23
We had exactly the same situation with our daughter, until very recently (she is three years old now). The best recommendation I can give you is:
Patience..
Patience..
Patience...
We were always firm about washing her hair regularly, even though she protested quite strongly. On the other hand, we always told her before, that we would wash her hair today (...
20
With my 22-month-old son, the complete opposite approach works best. If I take water in a pitcher and shout: "Wooooo SPLASH!" as I let it all fall on his head, he laughs and asks for more. If I try to do it slowly and patiently, he complains.
In general, I find that adding sound effects to the activities he dislikes helps a lot (such as going "bzzzz CLIP! ...
19
The reason behind the "keep water out of the ear" thing stems from the fact that an infant's ear canal is angled differently than an adult's (or even an older child's). In an infant, it's commonly believed the angle is such that it is more prone to collecting water, which can then sit, stagnate, and eventually lead to ear infections. As @anongoodnurse ...
19
We not only used to bathe the kids in such a way that their ears were definitely under water when rinsing their hair, but took them swimming from a couple of months old.
If the water is from a source which could contain infection - eg the sea, or a public swimming pool - you just give the ears a good rinse when they get out and then dry.
When children are ...
14
What I have found most effective is to teach them a coping mechanism, something active to do so they don't feel helpless, and give them plenty of time to employ it. For example:
Okay, some water is coming. Close your eyes and mouth tightly so it won't get in!
Kids often cry because they're scared of water getting in their mouth, which sort of creates a ...
10
@Rory Alsop is correct.
First, terms need to be defined.
There are basically 4 parts of the ear. The outside of the ear (what you can move around with manipulation) is called the auricle or pinna. Occasionally it can become infected, and this is called malignant otitis externa. It is relatively uncommon.
The ear canal (the acoustic auditory meatus or the ...
10
I have dealt with this fear as a babysitter and this always works. Kids never cry when I wash their hair. First get or make some bath puppets. Puppets make a great distraction and kids would rather have the puppets washing a rinsing their hair. Buy a unbreakable mirror. At lunch or anytime way before bathtime show your son the puppets have them talk to him ...
10
I hate to drink water too. I am not a toddler, but I know how she feels. I hate the way it sits in my stomach. Here are my suggestions (including a few from my mother that worked on toddler-me):
adjust the temp. She may not like cold water because it hurts her teeth, or some other reason. Try room temp instead. I actually can stand to drink an 8 oz glass ...
10
We cured the same problem in my daughter, INSTANTLY, with a cheap pair of swimming goggles. I showed her what they were, what they are for - she pressed them to her face, and that was it. no going back!
The same pair got her used to jumping in a swimming pool, and to learn to swim. Now she's nine years old, and an experienced scuba diver!
9
I don't imagine you need to boil any water before giving to a normal 8 month old; by six months the baby's immune system is functioning very well. I can't say I've ever boiled water before giving to a child, though we didn't ever give water under six months.
However, bottled water unless 'distilled' can and does contain some bacteria. For example, this ...
9
Breast milk is, essentially, water with a bunch of other nutritious stuff in it.
Water intoxication can be a concern if an infant drinks too much plain water in addition to breast milk or formula, but that requires a significant volume of water:
Breast milk or formula provides all the fluid healthy babies need. If
a mother feels her baby needs to take ...
8
Ok, not from a professional, but from a parent's perspective:
It seems you have built yourselves a nice battlefield with your son - I sense a power play and a lot of unnecessary tension. A vicious cycle.
First step:
Stop this right now.
That means, no yelling, no fusing and, above all, no force feeding. Try to eliminate this battle ground completely. ...
6
We had this problem for long long time, and it only became worse in each passing day.
Week ago we started combination of two suggestions we got from friends and it appears to be working so going to share here.
Put water in small plastic glass, either from the tap or directly from the bath and tell the child you are going to use the water to clean his/her ...
answered Jun 26 '13 at 8:37
Shadow Wizard is Ear For You
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6
Treb makes some wonderful points that I hope you find reassuring. In addition to these, we had the same problem with our little one for awhile too. The way we solved it was by giving her a choice to let us do it or she could do it while we monitored and made sure all of it got rinsed. She learned how to lean back somewhat and use the a cup while she sat ...
