Babies who don't like baths - what do you do?

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.

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 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.

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.

God, not much help am I :ROFL:

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.

Bucket Bath!

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 :rolleyes:

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!

DD HATED baths. The only thing that calmed her down was to feed her right after. Until one day she got hungry early and I fed her first. And then she loved the bath. And has ever since. Maybe she wants to feed first?

We've tried the feeding before & after, made no difference, feeding when she was still wrapped in the towel, no difference. I suppose winter is not a good time for new bubbas.

Winter is a PITA isn't it. Have you tried the shower with her? She might like that. Or how about you have a shower while she's in the bath, that way you're steaming up the room, making it all nice and toasty for when she gets out.

Tom used to do the same thing. In fact, he still does to a certain extent and after swimming too. We did the shower thing sometimes too but he still didn't like getting out. I think sometimes you just have to do it and get them dried and dressed as quickly as you can. I never really found anything else that worked. Now he will settle most of the time if he has a comforter and if his arms aren't wrapped in the towel - he's never let us do that!

Similar problem here. DD really enjoys the bath, but hates all the bits afterwards. I have tried feeding her still wrapped in the towel, but that does not stop the crying whilst I dress her, it just seems to delay the distress. We do bath her most nights as she baths with her big sister and it is part of the night time ritual. Have found that she does not enjoy a shower as much and we still have the same problem afterwards. To start with she also hated nappy changes and any clothes changes. Now she is much better and I even get some smiles, so I am hoping it is just a time thing and she will get used to it soon. I now just try to get her dried and dressed as quickly as possible then give her a feed.

We went through this too Sarah - DD was fine in the bath but would start screaming the second we took her out. Showers didn't help as she'd just scream when she was taken out! Then we decided to try warming up her towel. So while she was in the bath we would put her towel over the heater and she would come straight out of the bath and into a nice toasty towel. This was the only thing that worked. Then one day, when she was around 3 months I think, I forgot to warm the towel and she was fine! And been ok ever since.

Good luck, its hard when they are so upset but hopefully she will grow out of it.

Ambah (2 next month) hated the bath from the time she was born until she reached the age where she could sit in there by herself and splash around. From 6 days old, she always had a shower with daddy. This was (still is actually) their special time together, they have songs they sing each time, and a special order of things they do (wet hair first, etc. finish with brushing teeth) right to the end when she has to give him a certain amount of kisses (has changed from 12 to 2 to 5) then I get a cuddle when she gets out :D

She loves her baths now, but more often than not, she'll have a shower with daddy. When they're in there I close up the lounge (straight off the bathroom) and turn the heat on during winter. I take her out of the shower and dress her in the warm lounge while DH finishes his shower.

My bub hated getting out of the bath. He still doesn't like getting out that much, but it's improving. We sit him up in the bath for a little whie before we pull him out, so he sort of knows it's coming. We also give him a facewasher or a handtowel to play with while we get his bottom dry - it seems to keep him happier to have something to cover himself with or throw around. We bath him every second day.

MJ baths in a Tummy tub and is always content afterwards, sometimes after a shower or a big baths she gets really cranky and screams... we find that if we get her out the moment she looks tired or over it, it helps.
The other thing to try is getting a wheat bag and having that on the towel so that it is toasty and warm when she is put on it. (i also use the heat pack in the cot before she goes down at night and if i have to give her a night feed (I love it afterwards ;) )
I now use the TT in the lounge and the towel next to it, as soon as she is lifted out it is straight onto the towel and wrapped up and we play gentle games (like blowing on her face lightly, or raspberrys on her tum or just laughing) for a while before the massage and getting dressed which can make her cold and more likely to have a cry.

Hope this helps :)

Oliver was born in Feb and did the same thing - screaming after every bath. I bathed him every 7 - 10 days (when he got smelly, basically) for the first 14 weeks to lessen the time spent screaming afterwards while we tried to get him quickly into his clothes. After that he suddenly liked baths and didn't mind being toweled off and massaged afterwards afterwards and now baths are fun rather than stressful. So just ride it out and hope it passes.

We tried showering as an alternative but it made him scream more. We haven't tried that again - I bet he would like it now.