Hair washing becoming nightmare - any tips or advice?

[NiknLily]

Hello ladies

Not sure where to post this so I thought here was most appropriate.  Our problem started a little over a week ago.  DD 9.5months has started to have meltdowns when I try to wash her hair.  That is to say when it comes to rinsing the shampoo of the top of her head.  She is fine with the shampoo and rinsing the back and sides its because some water does run down her face which I know she doesn't like.  Up until recently this wasn't an issue as she had so little hair I could rinse it of with a flannel but now she has more hair it needs rinsing properly.

I tried getting her to look up by doing something silly or holding up one of her toys, which works to a point but nine times out of ten I'm just going for that one last rinse to be sure the shampoo is out and she will look down and the water goes in her eyes.  So I then tried rolling up a dry flannel and putting it on her forehead to prevent water getting in her eyes but I think a couple of times she has moved and some has gone down, now she just pulls at the flannel straight away and wont let me hold it to her head.  So I bought one of those shampoo guards, she wasn't having any of it and yanked on it just as I tipped water on and so once again she got water in her eyes. 

The real problem is that once the shampoo is on, its got to be rinsed out and once she has started to get worked up about me rinsing her hair, she flaps her arms, tries to chuck herself backwards, hits her back on back of bath seat and has slid forwards a couple of times getting the bit that goes between her legs right up her little bean, ouch! whether she slips or not tho it always results in screaming and tears.

She has always loved the bath and strangely enough has recently discovered splashing which she does with great gusto, mummy gets soaked and some water does splash into her eyes but so far, although it makes her catch her breath when this happens she doesn't have a meltdown about it.

I know this isn't a huge problem and a lot would say to only wash her hair when really necessary but she does get quite sweaty in bed at night and her hair gets so fuzzy,when its not washed for a couple of days the back of her head starts to resemble a Brillo pad and balls up into little knots.  When I wash her hair daily it  stays lovely and silky smooth.

Sorry this is a bit long and waffly, but any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

newmum x

[yaya]

Have u tried those thingys that up put on their head to stop the water going in their eyes? sorry not to be more detailed in my description! let me find u a link  (u can pick them up anywhere tho!)

[NiknLily]

yes I've tried one of those she doesn't like it on her head keeps trying to pull it of to the extent that I cant actually successfully get it on, which then turns into a battle in itself and any battles tend to result in a melt down at present.  I'm not sure but I think the meltdowns are because she cant communicate and desperately wants to, plus teething and a cold aren't improving her mood.

[Minibird]

We say "ready GO" before rinsing so that my lo knows that it's about to happen ... I've never worried about water going in her eyes for the final rinse and she has learned to shut them.

She was a bit like your lo - ok about it at first, then started to fuss for a bit, but we got through it with a combination of a) getting in the bath with her and washing my own hair ... plenty of overacting and enjoying getting my face wet  b) washing the "hair" of some bath toys saying "{toy's name} - ready GO" and rinsing their hair in turn, with her rinsing last "{name} - ready GO". 

Hope this helps a bit!

[xxkaty23xx]

I had this problem and still do with both my boys, i bought crayola bath crayons, they are non toxic and they can draw on their bodies, bath, tiles, and if some gets eaten it doesnt harm them. I love them, dp always wants to bath the kids now for some reason i let them draw while i'm washing their hair and they seem to be too engrossed in what they are doing to care, and i keep a clean sponge to hand so as soon as it hits their face i quickly wipe it away and change the subject, dont dwell on it asking if they are ok, i act like its not a big deal and it works, i know crayola also do bath paints now which are the same... i have a stock in my bathroom cabinet to make sure i dont run out until they are about 13 lol, i dont know what i'd do without them, i guess i'd have smelly children I dont know where abouts you are but if you are from the UK i know asda and tescos both sell them usually in the aisle with the adults bubble bath not the babies one and they would be ok for your LO as mine have been using then since my youngest was about 10months old

[yaya]

What a fab idea katy, any idea where we can get hold of them?

[xxkaty23xx]

What a fab idea katy, any idea where we can get hold of them?

