Refusing to lie down in the bath for hair washing

[Santosha]

All of a sudden DD has started to refuse to lie down in the bath to let me rinse the shampoo out of her hair. If I just lie her down she screams, looks terrified and struggles to get up again. I obviously don't want to force it but I'm not sure how else I can wash her hair. She's equally freaked out by putting her head under the shower water and is more likely to get shampoo in her eyes this way.

I only wash her hair once a week or if it's got food etc. in it, but still gotta do it somehow. Any tips / tricks??

TIA

[Olive]

you can get these things that they hold on their forheads taht stops the water from going on face and in eyes, maybe try that

[Phteven]

I just tell mine to shut their eyes and keep them shut until I say they can open them.
They're scared of getting shampoo in them so if I forget to tell them to open them they keep them shut lol.

[Santosha]

I'll try both. Rather than buying something, do you think holding a dry facewasher on her forehead may help? I'm not sure it's actually about fear of the shampoo / water in eyes. That's only ever happened in the shower. Seems to be more about the exposure / vulnerability of lieing down. Will try and have a simple chat with her though and see if I can get to the bottom of it.

[ShootingStar]

Mine hold a washer over their face and tip their heads back and i use a bucket and slowly poor it over their head so none goes down their face anyways. They always get a lolly reward as we use to have an issue with DD washing her hair before the tip the head back trick. You can also get those buckets that are a half circle you place on their heads and tip back so the water wont go down their face. Kmart, big W, target, toys r us etc all sell them.

[~ Mylitta ~]

Oh dear, DH and I must just be the meanies that pour water straight over DS's head, lol. I ask him to look up to avoid most of it going on his face, but if DH is in a hurry he just pours cup fulls of water over his head until it's rinsed. DS doesn't seem to mind though. He's always had showers with me, so he's pretty used to water on his face, and is pretty calm about it in the bath too. We use a nice mild shampoo that doesn't irritate his eyes at all. Oh, and we try to make rinse time fun by making lots of "weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" noises, lol!

[Ginger]

we have one of those blue jugs that shooting star just mentioned. it is great!
i think we got it from big w and it was cheap.
it has a rubber lip on one side that stops the water from going down their face/ into their eyes. ds1 actually finds it quite relaxing now.

[Tinsel]

you can get these things that they hold on their forheads taht stops the water from going on face and in eyes, maybe try that

We have one of those and it works well but the girls still scream their heads off and want to get out of the bath quick smart so I have been trying to wash their hair while I'm in there too and they can lie on me but that doesn't work either. I gave them a washer to hold over thier face and that works sometimes but they are always upset. They aren't too bad if I wash it in the shower but we have so much drama and we only do it once a week

[LuluHB]

We're in the meanie bunch too - my girls get a jug of water tipped straight over their heads to wet and then rinse their hair. The jug is my old plastic measuring jug that is now their permanent bath toy as well as hair rinser. They actually like it though, and now "rinse" each other's hair.

Is it more the actual act of lying back that's upsetting her though more than water on her face? Both my girls went through a stage of not wanting to lie back (which is why we started using the jug). Now they're back to both being happy doing it, but I still find the jug easier.

[Frangipani]

we've gone and still do go through phases like this with DS1- who's almost 3yo. DS2- who's 15months is also still not a fan of laying back either- actually he is worse then DS1. I do have one of those bucket things with the rubber on forehead- though my boys won't tilt there head back enough, so still end up with water on their face. Most of the time i lay them back still, and i sing twinkle, twinkle little star- like we do at swimming lessons. If DS1 won't lay back (which is very rare) i'll tell him i'll have to tip water over his head instead. He'll usually lay back without question then. I'm hoping DS2 will just get use to it soon, which i think he already is anyway- its usually just sooking now instead of tantrum tears a couple of months ago- but its all over and done with of laying him back within a 5-10seconds- quicker then tipping water over the head.

[*TripleJ*]

Jamie would never lie down since he could sit up he just gets a bucket over his head lol

[Now we're 3]

I am wondering if it is a bit of a phase that they go through. DS has just started to ark up when the shampoo is being washed out. We're using the same shampoo we've used since birth - Johnson No More Tears - so I don't think it is irritating his eyes. He is quite happy to have his hair washed and will actually rub his hands in his hair to help when the shampoo is there but cries and rubs his eyes if any suddsy (sp???) water runs down his face. Am going to get one of those jugs this weekend as I had seen them previously but never got one as we didn't need them. I've tried getting him to close his eyes but he keeps on opening them to check to make sure I am watching him close them - so thats not really working - lol!

[MummaBee]

My little one is terrified of lying down in the bath and getting water on his face. God knows why hehehe. We do the tilt head back thing he still does the worried cry but thats it goodluck

[Santosha]

Thanks all. I will check out the jug thingamy if this persists - wasn't an issue 'till 2 weeks ago so hoping it's a phase. Will also try and chat to her about what she is worried about and give her some choices for making it less scary.

Thanks again for all the input. oxox

[AnyDream]

We've got one of the half jugs with the rubber lip and it works a treat. The trick is to get them to tip their head backwards and not forwards. When we were kids we always just put a facewasher over our faces.

[mummato1]

Our DS went through this as well, and it was a pain!! He was fine with having his hair washed (although he has always refused and still does to lie down) and then all of a sudden he hated it!! It probably lasted a few months but now he is ok, we slowly got him used to it again with a lot of water play. DF would have a bath with DS most of the time anyway and they would squirt water at each other, throw the facewasher at each other and DF would get DS to tip water on DF's his head.. eventually we got there

Oh and we also have to make sure we dry DS face if any water has run down it, he seems quite particular about that one!!

[LizLemon]

We've got one of those hose things that attach onto the spout and acts like a little shower. I found that easier to control than a jug. That said, DS never seems to mind water on his face like that - I just assumed it was one of those boy things!