How do you get kiddo to SIT in the bath?

[skycheattraffic]

18 month old DD loves water. We couldn't keep her off splash pads all summer, loved being in kiddie pools and big pools but she. will. not. sit. in the tub. AT ALL. she used to love bathtime; it was 30 minutes or more daddy time with squeals and laughter. Then she started walking and comes in the bathroom and watches Daddy or me shower every chance she gets. She is still happy in the tub, will happily bend or even crouch in the tub to play with her toys but wouldnt put her bum down if her life depended on it. She doesn't have diaper rash and never had a really bad case before either. I bring that up since my niece had bad diaper rash and wouldn't sit in the tub for a couple of weeks which is understandable. I read through the hair washing thread and got lots of good ideas there. Hair washing wouldn't be a big deal for us except that it's a soapy naked baby standing in a slippery tub and we are terrified she will slip and hit her head. Is this a phase? I get that she's probably mimicking us but it's been going on for months. I'd love any ideas to coax that little bum back into the water

[nilatti]

With my son, as soon as he stood up in the bath, we said, "No standing, bath time over," and took him out, even if he had just gotten in. We did the same thing for using his cup toys to pour water out of the bath. It took months, but he learned...and you have my sympathies!

[transylvania_mom]

Hop in with her
 

[philomom]

I used a large, clean plastic laundry basket in the tub. If they fell, the plastic sided of the basket caught them. This only works for the little toddlers... not for any big kids. But one of mine was an early "stander" and wanted to be up all the time.

[wishin'&hopin']

We had an "if you stand bathtime is done" policy (or in our house "on your bum unless you're done") and this worked fairly quickly.  

[~Adorkable~]

have you thought of giving her a shower instead?  my twins started showering with us in a stand alone shower and it ended up being their favorite thing. do you have a flat bottom shower in the house?

is the problem that you worry about her falling? or not getting clean enough?

[skycheattraffic]

Thank you all for the great suggestions. We have an old house, an old jetted tub that is a real pain to keep clean and no flat bottomed shower. I worry about her slipping, falling and hitting her head hard on the way down. I have her in a plastic bathtub but I may have to ditch that and try the laundry basket with a new shower head on a hose. I just miss the daddy-daughter bathtimes that gave me half an hour to myself :-(

[chel]

For the longest time my toddler just stood in the shower with me. Recently I've been letting her sit in a small underbed storage bin. More so that she can play with some floating bath toys.

Also can put the bin in our separate tub, otherwise the tub alone would take up a lot of water

[skycheattraffic]

A quick update: she sat today! It was after 15 minutes or so of standing but she finally sat! The reason? Bubble bath! She LOVED playing with the bubbles and eventually she had to sit to keep playing because they started to die down. I think I will get the new shower head so we can hose her off after the bath lol. Thank you all again for the great ideas, I hope she will keep it up.

[cat13]

I had this problem with my son a few months ago. A friend recommended that I just repeat "on your bottom" every time he stood while helping him sit down. I thought it would never work and literally said "on your bottom" 20-30 times in a 10 min bath. But after a couple weeks, it really worked! He rarely stands up anymore and will sit pretty quickly when I say it. He was too young at the time to understand "on your bum or else you're done", but just repeating it over and over again was magic. Oh, and it really has helped with him climbing on the furniture too. I realize that I'm powerless to stop the climbing, but if he gets too rowdy, then I just say "on your bottom" and he does it pretty quickly.