Jump to content

Menu

My 16-month-old hates water


Recommended Posts

He's never enjoyed baths. I figured he would outgrow it, but instead it's only getting worse. I dread bathtime. He screams through the whole ordeal and tries to climb out of the tub. I end up soaked. If water gets dripped on the kitchen floor (which sometimes happens) and he steps in it, he screams until someone comes and rescues him. If he accidentally gets splashed while the other kids are in the pool, he screams as if someone were torturing him. Mostly he keeps a good distance from the pool, though. You can't get the garden hose out while he's around, either.

 

Has anyone had a similar problem? What is the deal? Is he ever going to outgrow this? :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My older son was terrified of water. I tried everything. I finally just gave him sponge baths. After he was mobile, I'd bring him in the bathroom each time his sis got a bath. I'd swipe at him with a soapy wet wash cloth. Since he liked the bath toys, he'd kinda rinse himself by playing with the wet toys. I guess he wanted the toys more than he wanted to stay completely dry.

 

One day, (he was probably about 2) he just climbed in the bath w/his sis. And that was the end of the bath/water fears.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My middle child loved baths............ then somewhere after turning 1..... she hated them!!! I mean... HATED!!! When we would give her a bath she would scream so loud the neighbors could hear.... I was afraid they would call dfacs on me.

 

Somewhere in the past couple of years she just..... slowly......... oh so slowly, got over her fear of water. Just last year she finally started swimming underwater. Now I can send her to take a shower by herself.... I just have to set the water. She is 9.

 

It has been a very long childhood with her....... incredibly bright and very frustrating. .......but now? She is a doll......... a delight in every way.

 

Good Luck. :grouphug:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it was awful. He screamed the entire bath loud enough for neighbors to think we were torturing him.

 

I put him in mommy and me swimming lessons at 8 months. dh thougt I'd lost it. ds loved the pool. The pool water was about 55-60 as the pool had just been filled for the season and the air temp was about 60. The teacher ended lessons early--some of the babies were developing a blue tinge. Mine did not want to stop. So, we started giving him cold baths and kept up the swimming. We had to keep his baths cold for few years. He stopped liking the pool a year of so ago when he was 12. He prefers hot shows not too. I think our experience is in the just plain weird category.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does he have any other strange behavior? Do some clothes bother him or socks bug him? My first instinct is sensory issues, but my kids have SPD so it is a knee- jerk reaction.

 

 

He does not like to wear shirts. Refuses to be covered with a blanket. I have never been able to nurse him in public because he doesn't like for my shirt to touch him and keeps pushing it back, which results in everyone seeing my breasts. Where could one find more info on SPD?

 

This child has been hard on me from day one. He cries and cries, and I can't figure out why.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dd hated baths. Still does to be honest. She is 15 now. I finally got tired of the screaming and just took her into the shower with me. I got a large plastic cup, filled it with water and tipped her head back when I needed to get the hair wet or rinse shampoo out. She was fine as long as I was holding her. On the bright side, she has not problems getting into a hot tub. She just hates the enclosed feeling she gets in a bathtub. Good luck with your little one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He does not like to wear shirts. Refuses to be covered with a blanket. I have never been able to nurse him in public because he doesn't like for my shirt to touch him and keeps pushing it back, which results in everyone seeing my breasts. Where could one find more info on SPD?

 

This child has been hard on me from day one. He cries and cries, and I can't figure out why.

 

My first thought was also SPD. your latest post is just more evidence for possible SPD.

 

Get The Out-of-Sync Child by Kranowitz. It's the best book I know for letting the layman make a tenative diagnosis, though your ds may be too young for some of the observations. Then visit us on the Special Needs Boards. You'll find a lot of info there.

 

You're lucky. At your ds's age, a good occupational therapist, **trained and experienced in SPD**, should be able to fully remediate him. My ds was diagnosed at 7.5 and still has some residual problems, but he's nothing like he was prior to therapy.

 

One other thing, SPD therapy is a specialty for OT's and the VERY rare physical therapist. Look for OT's certified or formally trained with experience in SPD. Many OT's may try to treat it, but they don't have the experience or training.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter went through a phase like this, and we just ended up doing sponge baths, and eventually she outgrew it. She's six now and a decent swimmer, no problem with baths or water in any way.

 

*But*, given your son's responses to other sensory input as well, it sounds like there may be something more going on with him than a simple aversion to water. I would second (third?) the others in recommending that you learn more about sensory processing disorder to see if that may apply...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto on the evaluations; however, my dd went through a period of being deathly afraid of water. She would cling to me like a cat at bath time and just scream. We bought one of those inflatable travel tubs and used it inside of the regular tub. It made her feel safer and more secure, and bath time ceased being so traumatic--for us both. She did outgrow this fear. She loves the water, but is still rather nervous upon first getting into a pool.

 

Dd has mild sensory issues--particularly with clothing. Anything slightly stiff or scratchy is intolerable. I haven't noticed any other issues though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 2 yr old dd sounds a lot like your ds. She's never liked water, and would scream bloody murder if we put her in standing water, or anywhere near running water. (She also hates to be covered up, though a lot of that is because she is easily hot, and she also pushes my shirt away from her face while nursing, but I just went ahead and flashed people ;)) So we just give her washcloth baths, though there is a lot of whimpering involved at times. She has gotten a lot better in the past 6 months, though. She realized she likes a clean face and hands, and now welcomes - and even asks for - a hand and face wipe. She has recently decided she likes clean feet, and will ask for her feet to be wiped off. She also now likes to play with wipes or a damp washcloth, and will spend a good 10 minutes cleaning her face, hands, hair, and the surrounding area. My mom bought her a kiddie pool, and after putting her hands in for 30 minutes, she even got in! That would have been unthinkable even a month ago.

 

While I wish we had worked a harder to proactively acclimate her to water, she is getting a lot better even without us working on it. I would recommend quitting with the baths and just use a washcloth - keep the trauma to a minimum. Give your ds lots of opportunities to interact with water without forcing him and try to gradually get him more comfortable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would encourage you to not only consider SPD but also check into the symptoms of autism. Sensory issues are also very common among children with autism. I wish I knew how to do a link to a website, but I can tell you how to get there...if you go to http://www.autismspeaks.org and look along the top of the home page. You'll see "Be Informed" (in orange) and there's a drop-down menu with information describing the autism spectrum.

 

I can tell you what has helped my dc to tolerate baths/hairwashing over the years. They seem to be very sensitive to changes in temperature so I make sure the bathroom is very warm and the door is closed to prevent a draft. (My dd especially hates the feeling of air on wet skin!) I buy food-scented liquid bath soaps which has helped to make at least part of the "torture" tolerable! (Philosophy has some really good ones like ice cream flavors, etc.). And the thing I like best is the handshower attachment that I bought from QVC...it's a lot better than the pitcher method of rinsing after shampooing! My dd can't stand the feeling of water in her ears so I let her have cotton balls sometimes when I wash her hair. (I can't let her do this every time because she ends up with hardened earwax and then has to have eardrops to soften it.)

 

My ds still doesn't like the feeling of water on his face/by his eyes. When he was younger I let him wear goggles in the bathtub or when he played in the sprinkler. (He wears glasses so he's especially happy with the prescription goggles that he wears now while swimming.)

 

I know this is hard, but be encouraged...if your ds is like my dc it will get easier!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...