16 mo. suddenly hates baths?

[SarahK]

I'm not sure where to post this question. I'm putting it under Sleep for Toddlers because it is part of our bedtime routine.   My 16 month old no longer enjoys his bath time and has started crying the minute we walk into the bathroom.    Neither my DH nor I can think of anything bad that happened in the bathtub recently (a fall, for example) that might make him upset.   He has always loved bathtime and the toys and bath books we have.  We recently started brushing his teeth as part of his bath.  He loved it and wanted to participate.   Now we can't even get him to stay in the bath long enough to get to brushing his teeth.   We can barely get him washed up, and some nights can't even get that done b/c he's so upset.   He is teething this week, but that has never impacted bathtime enjoyment in the past.   Any ideas?

[M and N's Mom]

I can't speak to why things have changed at bedtime, but my DS prefers his bath at another time of the day.  He enjoys his bath but it is too stimulating at bedtime.  Have you tried another time of the day to see if he minds it then?

[nwmm]

I am no help,  but wanted to say my 16 month old no longer likes baths either.  It is usually *tolerated* until we have to pour water over the head.  We just find it odd that this (water over the head) has NEVER been a problem since day 1!   We have tried the bath visors that keep water off of the face etc.  Baths have now turned into a 2 person job because she stands the entire bath.  I will watch this post in case I learn anything.

[Erin M]

I've heard from people who have had this problem that these are the solutions that have worked:

-- Get in the bath with him

-- Get in the bath and let him watch you from outside the bath - splash around, have lots of fun, invite him to join you, but don't push it

-- New bath toys - boats, squirters, bath crayons, things like that

-- Let him play in the empty bathtub -- it's a great place for messy projects - paints, markers, etc

HTH!

[SarahK]

Thanks for the suggestions!

M and Ns Mom:   I have tried bath at a different time of the day in the past for various reasons, and he tolerated them.   I will try that again though - who knows, he's a toddler!

Erin M: My DH has tried getting in the bath with him (once).   I'll encourage him to try it again.  We're also going to try the others over the next several days.   

Thanks again, I'll update this post with our progress.

[ks6]

My ds has had this problem several times in the last year.  Once it was SA (dh does baths, not mom), the others we have no idea why.  I found that if we kept things consistent, he began to love baths again within a week.  Wish I knew why they did things like this...

[SarahK]

We had success tonight!   Today we went to the store and my ds picked out a new bath toy.   We started bathtime (and therefore bedtime routine) a little bit earlier tonight, to see if part of the reason was that he has been over-tired recently.   I took him in the bathroom with his clothes on (usually we undress him in his room), turned on the bath water, and unwrapped the toy.  I put each of the pieces into the tub.   He wanted to get in to play with them once it was all in the tub.  Then I took off his clothes and diaper and put him in.   He played for a good 15 minutes.  I didn't push my luck by trying to wash his hair or put water on his head since that is usually tolerated, but not enjoyed.   It may have helped that I started the bath.  Usually my dh does bathtime, but he had to work late tonight.    We'll see what happens tomorrow...  I'm not counting on a repeat performance though!

[Erin M]

 

[SarahK]

Well, he is now back to loving bath time.  We just kept things consistent with the routine, after bringing in the one new toy, and he's back to 'normal' (if that exists for a toddler).  Hopefully it lasts!!

[Erin M]

Hooray

[nwmm]

So, um, what toy did you buy and where?     My lo still stands up during bath time.  She no longer likes the water over her head & I do have the bath/water visors.   

[SarahK]

I know this is an old post, but the toy we bought him was a Sesame Street toy from Target.   There is a cookie monster part that suctions to the tub wall, and there are pots and pans that hang off of it.  The pots have Elmo, Big Bird and Ernie.    He still loves this toy, and also prefers to stand in the tub.    We still don't have much luck with water over his head.  Sometimes the handheld shower thing works, but usually it is a struggle.