Most babies love bath time; after all, it is time spent with mom, splashing some warm water, laughs, inhaling lovely scents, and popping bubbles. Most babies will continue loving bath time as they get older as nothing screams fun than water, messing around, and laughing. However, some will start to hate it. Your toddler may start crying and pulling as you drag them to the bathroom, which will disrupt both your peace of mind and cause chaos.
There are so many proven methods and best baby bath products to help you avoid getting wet, scratched, yelled at, and kicked every night before baby bath time, and here is a close look at a few:
Figure out why they hate baths so much
For starters, they may have had a nasty incident in the bathtub, like a serious slip and fall, soap in their eyes, or water that was too hot or cold. If your baby is the more inquisitive type, they may start asking questions, like where the water goes when you pull the plug. They may have come up with some quite scary answers, making the bathtub a no-go zone. More often than not, your little simply does not want to be interrupted from their very important activities, such as coloring, playing hide and seek, or building block towers. Maybe they do not like the smell of the baby flower bath you use! Whatever the situation is figuring out what the cause is by simply asking them could be a start.
Make it fun
Baby bath games that are only available during bath time are a perfect way to get a bored, disinterested toddler to look forward to their bath. A bottle of bubbles, safe baby bath toys, or any other fun activity should create some excitement rather than resentment, especially for the toddler that hates being interrupted from their activities.
Color the water
There is no fun way to perk up a bored toddler’s interest than a pool of water in their favorite colors. Many safe and fun color tablets for baby baths exist, and you can even mix hues to create a learning experience for them. These colors will also conceal the drain for little ones that abhor it.
Turn bath time to storytime
If your toddler loves a specific story, get them to love bath time by promising to read them the story while they are on their baby bath chair. Have a pile of their favorite books at the ready and start to read them when they start getting fussy. Once they start getting better, wash them up, then resume reading as soon as they are clean and dried up with the best cooling towel.
Make the bathroom toddler-friendly
There are so many reasons for a toddler to be afraid of the bathroom, especially that big drain that might ‘swallow them along with the water.’ If your toddler is afraid of the bathroom, use interesting ways to make them associate it with more positive thoughts. For instance, baby bath towels with their favorite character, brilliant glow-in-the-dark stars and snowflakes, baby bath supports for the toddler who once slipped, and their favorite baby bath songs on a Bluetooth speaker should alleviate the fear. To avoid dependence on all the additional stuff, you can phase it out with time.
Allow them to play in the tub
Going water-free before bath time should help a terrified toddler feel calmer about being in the tub. Once they start to feel happy and used, start running the water, and they should (hopefully) like the idea of getting wet. Make the transition from dry to wet using a story about filling up a lake or ocean that involves their favorite characters.
Offer them a reward for proper behavior in the bathroom
All babies love having their efforts rewarded with a gift, and this can be used to your advantage. Create a sticker chart where you add a sticker for every baby bath that they behave well or coins to a jar. These visual representations of their efforts to be good will motivate them to get better with time.
Try a bubble bath
Many moms that have used a baby bubble bath for fussy toddlers agree that there is no better alternative. Toddlers love bubbles, and will rarely pass up an opportunity to create, blow, or pop them.
Allow them to test the water’s temperature
If your toddler is terrified of water that is too hot or cold, why don’t you let them decide for themselves? First, ensure that the temperature is alright for them to test, and then tell them to go in if they like it.
Get a bath time visor
A visor is the best solution for a toddler that once slipped and went under for a little while or got soap in their eyes. Bath visors are inexpensive and will ensure that their eyes never get soap or water again.
Conclusion:
Baths are a must-have for hygiene, and nothing ruins the experience for mom and toddler more than messes and tears. Hopefully, the tips above will make baby baths less stressful for you both. If you have additional tips, please share them in our comment section.
Author’s bio:
Rachel Burns is an experienced copywriter and photographer with a design diploma. She works with startups, entrepreneurs, bloggers and companies from around the world. In addition to writing articles and promotional materials, she enjoys hiking, reading, cooking and spending time with her family.