Bathtime is supposed to be a time of love and fun for parents and their babies. The caring, loving act of removing the daily grime from our loved ones can bring peace and serenity to a parent, and comfort to the child. From the very first bath, our baby knows intuitively that they are loved and cared for and that the person doing the bathing is someone they can trust to do what is in their best interest. But what do we do when that trust is broken and our child is suddenly afraid of bathing? Getting advice on having a baby afraid of the water is all over the Internet. But whose advice do you trust?
Why the Sudden Fear?
Although my daughter became a huge fan of water around 3-years old we were facing some huge challenges when it came to bath time. She absolutely lost it anytime water hit her head. So every time it came to washing her hair it was torture. Not just for her but for me as a mother. It was super sad and it actually broke my heart to see my daughter panic, squirm, and literally scream. She would go into a fit of tears and devastation because of a dang cup of water over her head.
It also was completely infuriating. Some days I would want to yell, “Calm the heck down kid, we are just rinsing your hair!” So trust me, if you face a similar problem and you feel that frustration at times, it’s perfectly normal and that’s why I’m here with advice on having a baby afraid of having water on their head. It’s tricky because you want your child to understand that you have no intention of hurting them. You also want to understand what exactly the underlying issue is behind their fear. It seems so irrational to me as an adult and made me wonder if there was some kind of baby health symptoms connected with bathing.
Discovering the Cause with Advice on Having a Baby Afraid of Water on Her Head
My biggest piece of advice on having a baby afraid of getting water on her head: Get your child’s ears checked! Always! It may seem odd to have baby health problems and bathing basics become a problem. However, if you encounter an issue with a fear of water on their head or submerging in water it is important to take your child to the doctor.
Having a hunch about whether baby health symptoms connected with bathing my daughter, I realized after visiting the doctor, that I was right. My daughter always struggled with ear infections. She is 5-years old now and on her second set of ear tubes. Her first set of tubes were put in when she was around 3-years old, right when the baby health problems and bathing basics became suspect. She had chronic ear infections even as an infant and it didn’t immediately register that the panic of the water was directly linked to her ears. However, once we started running into ear infections when she swam etc. it made total sense.
It’s amazing because when she was in a pool or a lake you couldn’t necessarily see her pain. She ignored it or didn’t notice until she wasn’t preoccupied or having fun swimming. Then the swimmer’s ear or earache would set in. When it came to the bathing when I put the water over her head and it ran down over her ears it caused her to automatically freak out. She had come to associate water on her ears with the pain afterward.
We had to really take our time washing her hair. I let her lay herself back into a full-ish tub to wet and wash the soap out that way. Or she could fold her ears down as I put a cup of water over her head. Earplugs are an awesome option if your child will allow it and you can find some that fit their little ears well.
We faced a lot of challenges and endured a lot of pain and suffering (mainly my poor girl). If your child’s having a lot of ear infections, my advice on having a baby afraid of water on their head is to be persistent about seeing a specialist. The tubes ultimately made a huge difference. She now can go underwater and showers with water freely pouring on her head with no problem.
Note : The article is written by Fallon Sullivan
