how do i handle this?

firstly... aarghhhhhhhhhhhhh - just had to get that out!

now, heres the deal. DD1 will not have a shower or bath. its been 3 days now. ill give you a little background first-

ive always showered dd with me, from the moment she could stand on her own, and, ive washed her hair every second day or so (i tend to just wash it if we're going out and about- easier to do pigtails etc) she never really protests getting in the shower.. on the odd occasion id say 'you dont have to have one today if you dont want..' and all would be fine.
now, the week after DD2 was born, DD1 went to stay with my PIL (it was a last minute arrangement after they had travelled the 3 hours to meet our new bub, DD1 decided she wanted to go home with them.. so she did!) anyways, i asked MIL to do a lice treatment on her hair, as she has had lice on and off, and i had noticed she has scratched her head the day before they came down. when MIL washed the treatment out, she said it got in DD's eyes, and she screamed the house down :( i have a bit of a struggle with the soap in her eyes, but never to the extremem of screaming!

anyways, since she has been back, she had one shower with me and she cried and jumped out when i put shampoo on her hair... i let her go out and finished doing my own hair.. didnt think much of it untill the next day and the next she wouldnt have a shower...

she also has a quick bath each night before dinner.. its more out of novelty, as i wash her properly and wash her hair in the shower in the mornings. (i tend to give tge bathroom a once over, clean the toilet and tidy the laundry while she is in there - 10-15 mins max)

the last time she had a bath, which was i think sunday night? maybe monday? i tipped some water on the back of her hair- which she always asks me to do! but she freaked out this time and wanted to get out and thats it... no bath since

what do i do? is it just a phase? i mean, i know i cannot force her to get in either... do i just not ask her for a few days and then try again? i have been washing her with a face washer each day :rolleyes: but i cant do that forever, she needs to wash!! and her hair looks terrible.. she has long hair that curls at the bottom. at the moment there are no curls, its boofy and ot just looks in need of a wash :(

help!!!!!!! i think MIL has scarred her for life!

Does it look like there is any irritation / redness on her head? Or has your MIL been a bit rough with the lice treatment?

To get her body washed I'm thinkng maybe a shower cap might help - it'll keep the water off of her head anyway ;).

Maybe try to find some novel way to get DD to put the water on her head herself...like with one of those hose attachments or a special cup she can dip into the water and pour on her head....'with special water that has fairy dust in it which will give her special powers or something'??? (My DD is only 18mths so I'm not up to your stage yet, sorry - just trying to think outside the square! ;))...

Oh the poor thing i always hated those stupid head lice treatments as a kid.

I don't have much experience with my DD as she is only 10mths but she loves her baths and showers, is there any way that maybe DD1 can help you with washing DD2 and show her there is nothing to be scared of, maybe get her to tip the water over her own head?

Maybe make it a bit of a novelty to take a doll in the bath and she can wash her hair while you do hers.

Maybe if she is scared of getting something in her eyes maybe a pair of goggles would help, she can play around in the bath, see under water and then you can wash her hair and she knows nothing is going in?

As i said i don't have much experience but i hope she gets used to it again soon for you, it's always hard when they do something that scares them from doing it again.

Miss A is learning to crawl and stand and keeps smacking her head, takes her a bit to get back to it...

Good luck with it all.:pray:

DD is doing similar thing now. Will be happy in the shower but the minute i go to wash her hair she screams and opens the shower door and runs out dripping wet. So DH (or who ever isnt showering) has to stand at the door so she cant open it and do a quick hair wash

Leesa: theres no irritation, im sure MIL would have done her best to stop any water getting in, but i guess its hard not to, she did try getting her to put goggle on (which i bought some yesterday.. didnt work, i dont think she 'gets' what they do... maybe ill need to wear some in the shower, and show her i can let the water go on my face or something.

thanks girls.. i guess ill just keep trying, just so frustrating!

you could try one of those little hat type things that she holds to her head to stop any water getting on her face as you wash her hair. I reckon the goggles are a great idea, why don't you jump in the bath with her and show her how to use them under the water etc.

good luck, hope it works out.

We had similar issues here after having to do a lice treatment (3 lots of it). DD wouldn't sit in the bath for absolutely ages (ie months) and would scream whenever I washed her hair. I did lots of encouraging (can you show mummy and daddy how you can sit down etc) and with the hair lots of talking about the water not going in her eyes and being extra careful.

Slowly we got there, she loves baths and showers again now, but still freaks a bit if the water runs over her face. If she gets lice again, I'm just doing the lots of conditioner and comb them out method rather than the special treatments - too much effort!!

they sell great caps now that go around the top of the head and stop water getting in your eyes. Also there are some really pretty bath bucket you can get from places like target that have pictures on them, maybe if you let her poor the water on so she knows she can stop when it hurts.

Just perservere thats all you can do!