Scrub a dub dub
 

We've had our baby about a week and a half now. This morning i gave her her first bath.

I out her in the sink and with my hands i slowly drenched her in warm water and then soaped her up and then rinsed her under teh running faucet. she cried the whole time, trembling...i felt HORRIBLE! Then i towel dried her and put the blow dryer on LOW COOL and dried her off....but she was PETRIFIED!!!

is this normal??

am i doing it right? :confused:

I love those first baths. They do get used to them eventually. Mine did that too, she was crying, shaking and just miserable the first like 5 times she got a bath. Now she just runs around in the tub so I can't poor water on her. But secretly I think she enjoys it..hehe...perfect time to take some pics of your new baby girl :p

bath time
 

Hello, welcome. I am new here myself! But I do groom my own and worked in a grooming shop, you did nothing wrong some babies just really hate a bath!! I would only suggest that maybe you put the dryer on low warm instead of cool because that will make her could make her cold a little heat is ok and will feel good to her, just keep it about 6 or so inches back and as you dry keep it moving slowly and keep your hand on her where you are drying that way you know if it is getting too hot. Just don't give up the more you do it on a regular schedule whether that is once a week - which is what I do - or every other week the more she will relax and get used to it. You may want to put her in the sink you wash her in a couple times during the week, without bathing her, and give her praise and a treat so she will learn that this is not a bad place and then maybe turn the water on but just to get used to the sound - I don't know if you have a double sink which would make it easier to not get her wet if not just hold her and let her hear the water. I had a huge problem with the brushing part with my Max - he screamed like a banshee anytime you would even get near him with the comb or brush and I did a similar thing to get him used to it - he still doesn't love it but it is possible to get him done now without losing my hearing. :) Hope this helps and maybe others have even better ideas.

Oh, yes...it can take quite a while for them to get use to baths. You're being a good mommy so don't worry! :)

it's normal
 

Ceeby acts the same way and he is nearly six month old. I bath him in the bathtub but do not put him under running water. I use a soapless shampoo for his body and a washcloth or my middle two fingers to wash his head and face. Then I use a small cup to rinse. I just bathed him a few minutes ago. he was sick over the weekend and had diarreha. he smelled so bad and his mouth and beard was all sticky from all the medicine I forced on him. I waited until today to make sure he was recovered from his sickness. i didn't want to stress him too much. I tried to groom him but that was impossible. I am going to have to take him to the vet for that. He thought he would hate me forever but he is in my lap right now curled up asleep.

Thanks! Now i dont feel so bad!

FYI: my dryer doesnt actually ever get "cool" so it was technically warm..and i used my hands mostly to dry her, but she was just crying throughout the whole episode and i thought i was getting her too wet or something...... I guess it will take time

THANKS AGAIN!!!!!

Syd was scared at first too...but now she LOVES bath time. I don't use a hair dryer though...she is just too scared of it. I just towel dry and then let the rest air dry.

Don't worry she will get used to it!! Both of my girls are not very fond of baths but we do them every week and they have gotten better and better about them!! Take things slow and reward her for when she behaves well....and she will soon learn to handle baths!!

Cali loves the hair dryer, I think she likes the warmth. Now whenever I blowdry my hair she has to sit on my lap. It isn't easy trying to brush, blow dry my hair and balance her on my lap!

My Gracie got her first bath too!
 

We've had our Gracie for about the same amount of time and gave her a bath for the first time last night. She acted the exact same way. I put her in the bath tub with warm water, made sure the house was warm, and promptly dried her off and used the blow dryer, but she shook, shook, and shook some more (like she was freezing). I really think she was mostly scared though. I know how you felt. I felt like I was being so mean, but I know she needed it. I think she felt better afterwards too. I'm not looking forward to the next one, but I will do it so that she can eventually get used to her baths.

Sometimes they like it better if you put a towel in the bottom of sink or bathtub to make it less slippery. Then they can feel secure.

I think a good investment for sink bath would be one of those rubber faucet thingy's that you slip on the water spout and use like a shower hose. They are like $3