Bathtime flipout!

[Leningradka]

My DS is 20 mo. About 2 weeks ago, he started having complete meltdowns when we put him in a tub. We changed absolutely nothing, he hasn't fallen in the pool or anything like that. He loves playing in the water if he is sitting on the counter next to the sink, or outside with the hose. But when bathtime comes, he is SCREAMING!!! Crying and trying to get out, and extending his hands to me to pick him up. This is a same kid who used to sit in the tub and play for entire time while taking a bath!
He even didn't want to play in the kiddie fountains at the mall. I am absolutely at a loss. I dread every evening when its bathtime. I just don't understand....
I feel like I am torturing him by putting him in the tub
Any advise?

[CinCanada]

Have you got a bath mat in the tub by any chance? My DD went through a bit of a spell at 15mos or so where she would "alligator roll" & freak out in the tub where she had been fine before. It turned out that the mat did the trick, I guess she felt more secure.

[marispel]

Have you tried getting a new toy for bathtime? They make bathtub crayons that are alot of fun or even try small cups/tupperware. That may help.

Our DS goes through phases like this, but they are phases. I also find that when he gets tired, bathtime is more of a struggle. Maybe try moving bathtime up 15 minutes and see if that makes a difference.

[honeybunmom]

My 17 mos old is in this phase, now. I think we're in month 2 or 3 of this. It's a really drain. Sorry, no suggestions, just commiseration!

[shnitzel]

DD went through this at about 13 months and recently revisited it at 15 months. She was terrified of getting water in her eyes and it translated into terror about bath time. I got some great advice here and what worked was I took a bath and she watched, eventually she would ask to come in and if she didn't she was sponge bathed, sometimes she would also nurse in the bath so that would comfort her even more. I didn't want to push her because I didn't want to further terrify her so I went at her own pace. It took a couple of weeks and then she was fine to bathe on her own. We also started being careful not to even drip water in her eyes and if water is near her eyes we offer a towel immediately.
When she recently became terrified again it was because I dumped water on her back with a cup and she was scared it was going on her head. I asked her if she would be ok if I took the cup out of the water and she said yes and once removed she went back to playing very happily.

[tabrizia]

DS went through this for a few months around that age. We just stopped bathing him. He still was fine with the showers at the fitness center so a couple of times a week we would just take him there and let him play in the either after swimming or just play in the shower to get him clean. Otherwise we didn't really worry about it. It passed after a few months and he loves baths again.

That being said, taking a bath has never been part of our bedtime routine and we rarely bath DS or DD daily, unless they ask, so going a few days without a bath worked fine for DS without really changing anything in our normal routine.