My son turned four in August. He has never been crazy about water or baths. He won't go in a swimming pool -- even in his wading pool he'll only stand and play with the water. When he was a baby I had to go in the bathtub with him. After that he would STAND in the tub for bathtime.
In the past year or so he's gotten better about it, actually enjoying it and being excited about taking a bath. He even got to the point where he was fine with his hair being washed! (My DH, BTW, is the sole bath-giver.)
I should mention also that my DS is very, VERY attached. He's only rarely been left with someone other than me or my DH, he still co-sleeps, we homeschool and he has ZERO interest in preschool/K4/rec classes without me, even though he knows his peers are off doing those things. (And I'm fine with all that -- I never shame him or pressure him at all.) He is still in diapers and has no interest in learning how to use the toilet. He is also growing his hair long and will not let us cut it, even though it's in his eyes all the time (I don't pressure him for this, though his dad will make non-pushy comments like, "Maybe we should give you a haircut today!").
So I'm thinking all this is him being four, learning to be his own person, realizing that others are moving on and away from their parents and him being scared of that but also *wanting* to have some control and independence. I get that. And honestly, none of this really bothers me, even though we cloth diaper and the inserts are starting to shred and he's huge for his age so it's a bit embarrassing when we're out in public sometimes (which I keep to myself, of course).
But no bath? We've never bathed him that often because he just wasn't crazy about baths to begin with, so we routinely went several weeks between baths. (God, that sounds horrible written out!) What's even worse is that I *think* it may have been a month or more since his last bath.
Now, he is cloth-diapered so his private area gets washed with a soapy rag every time we change him. But his long hair is starting to look kind of flat and oily (but not horrible, considering how long it's been since we've washed it) and, I mean, he needs to get the rest of him clean, too.
We've tried a cool new bath toy -- he wanted to look at it in the package but he's not falling for it. I tried to tell him about germs and dirt -- no go. I offered to go in the bath with him in my swimsuit -- nope. My DH offered to in the shower with him -- nada.
I really haven't been pressuring him, though my DH mentions it kind of a lot to him. I was hoping that if we didn't make a big deal out of it he'd just announce on his own that he wanted a bath (just like I'm waiting on the potty-learning thing). But I don't know.
I've asked him why he doesn't want to take a bath, and he says that he doesn't like water anymore.
He also says that he'd just spend the whole time on the toilet (the last few times we attempted a bath, he *did* sit on the toilet and pee in it because he wanted a sticker on a potty chart we'd stumbled upon on the internet looking for coloring pages...but he took so long on the potty that the water got cold, and he wouldn't get off).
This morning I told him that if he really wasn't going to take a bath, we'd have to give him a sponge bath. I also said that if he had any other ideas about how he could get clean, he should let me know, and he said he would.
I've read that this kind of stuff happens before a big jump developmentally, and I'm holding on to a tiny shred of hope that one day he will wake up, use the toilet, want a full bath, etc. etc. I know, I'm a dreamer.
So...help?
In the past year or so he's gotten better about it, actually enjoying it and being excited about taking a bath. He even got to the point where he was fine with his hair being washed! (My DH, BTW, is the sole bath-giver.)
I should mention also that my DS is very, VERY attached. He's only rarely been left with someone other than me or my DH, he still co-sleeps, we homeschool and he has ZERO interest in preschool/K4/rec classes without me, even though he knows his peers are off doing those things. (And I'm fine with all that -- I never shame him or pressure him at all.) He is still in diapers and has no interest in learning how to use the toilet. He is also growing his hair long and will not let us cut it, even though it's in his eyes all the time (I don't pressure him for this, though his dad will make non-pushy comments like, "Maybe we should give you a haircut today!").
So I'm thinking all this is him being four, learning to be his own person, realizing that others are moving on and away from their parents and him being scared of that but also *wanting* to have some control and independence. I get that. And honestly, none of this really bothers me, even though we cloth diaper and the inserts are starting to shred and he's huge for his age so it's a bit embarrassing when we're out in public sometimes (which I keep to myself, of course).
But no bath? We've never bathed him that often because he just wasn't crazy about baths to begin with, so we routinely went several weeks between baths. (God, that sounds horrible written out!) What's even worse is that I *think* it may have been a month or more since his last bath.
Now, he is cloth-diapered so his private area gets washed with a soapy rag every time we change him. But his long hair is starting to look kind of flat and oily (but not horrible, considering how long it's been since we've washed it) and, I mean, he needs to get the rest of him clean, too.
We've tried a cool new bath toy -- he wanted to look at it in the package but he's not falling for it. I tried to tell him about germs and dirt -- no go. I offered to go in the bath with him in my swimsuit -- nope. My DH offered to in the shower with him -- nada.
I really haven't been pressuring him, though my DH mentions it kind of a lot to him. I was hoping that if we didn't make a big deal out of it he'd just announce on his own that he wanted a bath (just like I'm waiting on the potty-learning thing). But I don't know.
I've asked him why he doesn't want to take a bath, and he says that he doesn't like water anymore.
He also says that he'd just spend the whole time on the toilet (the last few times we attempted a bath, he *did* sit on the toilet and pee in it because he wanted a sticker on a potty chart we'd stumbled upon on the internet looking for coloring pages...but he took so long on the potty that the water got cold, and he wouldn't get off).
This morning I told him that if he really wasn't going to take a bath, we'd have to give him a sponge bath. I also said that if he had any other ideas about how he could get clean, he should let me know, and he said he would.
I've read that this kind of stuff happens before a big jump developmentally, and I'm holding on to a tiny shred of hope that one day he will wake up, use the toilet, want a full bath, etc. etc. I know, I'm a dreamer.
So...help?
