How do you help a child get over their fear of the bath?

“My 21month old daughter has never been the biggest fan of water when it comes to bath/ shower time but she is becoming exceedingly difficult when it comes to washing. She has no problems jumping in water when there are puddles around, and loves washing her hands, however, when it gets to bath/ shower time, she gets extremely agitated particularly if its a hair washing night. Some nights she’ll be screaming before she even gets in the bath and will demand to get straight out away. We have toys and other items for her to play with and some nights are better than others. The other night, we didn’t even bother bathing her for the stress of it. As she goes to daycare 4 days a week though, she’s normally covered in sunscreen and sand when she comes home so taking nights off washing isn’t really an option as she stinks and is sticky. Thanks.”

Posted by anon, 15/5/2013

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- - Ellen said
  - 21 Jun 2021
    3:31 am
It may help to keep the water low or to go in bath with her indeed. Washing hair was a big problem for my youngest as well (in specific rinsing the soap out). Now she is 7yrs old it finally gets easier !
- - deb_gs said
  - 29 Jun 2015
    10:24 pm
My 1 year old hated the bath until I hopped into the bath with her. She rested on my legs so she could feel confident but enjoy the water. We sang songs and made up actions. As for washing the hair, that is a tricky one until they are older. I use a face washer to cover her forehead while leaning her forward to protect her face from the bubbles and water.
- - Missie said
  - 02 Oct 2014
    9:47 pm
Some little ones are just born ‘water babies’ and some not so much. Make it as fun as possible, but at the same time, talk to her about what you are going to do next.
- - christial said
  - 01 Jun 2014
    12:21 am
It could be the shampoo. I found Johnsons really irritated the eyes and the best one I found is Gaia.
- - Happymum-2 said
  - 31 May 2014
    2:33 pm
buy no more tears shampoo and get her to hold a washer over her face when rinsing or let her have a shower with you
- - alioop said
  - 10 May 2014
    2:23 pm
My son went through stage like this too. He wouldn’t go in the bath at all. So he started having showers with me but I would cover the drain so that it started to fill up a bit like a bath which meant he got use to bathing again but with the comfort of me with him.
- - emily_zilm said
  - 27 Mar 2014
    10:42 am
How did you end up going? Sometimes I would get in the bath with my children so they knew it was safe and I’d slowly not go in with them once they got comfortable.
- - koloababe4 said
  - 23 Mar 2014
    3:52 pm
Hope it’s not so hard now.
- - tobysmummy said
  - 14 Jan 2014
    10:29 am
Hope she’s gotten used to it now! I’d suggest bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles – and maybe some special bath toys…
- - coppin85 said
  - 31 Dec 2013
    7:42 am
how did it turn out?
- - kathryn said
  - 28 Dec 2013
    11:19 pm
My daughter is 19 months and has decided she doesn’t like hair washing. I talk her through it, tell her it won’t take long and will be over quickly if she helps me (leaning forward etc).
- - ljsalomon said
  - 23 Dec 2013
    8:06 pm
Hope she has started to enjoy bath time for you.
- - meltingmoment said
  - 20 Dec 2013
    2:06 pm
Hope she is managing better in the bath now.
- - snoopy said
  - 31 Oct 2013
    4:37 pm
What about a shower with Mum.
- - meltingmoment said
  - 30 Oct 2013
    10:03 pm
How are things going now – any advice helped?
- - kjgarner said
  - 30 Oct 2013
    3:18 pm
my daughter won’t let me wash her hair so we just have bath time as she hates the shower I hope its just a faze thingy
- - nswelise said
  - 27 Oct 2013
    5:40 pm
slow and steady with this one. introduce water so when she learns to swim she wont be petrified
- - niccilee said
  - 18 Oct 2013
    12:11 pm
Try sitting in the bath with her or making it a fun timethat might help other wise change to showers
- - have a happy day said
  - 17 Oct 2013
    5:00 pm
Stand her in the shower in a shallow bucket and pretend you are camping lather her up and wash her down with a clean bucket of water.Wash her hair over the sink .Does she mind showers? Good luck
- - liz007 said
  - 11 Oct 2013
    4:35 pm
Okay you can buy bath crayons shave cream and wait for it put her in a bath with you. Bath with her and you step out first and just talk to her while drying your self… … Music… Wiggles playing …small amounts of water in the bath. … To start with…