Bathtime Blues

I've created a monster in the bath department.

Since Emily's so small for her age, we used the infant bathtub for the first 13 months of her life. She's finally outgrown the thing though, so for the past few weeks, I've been trying to transition her to the regular ("big-girl") tub.

She's not havin' it.

I don't think it's the tub that bothers her so much as the running water and the detachable nozzle/sprayer that I like to rinse her hair with.

I draw her water while she's in the bathroom so that she can see it and know that it's nothing to be afraid of. I don't put her in the tub until it's completely filled and the water's shut off, though. I don't want to traumatize the kid!

The sprayer's the worst. Whenever she sees that thing coming toward her, forget it. It's all over. She screams bloody-murder! Actually, this was the case a couple weeks ago, but the past couple of baths have been better. The two times before last, I actually got in the tub with her, and that really seemed to help. This last time was great; the running water didn't seem to bother her much (she only whimpered when she saw it, which really is improvement), and she was finally playing and splashing in the tub. The sprayer, however, continues to be a problem.

This has thrown me for a loop because she's always loved her bath! In fact, she always used to flash a big, beautiful grin whenever she knew bathtime was imminent. And this is really the first time that she's ever expressed fear. I guess she's getting to the age where babies realize that things can be scary. I mean, I can understand why a drain and loud, running water and an alien-looking sprayer thing-a-ma-jig would be frightening. It's no wonder these things scare the heck out of her!

Like everything else, this too shall pass. We're making progress, and that's what counts!