Bathing Nightmare ?

[caydendaddy]

My son used to enjoy bath time by sitting in the bath tub and washing his body with towel and scoop of water and we wash his face and hair with towel as well but that was before we started sending him to nursery school (modern montessori) 1 week ago as he has reached 18 months.

Eversince then, he is afraid of bathing, just the mention of bathing will send him crying, sometime really very hard. He even have nightmare. He is like struggling or throwning tantrum in his dream but his eye is closed.

We found out that he has been bath standing up and most likely he was showered from the head and downwards and I think that where it all started. The teachers there told us that we must work with them on this and that my son will gradually get use to it but It been a week already and he is still cry like mad and often have nightmare. I think this stressful event might be the cause of his sickness (i.e running nose and etc)

We are going to tell the teacher not to bath him anymore but just towel wipe him when he is sticky. We will intend to bath him still standing up with te shower head but where his face and hair is concerned. We will go back to the previous method before we started sending him school.

Does any parent out there encounter such situation as us.

Would like to find out what are the other way to salvage this situation. I want bath time fun for him and not nightmare.

Very sad daddy and mummy here.

I already felt like going to the school and tear it down ancing_unhappy:

Any advise or methods here would be great.

 

[naze]

My method is described long-winded & dont know if you understand ?

When she was still bathing from her bath tub, I used a small handkerchief soaked with water, dont squeeze dry then squeeze the water from her hair then faster use hand to wipe the water away so that she can catch her breath.

My hubby started using the spray, will tell her that he is showering her from her hair, let her prepare the water from running down from her hair. I quickly take a dry handkerchief to clean the water from her face, so that the water wouldnt go into her nose, the first few times, just spray 2-3 times for that shower, teach her to blow the water from her mouth so that the water wouldnt go into her nose & her mouth at once.

When both of us are working, my mom & maid will use scoop of water to shower her, will tell her that they are showering from her hair, then maid will use her hand to wipe the water down from her face a few times then shower her body, once her body is clean, shower her hair again.

Whenever I go back home, I showered with her. But must be careful cos now she likes bathing & she fell down twice while showering with me...

 

[caydendaddy]

Hi, I think I generally get your idea. will try that at a later stage.

Now the school will not bath him but just towel wipe him and we will do the bathing ourselves. This time, however, we just shower him from body up only and just wipe dry his head. Will do it at a later stage.

 

[priscilla]

My ds from young did not have so much problem with bathing perhaps he was brought to swimming from about 3 month old and we have been playing with him spraying game.

One way is to train them to wipe the face dry with their hand when water get near the eyes and nose. Also going to places with spraying water equipment for play can also help to cease the children with the fear but at least one parent must be prepared to get water by playing with the child the first couple of time so that the child feel comfortable.

 

[liangmum]

hi caddendaddy

Recently jus send my son to childcare at his 18mnths. They also doing the same method of bathing to my son. The 1st nite he back frm school, he cry in his sleep. The teacher who bath him told me tat he was screaming while having his bathe. Then i realise tat why he behave abnormal when he was bck frm school. So i decide to monitor hw wat he afraid of and hw the teacher do it.

 

[jedamum]

you did right to stop them from bathing your kid from now on.
for damage control at home, you can go buy those type of 'shower protection' cap for your boy. it is suppose to shield the water from the eyes when the water is poured down the head.

 

[ireneliau]

you did right to stop them from bathing your kid from now on.
for damage control at home, you can go buy those type of 'shower protection' cap for your boy. it is suppose to shield the water from the eyes when the water is poured down the head.

------------------------
can get from where and the cost???
my daughter now enjoy bathing but she scare of water fall down from her head to her face.. And she will want to come out of the shower basin..

 

[Ting]

Re: J girlfriend I would like to pay afraid dirty, how a half

hmmm, actually, pin only hv this prob when my parents n sis bathe her.
but when i shower her she is fine n doesnt cry.
shrugs.
anyways, i normally tell her that im gg to wash her head n when i shower her head, i will immediately wipe the water off her face n tell her:" okay okay! wow, pin so clever hor, not scared. good girl!"
i think it is just a little barrier for them to overcome.
she used to be afraid when we just started using the shower n totally freaks out during bath time.
but now, she enjoys bathing alot.!

 

[orx1016]

Hi all
My DD is 27mths. She used to bath in bath tub, I teach her to sing Twinkle Twinkle little Star and look up at 'imaginary' stars (she learnt this when she watched Barney VCD). Now she automatically lifts her head when I sing the song. Sometimes water and soap still got in the eyes which all children won't like, now I teach her to close her eyes too.
Children always learns things faster when done in the fun way. and will run away from something they don't like. Have patience.
Cheers to all mothers (",)

 

[DodoTan]

Since around the time my son turned 1, we would only partially fill the tub with water, then let him get into it and then turn on the tap to let the water trickle into the tub. Slowly, we increased the tap flow as he got older. This way, the splashing water was fun instead of scary. Eventually, we started to bathe him sometimes with the showerhead, sometimes with a bailer and a bucket of water. We'll pour the water over his head without warning sometimes then laugh like crazy or grin at him so he thinks that it's a game and loves it. Of course when we first started it was just a tiny bit of water, but we slowly increased it. Now can dunk a whole bailer-full of water over his head already. As long as you grin crazily at him afterwards, he's actually quite happy about it most of the time. He'll just frantically try to wipe off as much water as possible with his hands then grin back at you.

I think the childcare teacher who did this to your kid does not have any personal experience with kids of her own or her relatives'. There's a gap between theory and practice and only practice will teach you that you cannot force things onto young kids. It's not a matter of wills but a matter of lack of understanding and the child's part. We all fear what we don't know or understand. Your kid probably thought he was being punished but had no idea what he was being punished for. As it happened again and again, he began to associate negatively with the bath and started to fear it.

 

[DodoTan]

oh, one more thing: is the water at the childcare centre cold? My son will jump and scream if the bath water is too cold for him...