those "terrific" twos?

Question

I've heard plenty of problems with toddlerhood and sometimes they reject everything. With most things I can live with. Our child is doing everything and anything to avoid a bath to the point that its dangerous. Any tips on how to get him to want to take a bath or other ways to clean him aside from dousing him with the hose?

Answer 1

If the toddler has that much problem with the tub try all the suggestions above mine. When none of those work ask your child why they are so scared of water??? Then try cleaning your child with those huggies wash clothes, they already have the soap in them and you can trash them when your done, wipe rinse done

Answer 2

Paint - get the crayola paint (cleans with water) and a paint brush, pour some different colors on a plastic container lid and give him some paint brushes, sponge or other things to paint with (cut out easter eggs out of a household sponge) or letters - whatever, and let him paint all over the walls - the stuff is only about $4 to $6 at Walgreens it comes in a six pack of bottles of different colors. Then when he's done (and you've washed him) clean up is easy, it pretty much rinses off with the shower and a few wipes here and there! No problem!

Answer 3

Well outside of emotional abuse no...I know one mother who wouldn't force the bathing issue and when her toddler came to her for hugs or cuddles she would turn her back saying the child was filthy and she didn't hug filthy children. That is just plain mean in my book. I don't remember my daughter never liking taking a bath. I know there was a time when she actually prefered showers with a hand held shower...have you tried that? Maybe even get in with him? I've heard of some who will take a bath if they're wearing a bathing suit. It's worth a try?

Answer 4

If you have noggin, theres an episode of Jacks Big Music show about baths (the dog wont take them) Watch that over and over and make baths sound super fun and sing lots of songs. Even though bubbles arent that great for the skin, try to bribe with that. Even playing with water and bubbles in the sink, to want to play with water.

Answer 5

Go to the toy store and have him pick out toys that he can only play with in the bath. I also heard that around this time they realize that the water goes down the drain and may be afraid that when the plug is pulled they will go down the drain as well. I don't know if this is something that worries your son.

Answer 6

Bath toys are helpful. My daughter has a SpongeBob washcloth that you can put on your hand to wash with. She's a bit too young to wash herself yet but she sits still when I wash her with it. It used to be a struggle to wash her face but now I just tell her to give "BobBob" a kiss and I wash her face real quick while making kissing noises. She thinks its funny that "BobBob's" kissing her back. I cant think of anything else you can do because my daughter has always loved her baths (aside from the face washing before we got SpongeBob). She loves to splash in the water and see how much she can soak mommy. You might also want to try Crayola bath crayons. They're little crayons that have colored body wash in them. My daughter likes coloring on her belly with them. Bath foam might also help because they can color on the tub with them and wash it right off with water if they want to create a new picture. Hope I helped. Good luck.

Answer 7

have you tried taking a bath together? both my boys love the water and even ask to take baths(3yo) make bath time fun, dont be afraid to use your imagination....remember Scuba Steve .....maybe start off with telling him that you and him r gong fishing: get a play childs pole put a few toy fish and ducks, let him stand in the water, see if he can catch the fish gradually get him used to the water.....good luck...

Answer 8

That happened with my daughter. It just so happened that we had her doing swimming lessons around the same time. She wanted to get in the bath after that cause she wanted to show off do her daddy her new skills at blowing bubbles and kicking her legs.

Answer 9

well make bath time fun time, put bubbles in bath, get him to pick out a new bath toy, get goggles and let him wear them in bath put thing that sink to bottom of tub and get him to find them, sing songs, read books, try to incorporate thing he enjoys doing out side of tub in the tub, get bath markers or paint, get him his own shaving kit, use a child watering can use to wet and rinse hair, give him his own special doll to wash, you could even try changing his bath times, if you do it before he goes to bed do in morning, or afternoon, if none of this helps, give him a sponge bath put water in sink and clean him that way sort of haw you bath a baby when you can't get cord wet

Answer 10

i bought a few of those bathtub books, you know, the waterproof soft ones and turned bathtime into storytime. after the first try she turned into a water baby AND now she loves to read! win win situation. try it and see if it helps!