Bathime Blues???

hope no one minds, i kinda re-posted this from AWH hoping i might get better response here- this is a serious problem!!!!!

well, more like bathtime screaming, crying, tantrum throwing, traumatizing experiences! HELP!

everytime i give kaydance a bath (usually everyday to every other day since her skin dries out pretty bad) she will sit in the water, play, have a wonderful time, and as soon as i have to pour ANY water NEAR her head she seriously FREAKS OUT. like im talking she hyperventilates, screams, cries big ol tears running down her face, she will stand in the tub and slip and slide, i try to sit her back down, she screams louder. its really really awful. im at my witts end, i think we both are starting to dread bathtime. its getting worse too. usually i can wash her whole body from the neck down, and she is fine with that, will play and even help me (wash your leg, wash your tummy, and she rubs soap all over them lol) but even last night all i did was pour water on her arm (with the usual "wheeee") and she freaked. so i had to quick wash her hair before she climbed out the tub, or hurt herself trying.

its even worse when she tries to stand and then slips, i always catch her since i know shes going to do it, but one time her face went into the water for half a second and it was as if she was dying!

i have tried everything from singing, to making silly faces and noises, to distracting her with toys, to trying to explain to her what im doing even though she doesnt understand and tell her it will be over in just a minute.

anyone ever go through this and find a way to make it easier or have any suggestions???

when Owen was smaller I would put just like an inch of water in the tub and lay him flat to wash his face/hair/ears THEN I would add more water so he could play and splash around. Maybe you could do that part first and get it out of the way? Also, I think you can find a rinse cup (I think you get them at Babies R Us and Wal mart).

I hate to hear that bath time isn't fun!!!! That is sometimes the best part of our day!!!!!!

hey nika, thane has been the same way about he shower! he hates it and will scream and throw a fit if it touches him SO...what I started doing was showing him it was ok by geting in there with him. I know it sounds crazy but it works! when he saw that i would laugh when the water got on my head he thought it was funny and he tried it to! I don't know if you would want to get your head wet, but maybe if you pour it on your head first and just laugh and talk about how cool and funny it is then she will laugh and you can SLOWLY put water on her head XXX good luck!

thanks everyone!!!

tiff, i know its not swimmers ear as she was just at the dr. and her ears looked good, plus she has tubes in her ears, so if they ever get any type of infection they will drain right out her earlobes (i know gross!) and they havent! plus i think if i put the alcohol in her ears with the tubes i might deafen her, not sure i would want to call the dr first! ive never had tubes or anything so i dont know lol.

also i really think i may try that with the no toys until after shes washed, that might work, i just dont want to do it for very long since the dr told me to wash her last after she plays because she gets exzema and the soap being in the water while shes playing can make it worse. but i think that if i only do it for a week or so and just make sure i have plenty of her Rx cream on hand we should be fine!!

ginny! hehe i may have to try that but then i think she will have fun pouring water on me and still freak out LOL!! but anything for a laugh right she took a bath with her dad once, that actually went decently, other than he put more water in the tub than she is used to so it kinda freaked her out since it was higher on her than normal, but she was ok since her daddy was holding her. maybe ill take a bath with her next time lol! when charles is home so he can get her out, i can just see me, big fat and pregnant sliding all over the tub trying to get out a slippery toddler LOL!!!

thanks guys!!

nika, how does she do with swimming pools? Does she like standing outside in the rain? I'm just trying to get a feel for her phobia. Jayden loves water, but does not like when I lay her back in the tub to wash her hair. So I got a rinse cup that I use so that I don't have to lay her all the way back in the tub. Maybe a sprayer attached to the tub faucet could work(they might not make those.. ) I like the idea of washing her hair first then letting her play. Good luck. Kids and phobias suck cause it's too hard to reason with them at that age.

Tiff,
Jayden doesn't like the vaccuum cleaner either, she's not terrified of it, but she runs from it. Sometimes I suck her up just cause it's funny. I know, bad mommy!! (but it made ME feel good!!)

cherry, she likes being in the rain, and in her little pool, she usually only has about 2-3 inches of water in it, but she will splash her face and stop for a min like shes freaked and then laugh. it seems ok when SHE gets her face wet, but when i do it all hell breaks loose. and i do use a rinse cup, i dont lay her back in the tub, that just makes it worse! LOL! the closer her face gets to the body of water the worse it is! LOL!

oh and kaydee loves the vacuum, lol! i guess im lucky in that area, she will chase it all around screaming trying to be louder than the vacuum! LOL! its funny.

and i can just imagine you sucking her with the vacuum and now im cracking up at my desk at work LOL! poor kid!

This may sound crazy, but how about putting on her rain boots, put the shampoo in her hair before getting in the shower, then hopping in the shower with her and rinse it real quick while splashing in the shower with her rain boots. It sounded good in my head.

Nika- I had totally forgotten that Kaydee has tubes in her ears. I didn't realize she had eczema either. This is quite the situation.... maybe you'll just have to push through it. Have you tried bath time music on a c.d player?

hehe tiff, its ok!

well we made some slight progess. i went to walmart and bought this rinse cup with a flexible part on it to go on her forehead to keep the water off her face. she wasnt thrilled with it, but didnt flip out as badly, i think we can get her used to that. i also bought her her very own "special bath cup" that she picked out to play with and pour water with to distract her. and i got this cool little hands foaming soap bar, its a bar of soap basically in a little mesh pouch so it doesnt slip out of your hands and when you rub it the bar foams, so she had a blast rubbing it on her tummy and legs and watching it foam and it really helped out to get her to cooperate washing the rest of her body.

i think we are making progress and im coming to terms with the fact that bathtime will always be a bit of a struggle for us lol!

I'm glad that you've made progress.