My sweet little girl runs to the tub and sings her bath time song, "Bath Time, Bath Time". She gets to the edge of the tub, smiles big at me and as soon as I turn the water on she tears up and runs away. I think she is playing a game with me so I follow her to my room, strip her down and try to get her in the tub with Z. At this point she starts screaming and crying, Z is now crying and her slippery little body is clawing at me to get her out of the tub. Afraid that one of us will be seriously hurt, I pull her out and try to calm her down. She then cowers in the corner of the bathroom, pees all over the floor and then slips in her pee and is covered in urine. I now HAVE to bathe her....I remove the crying Z from the tub and wrestle with my two year old as I try to bathe her as quickly as I can (singing softly the whole time). I take her trembling body out of the tub and look down at myself....I was soaked from head to toe and my back ached.
Day Two:
Scott confesses that he had turned on the shower for fun the last time they were in the tub and perhaps that is why she was afraid. I research bath phobias on the internet and most advise to not force the issue but rather come up with creative solutions.
Day Four:
I create a bath time carnival complete with bubbles, all the bath toys and her baby doll which she has never brought into the tub. More tears, screaming and Scott and I end up washing her hair in the sink and sponge bathing the rest of her.
I buy a new bath visor from Amazon and pray that it will be the solution to our bath time problems.
Day Six:
I invite Lil'C to bathe her doll while I bathe Z. She comes in for a bit and then runs away
Day Seven:
Brainstorm possible bath time solutions with my friend Claire...kitchen sink? big blue bucket in the kitchen? me bathe with her??
Day Eight:
After seeing how awesome the new bath visor worked on Z, she still refused to bathe. She then refused to bathe with mommy so we resorted to another sponge bath and hair wash in the sink :( Next time we will try for the blue bucket.
Anyone have any suggestions??? Z was afraid of the bath about about 10 months and a new toy did the trick. Not so sure that will work in this case. Z was also not as afraid as Lil'C is. Any advice would be most welcome!!
6 comments:
try going "swimming" and even put a bathing suit on...maybe she needs to associate it with something fun. If it really is the shower head can you show her how it works and maybe tie a towel around the knob that makes it turn on to show her that it won't happen... poor girl!
Try a sticker chart. If she take her bath every day at the end of the week give her a prize (trip to the park, bubbles, ice cream).
I hate to be a big meanie, but I think she did get scared with the shower and when she clawed her way out of the tub the first time in her 2 year old brain she got her way and with each subsequent day there has been begging, bribery and conjoling to get her in the tub which only reinforces her belief that there is something up because Mommy and Daddy only do that when it is something unpleasant. Also, you can't reason with a 2 year old, so my assvice would be to give Z his bath first get him out of the bathroom. You and C put on your swimsuit, there is a gentle but firm time for the tub, sing the bath song keep it as calm and routine as possible, she will raise holy hell, fight, scream and claw. Remain calm don't plead, or beg, get here washes down, hair washed as quickly out of the tub. Get her out and wrapped up, snuggle and all kinds of positive what a big girl, so proud, your awesome and it was a little scary huh but you did it!! Rinse and repeat until she realizes your not giving in on the negative behavior or the bath. Sorry if I'm off base but Jillian started to pull the same thing about a month ago and I wouldn't give in I just made it as quick as possible, get her in and get her out, after about a week she was back to running for the tub. Good luck!
My sister was deathly afraid of going down the drain at that age. There was actually a Mr. Rogers book about taking a bath or something that I remember helped. Good luck :)
What about bath crayons? Or possibly rewarding Z with something when he gets out of the tub that C would really love to have for herself? She might want it bad enough that she's willing to get in the tub to be rewarded with it. You could also have her play in the tub without water in it to try to desensitize her. Good luck!
I would just go slow and hopefully she'll come around. As for now maybe just watching her brother will be enough. Keep doing the sink/sponge bath and all should be good. This too shall pass.
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