I'm a grandmother of a 18 month old boy. I just taught him how to lay down in the bath tub, on his back, and "swim". :) Big mistake! Now he won't sit up in the tub to be washed and he splashes all over the place. Even Mom has to change her clothes after bath time. I would apprerciate any suggestion anyone might have and yes, I've learned my lesson!
Maybe some new/different bath toys, plastic cups, etc.... would interest him to sit up & play with them, rather than want to lie down. Hope this helps.
I feel your pain! :) My daughter, too, loves bathtime way too much and we often end up soaking wet as well! We started to just throw her in the shower with us and that works really well, she still gets "naked time" and to play in the water WITH mom or dad and knows when the water goes off it's time to get out. When she does take a bath now, I've put up a clear vinyl shower curtain and just shut it so she can splash all she want, within reason, and we don't get wet.
Rebekah
My waterbaby is now 7 (and takes showers on his own :D ) but I do remember having this same problem. I think what I ended up doing was telling him he could have his playtime after we washed his hair and body. And then when we were finished, he got like 5-10 minutes of "swim" time.
I still ended up getting wet a lot, if I remember right, but I got more cooperation. Also I did keep lots of bath toys -- rubber ducks, those plastic fish and turtles you get in net bags at the dollar store, etc.
As he got older, I would tell him if he got water on the floor, bath time was over. He could splash all he wanted, but the water had to be reasonably confined to the tub! (we either lived in rentals or had bathrooms with carpeting) That helped a lot too.
Good luck! I know it's frustrating now, but I miss those days! :)
I always give my daughter a popsicle in the tub. It is usually after dinner so it is her dessert. You could try that because he would have to sit up to eat it.
Your child is still a baby. This is not misbehavior. Its appropriate behavior for his/her age. I'd bathe the child without my clothes on to prevent my clothes from getting wet. This too shall pass.
Also, I would mention that sometimes kids do what they think bothers us most. lol Try not making too big a deal of it and see if it goes away in a few weeks.
Good luck
Oh, thank you for all the advice. Your all right, it is a good time and I know I will miss it when he get's older. We'll just keep wiping up the floor and enjoy the splashing :)
Donita
I have an autistic son and a speech delayed daughter. My husband and I don't mind getting wet, we are washable, as are our clothes. They like to play. We do it a bit differently, though. We have a hand held shower head. We have them sit down and we wash them that way, but they like to thrash about and the spray still gets us.