6
48-50C (118-120F) should be fine as a max temperature, according to Baby Center. As a rule, you should always test the water on a sensitive part of your body, such as the inside of your wrist or elbow.
The linked article mentions that babies generally like it cooler, but your experience may vary. My son actually preferred it warmer (to clarify - not "hot" ...
6
I believe what you are asking about is water intoxication.
To answer your question simply, yes, too much water, especially in a very short amount of time, can lower sodium levels for an 11 month old, an 11 year old, or pretty much anyone at any age. Babies younger than 6 months and athletes are the most vulnerable. Symptoms of water intoxication are (to ...
6
No, you need not boil the water, especially as your child is already nine months old.
The recommendation to always boil is just to be extra safe in reducing bacteria content. Note that even very clean tap or bottled water is not sterile and neither is water that has been boiled for a few minutes. In general the recommendation to wash / boil everything you ...
5
IMHO the human body is quite good at regulating such important things as water and salt balance. Kids will drink if they need to. For the same reason I am not worried when my toddler shakes some salt in his hand and licks that off. It'll even out.
5
I say let him drink as much as he wants: that's what his kidneys are for. True, it will mean more diaper changes (and so possibly more waking up overnight), but it won't hurt him.
As for a "normal" amount of water, that depends on the child's body mass, food intake, climate, and a lot of other factors.
5
It's hard to tell from the info in your question whether this is a medical issue or a behavioral one, or a combination of the two. It's clear that force-feeding is backfiring and not getting the desired result.
We've followed the advice of Ellyn Satter on The Division of Responsibility for Feeding Kids, and it's worked well for our 1-year-old so far.
...
4
I am convinced that for children who don't like showers, it's because they don't like it on their face.
I heard too many stories from friends about their child hating showers. Many of them also say their children don't like swimming at the beach. Water at bathtime is fine, but when it's in a bit more of a chaotic situation, their children are not happy.
I ...
4
First off, everything has bacteria. It's pretty impossible to remove all bacteria unless you work in a highly sterilized environment. In this case, however, bottled water is mass-filtered and mass-bottled in bottling plants that undoubtedly contain bacteria.
No, you don't need to boil bottled water. Boiling water is necessary when you don't know the source ...
4
You might try getting a long shower hose attachment so that he has more control about where the water goes. That way he will be able to wash his body without water getting on his face. After a while he will probably start experimenting with allowing water to touch his face. Everyone is able to be bolder when they feel they are in control of the situation.
...
answered Oct 26 '15 at 23:30
Francine DeGrood Taylor
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4
This is normal that she drinks less water in winter time. Is it not the same for you?
But about your problem -
try using some children water bottles (with her favorite character) and leave it so she can easily access it.
add some frozen berries or slice of lemon or orange to glass of water
use a straw
My 2 year old likes to drink a lot if she can drink it ...
3
In general toddlers do drink and eat enough for them to survive as long as something is available, so unless there is some very unrealistic and rare disease, there is no need to worry about that. However survive and optimal are different things.
Kids usually love everything sweet, so instead of pure water, you might want to add something to it that changes ...
3
A warm soak doesn't have to be sitting around with hands in a bowl. Try filling a sink, or, even the high chair tray (you will need to refill often probably, and, need several towels or a mop to clean spills) with the warm soapy water and a few toys and see if the baby will play. I don't know too many kids that don't like playing in soapy water. The biggest ...
3
We took our 3 along to indoor pools (in the UK) from a very early age. Useful points we learned:
kids that age get cold really fast, so make sure the kids pool is heated, or else watch for them getting cold and shivery: be ready with a fluffy towel and cuddles
Initially just hold them in the water, then bounce them to make splashes to help them get used to ...
3
I agree that taking the toddler to the pool where he can swim with adult supervision will help him learn about the water. I don't think this will make him less likely to want to get in the water by himself. In fact, he might like it so much that he will want to get in more once he sees how much fun it is. Assuming that he understands "no," he will need to ...
3
I believe the child is afraid of suffocation or rather a blocking of air by the water. She goes into panic mode in different positions because she doesn't have any control over the amount of water you are going to pour on her.
Have you ever experienced gasping for air when too much water falls on your head? That is a panic moment. I experience it even now (...
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