Bath time ruined?

[RebeloveMa]

Greetings. I am a new mama with a bath time conundrum. My dd is nearly 6 months and does not like taking a bath. Is it because we don't give them to her regularly? I can count the number of baths we've given her on two hands. Now we wish to make it a more regular thing, 1X or 2X per week. But she is not too happy about it. She isn't throwing huge fits or anything, but it is clear that she is uncomfortable and the longer she is in there, the more unhappy she gets. The last two times I went in with her to see if I could offer some reassurance, but same thing: she is def not digging it. So bath time is a three minute in-and-out flurry instead of a relaxing part of the night time routine. I was looking forward to baths, as well as swimming. I hope I haven't ruined it! Perhaps I should add that we do not use any special bathing devices, just the plain ole tub. We have debated whether the water is too hot or too cold. Just not sure what to do. Any advice?

[~Adorkable~]

Have you tried a shower? When mine were very young I held them in a mesh sling and showered and once they could sit well I put a large bath rug on the floor of a tiled shower stall and let her crawl around with my sitting there on the floor too. Now and since they could crawl well I let them go in on there own, they love it and sit under the stream and really get cleen, I sit out of the shower and just watch and sometime wash some particularly dirty bits. I would have never guessed that I could have "self cleaning kids"!

[CrazyCatLady]

I don't think that you did anything to ruin bathtime for your baby.  Some babies just don't care for baths.  Your dd will probably grow out of it and learn to like baths eventually.  For now I would just stick to the in and out, three minute baths and hopefully your baby will come around soon.  I mean, be calm, make sure the temp is good, and all that stuff.  Your vibe and everything will rub off on baby.  But you're not hurting her by giving her a three minute bath that she doesnt dig yk?

Or you could try the shower.  I never got into showering with babies until they are older, but some people swear by it.

[Peony]

Every single baby of mine (4) hated bathes. One liked showers, the rest just did not like getting wet. Once they got older, that changed, now I usually can not get most of them OUT of the tub! They all love water. The baby is 9 months now and just started allowing me to take him into pools, but he still dislikes the bath/shower. 

[CherryBombMama]

My boys didn't like the bath because they were cold. I used to fill it up only four to six inches or so, trying to be safe and cautious, but eventually I learned they liked a FULL bathtub.  Which is totally unsafe, I know. But they like their bodies to feel submerged, so with my youngest I let it go to his chest and my older one gets a bit more water.  I just sit by the tub and stay there.   Is your DD sitting up already? 

[RebeloveMa]

Yes, yes! All good suggestions to try. I feel better. Thank you!
 

[RebeloveMa]

@CherryBombMama : My dd is not sitting up by herself yet. But I am not oppose to trying the full bath when she is. ;)

Thanks again everyone.
 

[purplerose]

the baby i had who hated baths loved swimming pools. once she was old enough to take baths with her older sisters, she stopped hating baths.

[kblackstone444]

Originally Posted by CherryBombMama 

My boys didn't like the bath because they were cold. I used to fill it up only four to six inches or so, trying to be safe and cautious, but eventually I learned they liked a FULL bathtub.  Which is totally unsafe, I know. But they like their bodies to feel submerged, so with my youngest I let it go to his chest and my older one gets a bit more water.  I just sit by the tub and stay there.   Is your DD sitting up already? 

My son loves the water, but hates the cold feeling of the part not submerged, so I just fill the tub up all the way and bring him in with me.  He sits with the water up to his chin, with me supervising and ready to grab him if need be, of course, and he has a wonderful time.

[lovemyseamonkey]

My 9 month old niece HATES baths. Everytime we give her a bath, she's screaming until she loses her voice. We've tried just giving her sponge baths, baths in the sink, showers, everything. We've only found two things that make baths bearable to her. Either her brother (who is 2) has to be in the tub with her, which none of us understand since he loves being in water and is splashing and screaming and just making bath time a party (though i could be the fact that she adores him). The other thing is one of us sits in the tub with her, holds her head and neck up, and she just floats in the water.
 

[CalaRei]

My twins also hated baths, but I ALSO did the "being ultra safe" new mom thing with only a little water and it being temperate at best.  I'm sure they were freezing.  I'm much more ok with slightly warmer water and more of it this time.  It did get better once they could sit up and play, though!  Now they love it except getting their hair rinsed (we're still working on the mechanics of "look up!" while we pour the water.)

Edit:  OH!  And I wanted to mention that we did eventually work bath time into the night time routine, but for a long while instead of relaxing them, it just riled them up - they'd get out of the tub and run around the bedrooms like little crazy people... naked of course.  So... look out for that, but don't let it get you down.  :)

[parsley]

This babe doesn't love to take baths but my older daughter and I really do.  I've gotten DD2 to relax and enjoy the bath more by always taking the bath with her, making sure the water and the room are plenty warm and nursing in the tub.  She has been enjoying them more, she relaxes and doesn't cry.  She's not at the point where she's old enough for splashing and playing yet. 

[RebeloveMa]

@ parsley - I am going to try nursing her in the tub... that will be an interesting experiment. Thanks everyone!
 

[parsley]

Rebelovema,I hope it works for you. What I do is lay back and enjoy the bath and hold the babe on my chest. I sometimes use a washcloth and dip it in the hot water and then rest it on her back to help her stay warm. After she's completely calm I,ll wash her by holding her in my lap and sudsing and washing different parts. I was heartbroken at the prospect of having a babe who hates water but she's getting happier in there all the time. Good luck!

[Mommel]

Just throwing in my two cents here... I didn't bathe DS much at all until he could sit up well on his own, mostly because he hated it. But once he started sitting up by himself, he started enjoying them more.

Here's how I introduced baths the second go around... Once I got the running water to a decent temp, I'd sit him naked in the tub at the end opposite from the faucet, plug the tub and let him watch it fill up... adding bubbles, etc. He could see the water rising up to him and thought it was very funny, splashed and laughed and played. It was like he was a totally different baby!