Need help changing bath time routine for Touchy l/o

[tigerlilly905]

I originally posted this on the "Support for Touchy babies" board... but maybe anyone can help... 

I'm just looking for a few suggestions to help my ds adapt to change...maybe some of you have encountered this before...?

When he was first born, he seemed 100% Textbook, from about 8 wks on, his Touchy side started to emerge as well. Now I see much more Touchy and less Textbook, although I still find him to be a mix of the 2.

He was very good with his bath the moment we got home from the hospital... absolutely LOVED it!... We were bathing him in his infant tub on the kitchen counter.  He's now 14 wks, and getting too big for his infant tub (and splashing EVERYTHING in the kitchen!  ) So the past few nights we've tried to move the tub to the bathroom for him to get used to it, and eventually transition to the "big" bath. 

First, I tried putting the infant tub in the big bath - within 30 seconds he looked around, eyes went wide and had a meltdown.  So I tried going in the big bath with him (keeping him in the infant tub in front of me), still, meltdown.  So we tried going a little slower next time, just getting him used to having his bath in the bathroom.  Last night I put the tub on the counter in the bathroom (the level being similar to being up on the kitchen counter) But again, within a minute the tears set in. 

He never had a problem with the bath before, so I'm sure it's just the change of scenery/environment throwing him off.  If I had thought this would be an issue, I would have kept the infant tub in the bathroom from the start, but I didn't "start as I meant to go on" in this instance... so now we're really trying to get him used to the bathroom for bath time.

Has anyone every dealt with something like this with their l/o's?  Any suggestions as to how I can ease him into "bathroom baths" without leaving him traumatized or causing a break in trust?? I really don't want to do any damage or make him fear something he used to love...

Thank you for any advice you have to share

~Rebecca

[Nauvoo]

We've had a similar experience and it all came down to lighting for us.  The bathtub, even though it seemed to me to be light enough, was a bit dark and scary for her I think.  So adding some light helped.  Also when we go other places she really hates the tubs that are deep probably because ours is on the shallow side.  I've also just noticed that the lighter we can get a bath tub when we are on the road the better things go.  Even at 17 months this is an issue.

[tigerlilly905]

Thank you so much for your response.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one who has bath tub challenges. 

Tonight was better then the last few.  I played some soft music in the background that I know he likes, and I decided to ditch the infant tub all together... I think he was feeling too alone and exposed in it, especially with the big tub around him.  Even with Mommy right with him, I could see how it could feel claustrophobic.  I just filled the regular tub with a bit of water and went in with him, holding him the whole time - pretty much sponge bathing him.  Once he seemed calm I did try and sit him down, but the tears came again, so I held him and we finished the bath like that.  He didn't love it, but he didn't totally despise it either... so I think with time (even if it's a year or more...) we'll gradually get there. 


I will take your suggestion on the lighting... it is darker in the area where the bath is... and the way our bathroom is designed it doesn't have any natural light.  It makes sense that that could be scary/overwhelming too.  Our kitchen has lots of big windows so I'm sure that's a huge change for him as well.

Thank you again

~Rebecca