Problems at bath time
Rubber Duckie, you're the one,
You make bath times lots of fun,
Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of you
- From Rubber Duckie, sung by Ernie on Sesame Street.
Has ‘Rubber Duckie' fallen out of favour?
According to lots of Mini Ps parents, many children aged two and a half to three develop a sudden and virtually inexplicable aversion to bath time. If your child has suddenly become very resistant to bathing then fear not, help is at hand.
What's this all about?
It could be any number of reasons - perhaps your child is particularly sensitive to warm water, or perhaps they think that their bath water is too cold. Perhaps they slipped or slid in the bath and now no longer feel comfortable and secure in the water.
The truth is that many aversions occur without rhyme or reason - can you articulate precisely why you're scared of certain things? I'm terrified of spiders. Yes, the harmless ones which we get in the UK. Yes, I know that they can't hurt me - but they scare me anyway!
How should you handle it?
Try to be supportive. If possible, talk to your child to try to understand what it is that they don't like about bath time. If you can understand what the issue is, then you'll be that much closer to solving the problem.
If they are extremely resistant to bathing then you may decide that rather than fighting a daily battle you simply try sponge bathing for a few days.
However, all is not lost! In the meantime, see how comfortable your child is around water in a more general sense. For example - can you persuade them to play washing up with a toy tea set? Or will they bathe their rubber duck? The more comfortable you can get them around water the better.
Then, as your child begins to get more comfortable you can try bathing again.
As and when you do try bathing again, you can help your child to feel more secure by letting them take back some control. For example - let them test the temperature of the water, and make sure that they are happy with it before popping them in. You could also try wetting the flannel and then helping your child to wash themselves.
When you do return to bathing, keep an eye on your child and try to figure out what it is that seems to cause a problem - e.g. are they very tired at bath time. If so, it might be worth moving bath time forward by half an hour - sometimes a few simple changes to your routine will make a world of difference.
Play & Pretend
Help improve your child's coordination and mathematical skills with a game of Skittles.
