My son is about 18 months old and has always loved the bath. We give him a bath every night, and we ususally get in the tub with him because it is hard on our backs otherwise. Our son has always had fun in the bath, playing around, until last Monday. All of a sudden, he acts terrified of the bath and screams the whole time. He clings to us and wants us to hold him the whole time, which makes it difficult to wash him. Nothing tramautizing has happened during his bath time, as he is with us all of the time during bath time. We are just so confused and kind of upset by his behavior. We tried not getting in the tub with him, so maybe he would start playing again if we weren't in there to hold him, and he screamed the whole time. He has always been a "spirited" and sensitive child, but we feel this is out of the ordinary, even for him. Does anyone have any ideas? We don't want him to have a phobia of the bath! Is this just a stage?
We determined that our son's behavior is because he is overtired. We gave him a bath this morning and he was fine, so we are kind of relieved that he doesn't have a phobia of water or a sensitivity to his bath wash. We are going to try more strategies to "wind him down" before bath time. He doesn't like to change activities quickly, especially when he is tired.
I would back off on the "bath every night" until he gets over it. It is probably just a stage and you can"sponge bath" him if he needs it. Or try the shower. Good luck.
When my daughter was about the same age she reacted the same way to baths and swimming pools. We had a pool and she had been happy as a clam in the pool and bath, then it was like a light switch and she hated baths and pools. I am happy to say it was just a phase for the bath. She loves taking baths now, but it did take about 6 months for her to get over the bath fear. We just constantly talked her through the bathtime and let her pick out special bath toys that might be of comfort. As always if you are really concerned a call to the pediatrician is a good idea. Hope this helps.
Since he's old enough (obviously) to sit up on his own, why do you feel you need to bathe with him? I know you said it hurts your back, so why don't you have him stand up (with your support, of course) when you wash him? You could even purchase one of those hand-held showers to attach to your tub, and wash and rinse him while he stands.
I think your child is a little old for you to be bathing with him. I would look into other options.
Also, you might consider a bath every other night while he's going through this "phase". Or maybe, try a sink bath or a shower - just try to change it up a little and see if there's somthing else that works better for him.
I feel for you, but in this day and age all possibilities need to be checked into. Our family has had to deal with hidden molestation that would have started back with our daughter being watched by someone we really trusted a lot. Have you had anyone who recently watched your son and would have also given him a bath? It is not usual for a child to go from loving baths to hating them. Something may have happened at that time. Maybe he slipped and went under or maybe they did something to him during the bath that would have changed things. I pray that I am wrong, but you just never know any more.
B.
