14mth old cries so much when i wet her hair to shampoo

Question

i bathe her at night as a part of her routine, i only shampoo her hair 2 times a week,but all h**l breaks loose when she feels water on her head cuz she knows that she's gonna get it shampooed, she will cry and cry and try to climb outta the tub like that, its' a big struggle. is there anything i can do to improve it for her. she swallowed water once when my mom was bathing her and never forgot it.

i try to be gentle and wipe her face right away so she doesn't swollow anything but nothing helps

Answer 1

I would suggest that you just use a facecloth, wet it and just pour water on the back of her head and just wipe backwards with the cloth and don't get a drop on her face.  Do that for a few nights.  Then when it's shampoo night just do the same put a LITTLE shampoo on the cloth and just rub that in.  Wash out and wring the cloth, and remove as much shampoo as you can.

Have her lean back on your arm so water would never run into her face anyhow, and then you can slowly add more water/shampoo until she trusts you again.

Answer 2

Try tilting her head back a little when you wet her hair so the water doesn't go in her face.  Also, you might try having her lay down in the bathtub to get her hair wet. That way you don't have to pour water over her head.  

Answer 3

It's mostly just a stage they go thru, in another month or two she'll scream when you want her to get out of the tub!  Try cradling her in one arm and pour water over her hair with a cup.  Do the same thing to rinse.  Sing a little song when your pouring (like "It's raining it's pouring") then just get through it as fast as you can.  

Answer 4

make it fun for her, maybe.

Get a rubber toy that squirts water and let her try squirting it on herself, then on her hair. Let her squirt your hair so she knows it doesn't hurt mommy either.

My sister has a cup specifically for that. It's got a rubber like part on one side that goes flush against their forehead and you tilt their head back and the water runs straight down the hair, not the face.

If it gets too bad, maybe get her a little scuba mask so she thinks  she's playing like a deep sea diver..