Bath Time - Ayer,MA

Updated on April 12, 2010
V.M. asks from Ayer, MA
11 answers

My son is 3 and 1/2 and in the last two weeks he all of a sudden does not want anything to do with the bath.I went and bought new soap cause he said the other would give him a rash.It did not.Today we went to have one cause its been a couple days and he had the worst fit i have ever seen.He scratched my arm til it bled.He thrashed all around and screamed like he was being hurt.all i did was make him stay so i could clean him he was very dirty.i dont know what to do.he has allways liked bath time.

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B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Maybe you could try quick showers with him till he's over his fear of the bath. Washing can be quick, but thrashing around in the tub can be dangerous. It's easy to slip and hit their head or chip their teeth.

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M.B.

answers from Detroit on

My daughter was like that until I started to color the bath water. She told me what color and I would look on the box of food coloring and make it. It was fun even for me. Just remember NOT to use alot (a little goes a long way). My babysitter didn't listen (she used the whole bottle of food coloring) and I came home to a purple child. She was that way for almost a week. Which is funny now, but at the time it wasn't. Good luck!

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K.I.

answers from Spokane on

I would switch to the shower and keep it as fast as possible...you just scrub him down, then out he goes. No biggie.

I am sure he will eventually get back to realizing how fun bath time can be...the other ladies are right, some new toys for the bath might also help...they have some awesome stuff these days...color crayons, finger paints, stuff that changes the color of the water, stuff that sticks to the sides of the tub/wall...

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K.H.

answers from Washington DC on

Will he take a shower? Try that

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S.G.

answers from Albuquerque on

Maybe you could ask him if he would like to shower instead. Of course you'll still have to help him, but he may like it.

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L.A.

answers from Austin on

All great suggestions. We used to race to see how fast we could bathe our daughter. We would have my husband stand in the bathroom and then time us. The next night my husband would bathe our daughter and see how fest he could bathe her. It had to include a real bath and hair washing..

She loved it.. She would cheer us on and raise her arms and then her legs, then flop over so we could do her bath.. It really was fun.

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C.P.

answers from New York on

My son was like a little cat, never wanting bath, until we went to the store and got him bath toys, a little basketball and hoop, Sesame Street washable paints (found at Target next to Mr. Bubble), and a cuddly hooded towel (from LL Bean I think). He now loves bath time and takes up to an hour playing in the tub. Getting him to shower is another matter but usually a quick "your daddy loves to take showers!" or "do you want to be nice and clean today or nice and dirty?" with only a choice for a shower to get clean works.

Another thought is, maybe he got some water in his nose or ears two weeks ago that made him uncomfortable. My son refused to have me cut his nails for a long time after I cut one a little too short.

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E.C.

answers from Providence on

We went through the same thing at that age! Some things that helped -- new bath toys (maybe let him pick out?) and bath paints. You can get really cheap ones from Avon or more expensive ones at Target and places like that. Luckily it was a fairly short lived (although very frustrating) stage and my son is back to wanting to stay in the tub all day and play!

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S.W.

answers from Boston on

A couple things we've done to try to make bath time fun are bubbles by 'California Baby'... our daughter just loves them. Also, getting a new bath toy (nothing expensive)... have your son help pick it out, that way he's involved and may be more inclined to want to use that special tub toy in the tub ;) Good luck!

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J.K.

answers from Mansfield on

my 4 year old loves showers - has for about a year so the shower suggestion is my #1! It could also be that he is trying to assert more independance and pushing his boundaries to see what he can get away with. 3 is a difficult age (they feel much bigger then they are). Experiement alittle to see if he likes other things better (like shower, bath race and colored water... i suggest you just get the tablets that change the water rather then food coloring so you don't end up with a purple child or tub (classic) as well as the new tub toys,etc. Maybe he likes different temperature water then he always did before. My oldest daughter used to take nice warm (some would say hot for a child) bathes and showers but she is moving toward cooler ones now, my youngest hates it she still likes it hot.
So play with that alittle too. But make sure he realizes that like it or not you are the boss and he has to get clean one way or another... he can either cooperate and make it fast and reasonably enjoyable or he can fuss and fight making it take forever and not so fun but he will get clean.
Hope this helps :)

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R.F.

answers from Boston on

sounds like something may have scared him - some kids this age suddenly get a fear that they will be sucked down the drain (especially if they recently started potty training) we used to leave the tub toys in the tub while draining so my son could see that the toys do not fit down the drain & he is bigger than the toys so even if the water went down he would not. he also went thru a time when he liked showers better then when he started learning to swim he decided he liked to swim in the tub to practice. he is almost 7 now and usually takes showers but still asks for a bath now & then. I would try some of the suggestions on the other posts like new tub only toys that he picked out or see if he wants a shower instead. we also went thru a time that he only took bubble baths (with a quick shower to rinse off the bubbles. I also had a period of time that my son did the same as yours and I discovered that what I thought was a comfortable luke warm temp suddenly felt scaulding hot to him, once we adjusted the water temp to his liking he was fine again.

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