Juliette quite enjoys being in the bath, but screams a dreadful scream from the second she is out until I manage to dry her, get her dressed & eventually convince her to breastfeed. With her flailing around it can usually take up to half an hour which isn't nice for her (or me) to be so upset for that long. Now my question is, what would you do - giver her more baths to get used to it or bath her less often until she gets used to it? At the moment she has a bath only once a week & on the other days is wiped down with a washer.
DS is another one who hates getting out the bath, he is better if the air is warmer (or was as a babe in arms). I think going from warm water to cold air is horrid as an adult, let alone for a baby.
How is her skin? DS has eczema and that's really awful for drying, so we either pat dry or let him run around naked now until he's dry.
I like nightly bathing as it is relaxing (aside from the post-bath trauma) and sets you up for sleep. Apparently.
Sarah, I'd bath her more often babe. Both of mine took a week or two to learn to really love their baths and they were bathed pretty much every day from birth, maybe every few days initially. I've always found it a very relaxing part of our bedtime routine, both for them and me.
I remember DS used to cry and cry the first few weeks, but now he LOVES bathtime.
My DD did the same- and it was the only time that she was really upset so I took it rather seriously. There is no harm in continuing how you are going. I would bath once a week and top and tail in between. DD- now nearly 7 months doesn't scream but doesn't love it either so until she crawls we keep bathing as little as possible while being hygienic! I didn't see the point in getting her used to it as such. Lots of littlies don't like bathing until they are older.
I couldn't physically bath DD (dodgy back) so she's always gone in the shower with DP. Maybe that could be an option? But we've never done it every day, just every few days. She loves it. Infact, she cried for the first time today after getting out because she wanted to stay in there. We also put her in the bath sometimes with me and she loves that too.
My DS used to do exactly the same, screamed his head off when he was taken out of the bath. We used to bath him every 2nd day, sometimes every 3rd day for the first few months, and from memory by the time he was about 3 months he'd basically grown out of the screaming... Mind you, getting dressed is still often not his favourite thing, although by now I think it's more that he gets his eye on something he wants to do and getting dressed means he's not getting what he wants..
Anyway, back to the point, I reckon it's worthwhile perservering, as the bath itself is such a lovely way to warm them, and can be relaxing in itself. Maybe you could just get her out of the bath, get a nappy on, then wrap her in a snuggly blanket & give her a quick B/F to calm, then go back to the dressing process??
I think Mateauz has had a bath atotal of 10 times if he's lucky.
To bond with him I showered with him and sat on the floor of the shower BF him at the same time. It was nice, calm and relaxing and Jed just took mateauz out of the shower when he had finished his feed.
He's not to overly impressed witht he bath..looks at me as if to say..what are you trying to do to me mama.
We bath the girls every night. If we didn't, they'd both be very cranky at us! The other night, Emily stayed in there for 40 min cause she kept getting cranky at me when I tried to get her out. What has worked for us (in order for her to not scream) was to make sure she has a full tummy before her bath. So I'd give her a quick feed, even if it's just one side, bath her, then offer the second side, then bedtime.
maz - I have to say, that sounds so beautiful what you and Mateauz do! I bet he's a mummy's boy.
Bathrooms can be hard to keep warm, so we used to set up a nappy bucket right in front of the heater, block any drafts and dip them in!
I think you can top and tail them for a bit, but to really get into those little fatty boomba rolls you need some sort of a soak, even if its only for a minute. Its much better for your back and worth a shot.
We have some hysterical pictures.....
ETA: I also used to stick him on the boob with the towel wrapped around him and my shirt open once he was out. Nice for a bit of a settle, then I would put him in one of those lovely long, soft nighties you can get that open right up at the back. Sometimes Dp would help me do it whilst he was feeding because you can put one arm in, then the other when you swap boobs.
DS used to do that too...........though it's a distant memory, he's much more settled about it all now. He hated being undressed at any time though. Changing his nappy was awful because he was so upset every time you took his clothes off. But after 2 or 3? months he started to love it
I would be inclined to bath her 2-3 times a week ATM, and see how she goes. I really like Jodi's idea of giving her one side before her bath so she's really content. She will probably still cry a bit, but at least you know it's not because she's starving, just because she doesn't like being nude! If only it could last for another 25 years LOL!
Babies who don't like baths - what do you do?
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