Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Splish, Splash, I Refuse to Take a Bath
Kirk’s going through a weird phase. Everything is just so freakin’ hard. Bath-time is currently the worst. It’s like he’s scared of the water or something! He still continues to prefer standing (though he doesn’t like showers so that option is out) in the tub. But instead of banging on the wall and playing with his duckies and the shampoo bottles, he leans over the edge of the tub and wails. It’s virtually impossible to even dump a cup of water over his head to wet him down pre-shampoo. Forget about rinsing! He will not be forced into sitting. And if you physically restrain him on the other side of the tub so you can rinse him without pouring water all over the floor, it’s like you’re torturing him or something. I have no idea what his deal is. He’s mildly better if one of us is in the tub with him so we’ve started trading off taking baths. He’ll sit in my lap and let me rinse him but he won’t sit on the tub floor. Last night he bathed with his Daddy and wouldn’t even sit in his lap. Yet at the end of the bath, if you can distract him into finally playing with toys or at least the rinse-cup, he’ll eventually sit. Especially if the water is draining. I just don’t get it. For a while he was trying to actually swim in the tub; after being soaped and rinsed he’d get down on his belly and scoot backwards and forwards in the water. I have no clue why he’s reverted so far from that behavior.
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1 comment:
Until 5 days ago, my 2 year old daughter loved the bath....it was a fight sometimes to get her out of it. However, tonight makes the 5th straight night that she has screamed at us even mentioning bath time. We have no idea why this is happening but other searches that I've done has helped me to realize others are experiencing this. Based on the way she was crying and screaming, I was afraid that somehow the water was hurting like...perhaps a skin rash that I couldn't see was being worsened by water but after reading other blogs, I've come to realize that it's just a "phase".
My advice is to take it slow. Have bath time a little sooner in the evening (its the last thing we would do before bed time). The idea behind this is that the child is not as sleepy and less grumpy. Next suggestion is to make it short. I brief rub down with a rag (don't pour water over his head - just use a damp rag to wash his hair). Make the bath (let him stand if that's what he wants) short and sweet. And after you get him out, PRAISE him for doing such a "GOOD JOB" in the bath and now "HE SMELLS GOOD"
We just started the "praise" technique tonight and it did help to calm her down. Hopefully, after a few more days of short baths with praise afterwards, she'll gain trust in water again.
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