Well if ya like i can buy some and send them to you, i dont know if you'd be able to find them on ebay and ive not heard of a website for them? Just let me know xx

[NiknLily]

thank you ladies for the ideas, the crayons and paints sound like great fun I will definitely get some but at the minute everything is going in the mouth (teething) so I will keep them for when this has passed.  I think for now it will have to be the no fuss and nonsense approach and hope she gets over it soon and learns to shut her eyes!
newmum x

[ryan's mum]

Ryan went through the phase of hating his hair washed , it got to the point where he got really upset /tantrums and throwing himself back too . It was a bit easier for me as i have a boy with short hair but what i did was just rinse his hair with water to try and reassure him , that way i had no shampoo to rinse out so if he freaked we left it , he was bathed every night at that time and i only used shampoo the 1 night , he got used to the water running down his face , he did still catch his breath but no tantrums .Ryan is a lot older now , he's still not keen on rinsing his head but i now hold a towel over his eyes and use the shower head as quick as i can plus the threat of his hair falling out if we don't rinse the bubbles out has worked well 

[NiknLily]

Ryans mum "the threat of his hair falling out if you don't rinse the bubbles out!" LOL!! I like that, I cant wait to use that when shes old enough to understand and believe it.  Thats a really useful idea to just rinse with water unless absolutely necessary to wash with shampoo, until she gets used to the water on her face, that and being no fuss and nonsense, is the approach I am definitely going to take.
Thank you
newmum x

[CharlotteandCharlie]

HI there.  I am drawn to your post because dd doesn't like the rinse either but I wanted to mention that I don't either.  I was having a discussion with my sister-in-law one day and found out there are more ppl out there like me.  I hate water on my face.  The rain, snow, shower, splashing.  I always thought I was a poop about splashing games and running in the rain but I really really don't like water on my face.  So ...

What we do, and this may only be temporary for you, but I bathe with dd.  Our water where we live for the time being is very very soft and slippery so I sit behind her and wash her.  For us it was a matter of trust.  She knows that between wetting, scrubbing and rinsing "mommy will fix it".  When ever water runs down her face or starts to head for her eyes sometimes she fusses but mostly she looks at me and I say "I will fix it" something like that.  I do hold the wrung out cloth over her forehead but sometimes water gets passed it so I wring it out as fast as I can and tell her I will help.  Once I wipe the wrung cloth on her face/eyes she is happy to keep on playing with her toys.  Once the bath is over dh takes her for pj's and brushing teeth and I continue on with my shower once she's gone.

Does this make sense?  It really really improved our bath time.  I hope it helps you.

p.s. When I was a kid my mom used to lay me down on her legs in the tub and pour the water over my head.  That was a trust issue too but I think I was more like 3 or so.  My dd doesn't go for that move tho.

[daniellechiasson]

We used to fill the tub so there is only enough water to cover DD's ears when she is laying down in there. I would lay her completely back and she would feel safe because she had full body support. I was able to take the cloth and rub it down her head, rinse it in the water and repeat.

HTH, Danielle

[NiknLily]

Thank you ladies
Thought I would update on how its going.  So far so good we have avoided using shampoo for last few days and I have been rinsing her hair as if it was being washed.  I am telling her "ready mummy is going to rinse your head now" and holding my hand over her forehead to avoid a complete waterfall running down her face and she is really quickly staring to get over it.  I have the flannel handy to wipe her eyes if she starts to fret and I'm saying "weee there we go" as I pour and "all done" when I think she has had enough and then quickly moving onto something more fun like bubble blowing.  As I said in my original post when she splashes herself with water although she catches her breath sometimes, it doesn't upset her at all, so I was sure it wasn't an absolute hate of water on her face. 
In fact she is getting so funny in the bath, she cracks me up.  When she splashes with all her might she has her mouth wide open and when water goes in her mouth she does a little fish impression drinking it down, she also has started doing the same thing when the odd trickle goes down her face! and she cant quite work out why when she catches a bubble and tries to eat it nothing goes in her mouth.  So cute.