Next time ask her to get into the tub with the baby. My daughters like to wash the baby dolls hair while I wash theirs.

it sounds like something happened to her to traumatize her. Perhaps she slipped under the water, or.... Is there a chance of anything worse? I hate to even think that way, but it happens and someone needs to watch for signs. Bath time should be fun time, not fear.

maybe try a shower. Little ones at this age can usually stand, and the water can be stepped into or out of.
Also play some soothing music while preparing and during bath time. Watch the time and see if she is just overly tired. When we moved bath time forward in the bedtime routine it helped.

P., I somewhat agree with the others, although, sometimes this is just a phase that some kids go through. There could be a situation where she has seen or experienced a bad moment with water...movie, I'm sure she isn't being left alone in the tub so I doubt anything has happened as far as slipping or going underwater that you would not be aware of! But kids take in sooo much from tv. Even just while walking through the living room! I suggest some of the other techniques the others have mentioned and maybe taking her swimming??? We have a local indoor pool and my son just loves it. As you know, we all have to face our fears and this may just be a situation where she doesn't want to take the "time" to bathe! That seems to be the issue in my home! Best of luck to you.

My daughter was the same way when we were transitioning her from the sink (in the infant tub) to the bath tub. She would shake with fear. I discovered this "in between" bath tub that fits right into the large tub that really help her feel secure. I think they sell it at "the right start" catalog but don't quote me on that. It sort of looks like a float for a pool but it suctions on the walls of the tub and it was just what my daughter needed to feel secure. People told me to forget that because then there is just another thing for her to transition out of but the large tub was very scary for her and also slippery. Even when I was right there helping her, she would slip because she was still so little. I would recommend something like that for her as a suggestion. It really worked wonders for us. When we switched her to the "big" tub she was actually fine. A little scared at first but since she was used to bathing in that area anyway, it was more conforting. Good luck!

Hi P.,
In this day of baby wipes, I don't think there's any real reason to put her in water in the middle of winter. Give her a break from submersion. Give her spongebaths whenever necessary for a couple of weeks.
Then, slowly restart her exposure to water. I agree with the other respondents who suggest not turning on the water adjacent to her and avoiding other potentially startling and scarey circustances.

If she is small enough, put her in the kitchen sink for a bath. Make sure you scrub the sink out first, then put a towel down so she has something soft and warm to sit on. I bathed all my kids in the sink until they were just too big to sit in it - probably around age 2 or so. Also is it possible to have someone else bathe her or at least help? My son would give me a terrible time in the bath tub, but if dad went in to do the bath with him, things started to go much better. Good luck!

hi
First: I wonder if anything happened that somehow surprised or upset her with water? PLease ask your daughter about it and try to sort it out. If 'yes' then work on what it was that upset her. Something like being splashed or soap in her eyes, etc. could do that. Kids often get very upset when water is spilled over their heads while washing the hair. It feels scary to them to have all that water over their faces.
If no 'incident' is at fault, it is porbably a phase; just accept that sometimes,kids just get a 'notion' about things and later outgrow it.

In either case, I mean if something has actually happened or if nothing has happened, then just ease back into the water experience. Just let her start lots of fun games and relaxed water play - a small tub that is 'her size' where she can put in her own choice of toys and just do a pouring activity will be good.

Meanwhile, use a washcloth to clean her and let her have a washcloth or sponge herself. That ought to be ok with her.

R. Ary-DeRozza

My babies went through this same phase, I bought a couple of dolls at the dollar store and encouraged them to bathe their babies, good luck!

I agree with another responder who suggested moving the bath time, even having a bath in the morning instead of at night. When she is tired she is less able to cope with stress and this probably exacerbates the bath fears. The stress of the bath right now probably defeats the purpose of having it part of the bedtime routine. I moved my son's bath time around this age because night baths revved him up, making bedtime impossible and then I found that morning baths made his sleepy so for a while he was being bathed before his nap. If you can find a bath time and routine that works for her it would probably only have to go on for a couple of months for as with all things in childhood change is the norm. Good Luck!

This is totally normal, although I do think something happens sometimes that gives them a changed bad association with baths (dad dumping water too much on their head was what I thought our cause was, but who knows). Just consistenly make it fun and she'll grow out of it. Just went through this awhile back, as well.