Help with washing 16 month old's hair

[Headmeister]

My daughter *hates* having water in her face and eyes, and I don't blame her. However, we have tried many times and many ways to keep the water out of her face when we rinse her hair. We've tried the special rinse cup that you press against her forehead, we've tried laying her back, we've tried putting a washcloth over her eyes, and I've even resorted to rinsing her hair by using a clean wet washcloth to wipe the soap out of her hair (but that takes waaay too long and she still gets antsy and tries to stand up).

Is there any advice you can give me, a product I haven't found or used, or a method that worked for you to keep your child calm when washing their hair? I'm afraid that this is going to present itself as a problem with swimming this summer and that would really be awful for her to have a fear.

Thanks very much for your replies

[sapphire_chan]

Have you tried one of those shampoo hats?
http://www.sourcingmap.com/pinkish-s...p-p-48641.html

I learned about them from Japanese cartoons and in the cartoons it looks like the water doesn't touch the face.

[ssh]

We had a similar problem when my DD was a little older. We just took a break from hair washing. After a few months of leaving her hair alone during baths and showers, she started 'rinsing' it herself in the shower. She still doesn't like shampoo at age 4. But we discovered that little kids really don't need cleaning products in their hair, except when there's a lot of food, glue or paint in it.

[Headmeister]

Sapphire - I'm definitely going to look into that, thanks!

Shhh -

But we discovered that little kids really don't need cleaning products in their hair, except when there's a lot of food, glue or paint in it.

We actually only wash her hair after she's gotten food in it, which does require the soap I'm afraid. She also LOVES pasta and sauce, which we limit to once a week because she almost always ends up getting some in her hair no matter how hard we try to keep her hands out of it (and yes, we've tried putting a hat on her and she takes it right off...lol). Maybe I can try spot-cleaning the areas that need it...?

[AlwaysByMySide]

I put pictures on the ceiling of the bathroom, over the tub. That way, my daughter had something to look at.

I've also rinsed using a washcloth rather than pouring water, and that has worked well too.

[NicaG]

Get one of these:
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/...tegoryId=85201

Worked miracles for my ds.

[stephanie95]

I wash my kids' hair in the sink. They lay back and go under the faucet. It works best if you have a spray hose and counter like the kitchen sink. That's where my mother always washed our hair. We don't have it so I just hold them. It gives me more control and there is minimal risk of water getting into the face. My oldest DS liked to hold a wash cloth over his eyes too.

[Theia]

I'm a single parent and my DD is 2. I have to put her in the shower with me. I can't even shower during her naps because she wakes up freaking out cuz she can't find me.

So, when I first started sharing the shower with her (about the the age of your DD), she used to fuss and cry the whole time. She also hates having water in her face. But after a few months of this she became more accustomed to it. I usually only wash her hair if she gets food in it, but she has to get in with me cuz I can't let her have run of the house unsupervised. I've been using Burts Bees tear free lately cuz I ran out of the California Baby Sensitive. I wash her hair half way through the shower so she is already wet and gotten used to the water everywhere. And when it comes time to rinse, I turn her around and tilt her back with one of my legs for her to lean on. I tell her to close her eyes and try to shield her eyes with one hand and rinse away. The whole time I am doing that, its a running monologue of keep your eyes closed, you're doing so well, we are almost done, etc. She generally fusses the whole time but is over it quickly. I don't think it will effect her in the long term because she actually asks me for showers now. Since I have to wash myself up, she gets a bit of time to play and stuff in the shower so it's possibly a more pleasant experience than if the focus was only on getting her clean.

[annettemarie]

Moving to the Toddler forum

[gbailey]

We got one of those shower head attachments that can move all over the place in the shower/tub. Its the only thing that's made washing her hair stress free for us. It was about $29. DD loves it.