What to do When Your Baby Hates Bathtime? Try This!

Let’s just lay it out there. I hate bathing my children. I would instead do anything else than endure bath time. It’s probably why I suck at establishing a bedtime routine and why my toddler hates bedtime. But, hey #cantbeperfect. And probably why my baby hates baths.

Because of this displeasure in making bathtime a thing, I live boldly by the philosophy of only bathing my kids when they get dirty and usually doing a sponge bath before a real bath. This tends to leave me with young children who do not like baths. My baby hates baths.

Both of my children went thru this very timid age of considering bathtime torture from 6-12 months. They would scream and fuss and be incredibly unimpressed by the whole bathing situation. I don’t blame them. The whole getting wet in water process is a scary new experience.

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6 Tips to Get Baby Into the Bath.

So, if you have a bath hating baby or a baby who just hates bath time, maybe try these tested tricks. I can’t guarantee which one was the best but it helped our situation, and I hope it helps yours!

Time: eventually babies move past their fear and truthfully, I think it’s more time and development than any of the tricks I tried.
- Something about 4-5-6 months is a mixed basket.
- Something about 7-8-9 months is a tough transition
- something about 10-11-12 months makes bathing easy.
Mama: I continued to have baths with her and would begin to transition her into a seated position and then slowing inch out of the experience. Fully in the tub, Situated in the Tub, Seated on the edge of the tub, and slowly more until I got to hang out without getting wet. Sometimes I would be in the bath from the beginning and let her finish it off. The slow transition was perfect for us.
- Goal: like baths, not fear water. I wanted this to be a positive experience.
  Eventually, you won’t have to bath with baby, and can just enjoy from dry land.
Water Play: because splashing in the dog dish is more fun than splashing in the tub. Try easing into the water with creative water play. Lay down a towel (or more) and some pots and pans for a splish splash party. Eventually, move into the bathtime. She was okay with being in the bath full dressed with water buckets! #conquerthefearofbathtime
New Toys: If you don’t have bath toys, it’s time to consider some. I was too cheap with my youngest, but a bath toy or two was the turning point in making bath time an enjoyable activity.
- Word of Caution: skip the cheap yoghurt containers. We had one crack and then bust open my toddler’s lip. Stick to durable plastics and designated bath toys.
Bubbles: You can’t go wrong with the irresistible joy of bubbles.
Warm Towels: Don’t forget to bring a towel and bundle them in warmth after bath time. Nothing makes me madder than being cold after a shower. I like to crank the heat for the twenty minutes we spend in the bathtub and leave the towels on the register.

Bath time is intimidating. I get it. My kids have gotten past the “I hate bathtime” phase in their life, and it is still an overwhelming experience to do the bath thing every single day. But each day gets better, and I don’t bath my children daily.

My 2.5 year old was very much against bath time for many months. He was my first baby hates baths kid. Things have taken a turn, and now I can’t get him out of the tub. One day he had three baths because playing with his new boat toys was just that much fun!