Kaylee loves taking a bath. When we say "Want to take a splish splash" she gets a huge smile on her face! But one challenge we are having has to do with washing her hair. It's actually not the washing that's the problem. It's the rinsing.
She doesn't like it when we try to rinse the soap out of her hair. For a while we were just using a wash clothe. We would get it wet, and put it on her head to try to rinse the soap out. But now that her hair is getting longer, it's more difficult. So we tried rinsing her hair with a water pitcher. But she hates it.
We're also concerned about getting water in her ears.
Who has been down this road before? Does anyone have any suggestions? Help.... :-)
Posted by Mark at October 3, 2005 06:51 AMMy daughter had a little bath visor that goes on over the baby's forehead, keeping the water from her eyes. I think they sell them at Babies R Us in the bath accessories section.
Also, try letting her hold (with your help) a dry washcloth over her eyes while pouring water from a cup, or tilt her back and rinse from forehead to back of head with a cup/pitcher of water.
Posted by: HELEN at October 3, 2005 11:17 AMWe have had (and continue having) this problem with both Noah and Karra.
We have used the visor and swim goggles. We even tried to let them rinse it themselves. I use a cup and do it last and quick.
I solved the problem with Noah by giving him a crewcut but that obviously wont work with Kaara.
I think this is one of those situations that a parent has to do what's best for the child even though the child hates it. It can be (and frequently is) heartbreaking to see them get so upset about things but what needs to be done, needs to be done.
As far as water getting in their ears goes, we have yet to have that problem but I don't use allot of water either. Just enough to get the soap out.
When my niece was younger she hated having her hair rinced as well. For her, putting a washcloth (dry) over her eyes and having her tip her head back worked- as long as she had control over putting the washcloth over her own eyes. It did get better as she got older!
Posted by: Erin at October 4, 2005 07:04 PMMark, Naomi and Kaylee,
I stumbled upon your Blog today and read all of your entires from start to finish. At this stage, I'm far too young to even be thinking about having children but I would love to one day adopt. Your blog has provided some insight into the entire process and I really enjoy reading about Kaylee's progress. Update soon!
Kellie
Posted by: Kellie at October 10, 2005 11:36 PMThanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. We have a bath visor but we haven't had much luck with it. And we tried putting a washcloth over her eyes but it scares her. The best thing we can do right now is just use a cup and rinse it as fast as we can. She still gets upset but we just deal with it.
Thanks everyone for writing!
Thanks Kellie for dropping by. I'm happy to hear that you are interested in adopting. There are a lot of baby boys & girls who need a forever family!
Posted by: Mark at October 17, 2005 01:25 AMI made a song up to help rinsing my 3 girls hair during bath time..."Hold your head back, and look at Momma - repeat 2 times - then I LOVE YOU!" It sounds corny, I know, but to this day, my girls remember that song, they sing it to their baby dolls...my neice and nephew (ages 4 and 2 1/2) sing it when they get their head washed. If you can make a game out of it...it makes it more pleasant!
Posted by: Jeri at October 20, 2005 02:04 PMOur physician told us that Asian's are known to have a problem with crusty wax build up in their ears and it is good to let our daughter get her ears good an wet so that it allows the ear wax to soften and fall out. To shampoo her hair we get her hair wet and shampoo it. Then we have her lay back in the tub flat and let it rinse out gently on it's own. Sometimes helping in the front with a wash cloth. We started out with it as a game back in the summer in the pool getting her used to laying on her back. Now she is not at all afraid.
Posted by: Robin at October 24, 2005 08:17 PMWith my son, I put a smiley face sticker on the ceiling and would tell him to look at the sticker and no water would get in his eyes. Then I used a large plastic cup and carefully poured the water over his head with my hand on his forehead to keep the water from running forward into his eyes. He learned quickly that as long as he kept looking (up) at that sticker, no water got on his face.
I can't wait until Gwen is older enough to understand my instruction to look at the sticker. She's 16 months old but we've only had her for two months. Maybe she'll have the knack of this by Christmas.
Lovely blog, by the way!
Donna
(Becca on some forums)
Quick update: Over the past few weeks Kaylee has made a lot of improvements regarding her hair getting rinsed. She's actually been laughing a little when I rinse her hair. I'm just using a small cup, and I put my hand above her eyes to try to keep the water from getting in her face.
It sure makes bath time more enjoyable!
Jeri, GREAT song! That's fantastic. I have a handful of songs that I've made up for Kaylee. She loves it when da-da sings to her. :-)
Robin, that's interesting info about ear wax. I guess it's not so bad to get water in her ear. She just seems to pull at her ear a lot when water gets in it though.
Donna, GREAT idea with the smiley sticker. Very creative! I love it.
Posted by: Mark at October 31, 2005 08:43 AM
Mark,
Would you still like tips on dealing with hairwashing problems?