A little freaked out.....

Ok so im feeling a little apprehensive tonite a little freaked out...Ella has been having some REAL issues lately with being bathed, its only been the last 3 days and its at the point where we go to move her in the bath off her hammock to clean her body she screams blue bloody murder, shes literally screaming in terror and her face is really screwed up and shes bright red.

Tonight i was on the phone with mum when she started Cory was bathing her and she was screaming so hard i have never heard anything like it in my life, i was thinking that its a phase shes going through or shes hungry and knows that after bath time follows dinner, but we always do this its a routine and its only recently that she has done this terrified screaming.

Cory took her into the room to change her she was still screaming her lungs out, she turned it up a level and was screaming so hard she couldnt breathe and "boogers" (as cory puts it) were flying in and out her nose. He sat her up and she was screaming and bright red but as soon as she was up she gasped and her face drained and she went as white as a sheet and was looking at cory as if he was a ghost, he tried to put her dummy in her mouth and she didnt react (normally she starts sucking immediately) he lay her down then lifted her up and she was still the same before eventually taking the dummy.

I have never in my life heard her soooo upset and i feel really bad im at the point at the moment where im ready to burst into tears coz i feel we have done something really mean to her for her to be so terrified.

My question is has anyone experienced this?
Is it a phase shes going through of hating bathtime?
Can we do anything to avoid it? Like have a shower with her and hope she forgets about bathtime so we can revisit it another time?

Im really confused and worried.

Any advice is appreciated.

PS i dont know if it has anything to do with it but she is a reflux and colicky baby.

oh jess it sounds soo scary i would try the top and tail like nikki said and maybe a quick trip to the docs to rule anything out big hugs hunny

def give her showers or just wash down with a flannel for a while if you want. maybe have a bath with her. both my kids went thru a screaming at the bath stage, not sure what age tho.
from what you said tho it sounds like the lying down bit is what is getting her upset...so i dont know if that could be related to her reflux.

x hated her bath for months, and would cry from the moment you took her clothes off to the moment she was fully dressed again. it took a long time for her to start to like her bath.

not sure what you could do here, but i would probably give ella a few nights off the bath routine at the moment - just to give her some peace and calm her down.

Ashlee's never done this, but I have a theory... It's been a routine for a while, so I reckon she's learnt by now what comes next, so because she's happy right up til you take her off the hammock, perhaps she doesn't like being taken off it? Is there any way that you can clean her while she's still on it?

Ashy only cried after she was taken out of the bath but that was only for the first couple of baths. She soon learned that she got dried, and dressed, and then it was feed time so the period before she started crying eventually got longer and longer, and now she just starts to grizzle as we take her out of the bathroom after she's been clothed.

I know that feeling you described. I'm sure many of us have felt something similar! Don't worry Jess, it's nothing you've done to make her terrified, it will be just a phase. I reckon my theory's a possibility though.

Ooh and a wee tip for the red-faced, can't breath scream: a quick, short breath on her face will make her quit that straight away! Used that plenty of times on Ashy. She's the Queen of holding her breath!

Olivia went through this Jess, and I worked out that I had stopped giving her a feed before a bath and that was what was making her upset, she was waiting for her feed. I wouldn't have thought of it at all if it wasn't for the "Thriving Under Five" booklet. Have a look through your book (or I could dig up mine) and have a look, theres a list of stuff. Sorry you had such a tough time!

Yep we had the same thing with Kobe but he did get over it.....eventually.

Thanks girls, im gonna hold it off and just do the top n tail thing and if she is still like that in the bath ill do the shower thing coz she absolutely loves showers.

I felt so mean but ontop of all that last night she must have worn herself out coz she slept all through the night lol

The "Thriving Under Five" booklet can be like a Bible sometimes!

Jezsika I would add another suggestion, to try bathing/showering (when you start up again obviously) at a different time of day for a little while to see if she is too tired at bath time. My girls had so much trouble with baths when they were tired but if I did them in the morning while they were little, things went so much better.