Suddenly terrified of bath/shower

[Yael]

Hi everyone,

My son used to LOVE baths & showers with a passion.. he would even climb in the empty bath to play in there. Our bath cracked in Feb, so between then and a few weeks ago he was having showers with us, which he loved also.

He got baths at my mums (in fact he was better behaved in hes, and would lie down with her supporting him to wash his hair, which he didn't do here - but i don't normally do the bathing due to bad eczema on my hands, and I'm not sure that DH tried that one).

Anyway, basically since we have had our new bath installed, he is absolutely terrified of it, and cries hysterically in there, until either i get in with him, or maybe maybe after a few mins and a dummy he might calm down slightly but is still on edge. He is also now acting the same way in the shower, and my mum says he is doing the same thing at her house.

I don't know where it came from.. he didn't have any bad experiences that i know of either here, mums or crèche or anything. I don't know if it was the sound of all the renovations going on (the bathroom is next door to his room), but if anything, he loves the sound of destruction etc, and wanted to watch the workmen etc.

Did anyone else child go through this all of a sudden? Or does anyone have any ideas of how to get him through it? We are letting him have his dummy in the bath, and try to avoid washing his hair every night cos he doesn't like the water being poured on his head when he is being like this (and he hates the new pull out shower head), but we do have to wash his hair every so often, and he hates the bath in general.

I don't know what to do.. i can't get in the bath with him all the time, and i hate seeing him so upset!

[Tyige]

My DS Is the same with showers. We lived in a unit and only had a shower so until he was 1 he was always in the shower and absolutely loved it. Then we moved into a different house and he started having baths and sometimes showers with no issues. But when we moved into this house (he was 18 months) he decided to totally refuses to have a shower. If we put him in the shower he will scream the house down til we get him out. He is still like this now at 3 years old. He's ok with the bath but.
I don't know what to do or how to help but thought I'd share my story with you and let you know you're not alone.

Ellie

[MantaRay]

Yael, have you tried using the bath for "water play"? As in put water in it, and maybe bubbles or coloring and getting some toys and then just playing in it with him - not getting in, just kneeling/standing next to it like it's a trough and you both getting drenched and having fun. I know this might be difficult pg, maybe your DH could do it with him instead? Just a thought - once he thinks of the bath as fun again it will hopefully solve your problem. GL with it.

[Yael]

We have heaps and heaps of toys for the bath, and before we start any of the washing part we play "lets splash the walls with the spade" and all these other games, which calms him down a bit... But its like you undress him and take him in the bathroom and he goes mental before he is even in it.

I don't know if he is scared of the noise of the bath filing maybe, its a bit louder now? We put it on away from him and turn it off before we go anywhere near it, so he doesn't hear it, but maybe the first few times he did.. I don't know what to do.

I tried bubbles like 6 months ago and he was scared of them, so i'm too afraid to try again. He likes playing with water in buckets and stuff though.

Don't want to have to bribe him with something, i just wish he would like it again.

Thanks for your support guys

[*EmJa*]

my DD went like that a while ago and we had no idea why..we ended up having to pull her baby bath out and go back to using that for a few days, at first she still wasnt sure but happily played in there and let her wash her hair, so then we tried her back in the big bath and she was fine...:s go figure!! i still have no clue y she went off the big bath but loves them again now!!

[*Ang*]

I cant be much help either except to say that DD went thru a similar thing when she was younger too. All we did was very quick baths ie dunk in and dunk out, so she wouldnt get too distressed or we did a lot of flannel washes. After a while she eventually got over it but it wasnt anything we specifically did that helped her. Good luck.

[KarlaO]

My DS was the same about a year ago. He loved his bath, & then one day he hated it. He cried & screamed every time he was put in it. We then discovered he had excema, got him treated for it, & haven't had any more problems.