Bathtime Fear - Used to Love Baths- What Happened?

My son (3) goes back and forth with this issue. He'd always hated bathing (mostly hated being naked in general), then became very into it, and back and forth. The only way I could get him to calm down and start enjoying it again was to have someone else give him a bath or two, and it seems like the change of person sparks his interest in it again, then I can resume being the primary bather. Kids are just silly that way sometimes, I suppose.

I just went through this about 2 weeks ago with my 17 month old. It seemed so weird, I was trying to figure what would have caused it, but came to the conclusion it was just a phase. It only lasted about a week. I just kept putting him in there every night. I really had to distract him. I played with his favorite toys and tried to just act like it was so fun. He really likes when I slowly pour water out of a cup and he can touch the drizzling water with his hand too. I just tried to be calm about it and wash him gentle too. Each night, it was a little easier and then he stopped fussing all together. Of course, he also takes a bath with his older brother so that may have made it easier and a little quicker to get through it. Maybe you could get in the bath with him? I already forget, but I think my older son did this for a little bit too.

Hi, S...My kids are older now, but my son went through stages all the time! Whatever you do, don't give in. You may have to come up all kinds of things to make bathtime more enjoyable..for both of you. Maybe play some great, happy kid tunes before and during bathtime and have a special treat for afterwards. Maybe be artistic with colored bath soap. You may even need to get in with your child. Be creative and be fun! This will pass..but your child needs to know that you are in charge and your child will have to take baths! LD

My son is 3 and always loved baths until a few weeks ago. The only advice I can give you is to be sure to have toys for her to play with. I also bought a wash cloth puppet. He loves it!! Good luck! :)

believe it or not, 15 month olds sometimes panic over the drain.... they see water go down it, and fear that they will be sucked away. We had the same issue, and it was cured by putting a sink mat (rubber or plastic) over the drain so he felt protected. 15 months is an age where a lot of anxieties emerge, since they are just starting to figure out how the world works, but they don't yet understand that things exist when they can't see them, or that things are too big to fit through small openings, etc. They will outgrow it in a few months, but in the meantime, the sink mat makes bath time pleasant again.
good luck, L.

Perhaps the water was a bit warm for her one time so she is scared to sit JUST in case...
or- have you recently changed the bathtime routine? Not putting her in a tub anymore but using the BIG tub?
Did she perhaps slip one time and end up scaring herself with the fall in the water?
Its just one of those things that you gotta plow thru and it will get better.
Toys toys toys !!!

Yes -- both of my kids did this at about that age... this too shall pass.

You can give the bby showers with mom or dad while the bath fear is intense..

Or just do a quick clean up bath and listen to the screaming..

I think it lasted a couple of weeks..then it was over and baths were fun again.

It's just a phase. Put toys in the tub. I'm sure you've already thought of that. I think when my daughter went through that stage, it was a power struggle. I won! :) It will be rough, making it through bathtime. She has to take a bath and she has to do what mama says. So, she'll learn two things as a result of the experience!

my daughter does this a lot, she loved to take a bath when she was really little then at 9 months hated it and screamed it lasts just a few weeks. now she is 20 months and just went through it again. i started bathing my two girls together and that seemed to work

My daughter did this at about 14 months and we just got in the tub with her for about 10 days and then once she started playing we would get out and let her continue to play. She enjoyed her bath again after about a week and a half.

Happy New Year S.! Just wanted to let you know that we went through the same thing with our first son, probably around the same age... all I can tell you is that we were consistent in giving him a bath just as we always had done and eventually the fear just disappeared. I've learned to take things like that in stride because children go through all sorts of stages. Hope this helps!

Was the water in one of her baths warmer than usual? My son was given a bath by my grandmother when he was about 16 months old and it was warmer than he was used to it and after that, it freaked him out for awhile. What you could try is buy a bottle of a lightly scented bubble bath (if it's too strong your little one could get a yeast infection) and some really cool bath toys. That should help make bath time more fun. Good luck.

Hi S.,
My son went through this too. He loved bathtime but one day out of the blue he loathed them. This stage was short lived and there have been many more. Such as right now he is scared of ghosts in his room. He used to go upstairs to his room in the dark all the time and think nothing of it then one day he was scared, we just adjust unitl it passes.
I think these are the stages of growing up and are normal.
They always seem to fade quickly and then another one will
arise.
Good Luck.
M.

S. -

Hello and Happy New Year! My son, who is also 15 months old, went through this about two months ago. He used to love baths, then my husband's work schedule changed which threw off everything else in the house, and it became easier for us to shower with The Kid. Well, after things calmed down about three weeks later, I tried to give him a bath one night and he COMPLETELY freaked out! Didn't want anything to do with the tub! It was puzzling because as I said, he loved taking a bath. So over the next several days I hyped up the bath. I let him stand in the bathroom with me while I drew his bath instead of drawing it then bringing him to it; I undressed him in the bathroom; I made the prospect of getting in the tub more enticing by putting his favorite toys in it (he's particularly fond of this yellow ducky); and finally, I started by only running a little bit of water. Each day I would run a little more, until finally a proper bath was drawn. It took about a week or so for him to warm up to bathing again. An added bonus - we used to have such a hard time preventing him from drinking the bathwater. Since the change in behavior and consequent wooing back to the bath, he hasn't shown any interest in drinking the water. He tried to one time I think, but I told him no sternly and he hasn't bothered to try since.

Hope this helps! This (behavior) too will pass!