Conference moira::parenting

I use the sprayer in the sink to sort of shower my kids' hair.  Jessica
always hated having the water poured over her head, but she just about 
notices having a shower from the sprayer. She still gets water in her
eyes and ears, but it doesn't bother her as much.  Brad was never bothered
by pouring the water over his head, but I've been using the sprayer anyhow
since he likes it so much.

    
    
    I just dump water on Spencer's head and then wipe the water from his
    face. It's happened so often that I don't even think he notices
    anymore.
    
    	Spencer is now in the tub but before he went into the tub and after
    the baby bath, we used a 10 gallon rubbermaid container on the kitchen
    floor. It was the perfect size and depth to contain him and his toys.
    Got to bath the baby as well as mop the kitchen floor ;-)
    
    				Wendy

    Sarah doesn't seem to mind too much when the water gets in her face,
    she just shakes her head and blows some bubbles, but it was bothering
    ME since "I" hate water in my ears and eyes.
    
    I bathe her on top of the vanity in the bathroom (it's easier to
    control the air temp in there) so there's no sprayer.  However, we have
    a removeable shower massager in the tub, I guess I could move
    everything into there (ooooohhhh, my back) or just see how much it does
    or doesn't bother her.
    
    How old are they before they can (or figure out that they should) lift 
    their heads back to a decent angle?
    
    Susan
                                 

    I hold a large bath sponge on the kid's foreheads and dump the water
    over their heads.  The sponge seems to absorb most of it, and I wipe
    their faces off afterwards.
    
    -Joy
    

    Susan, looks like we have similar problems.
    Here's what we do.
    Charlotte is big. We were using a regular white baby tub (no inserts)
    and putting it on the kitchen counter each night (we have itsy bitsy 
    bathrooms with zero counter space). She outgrew the tub about a 
    month ago (kicking would bruise her ankles and get the toaster oven
    very wet).
    So, each night Alan and I take turns putting on our bathing suits 
    (for both modesty and convenience) and jump into the big tub with her.
    The other sits outside and assists. we have a little towel on the
    bottom of the tub so that she does not slide, and we are sitting on the 
    towel as well, so it does not move. we also have a bowl of water
    near by for clean rinsing. We've gone from soaping her head to using
    baby shampoo (she's got a long mop of hair now). Lean her back so that
    her head is supported by our hands (and our hands by our crossed 
    ankles) and we take the face cloth to rinse back the hair. Works well.
    After bath is finished, assistant takes baby to change table and dries
    her while desigated bather takes shower. 
    Hows that for tag team parenting? 8-)
    Its become a pretty fun family ritual actually. 
    
    Monica
    (at 7 months and 1 week she's approx 23 pounds and 28 inches...huff
    puff!)

    
    Monica, we also take Michael in the tub with us! It started out for the
    same reason you stated, he was just getting too big for the baby tub.
    Now its turned into more of a safety issue tho. We have those sliding 
    glass doors on our bathtub, and its almost impossible to have a calm
    bathtime while he's slipping and sliding out of my grasp to the other
    end of the tub where I can't reach behind the glass (toddlers like to
    play games!!! :-)  
    
    My husband is usually the one to give him a bath while I clean up after
    dinner, and they have a great time singing and playing.  I think tho,
    its getting kind of old, and we are probably going to take the doors
    off for awhile and put up a shower curtain and get him to stay in the
    tub alone (with supervision)after the holidays. Those glass doors make me 
    nervous anyways. He (my 14 mos old) is slamming them open and closed 
    constantly and I have these visions of them crashing down and hurting him 
    badly and we'll be on the next edition of RESCUE 911!!  
    
    
    Chris
    

	We do something similar to what Monica does.  

	I have a baby sponge that I used to use in her baby tub.
	Now I put the baby sponge in the tub, get undressed (no bathing
	suit for me :-)), and Emily and I get in the tub.  I lay her
	on the baby sponge, and the water comes about half way up her head.
	I cup my hand and gently dump water on the rest of her hair while
	she's still laying down.  Then I raise her up slightly by
	putting my hand on her back, shampoo her, then lower her back down.
	I rinse in the same way that I wet her hair.  I then wash her
	limbs, etc., while she's still laying down.  I sit with my back to
	the faucets, so Emily is in the more shallow end of the tub, and is
	in no risk of bumping herself on the faucets.  After she's all scrubbed,
	we play a little.  Sometimes I get real close to her and let her sit
	up, with my hands surrounding her in case she makes a sudden move.
	She's always on the sponge, so she has good traction :-).

	Like Monica said, Daddy takes Emily out and dries and dresses her,
	while I shower or just rinse off.

	We don't bathe Emily every night.  Even every other night tends
	to dry out her skin (or did when she was an infant), so she usually
	only gets full baths every third day or so.  I use the washcloth
	on her on in between days if needed.  My sisters pedi recommended
	this for my neice, who is four months older than Emily, and I adopted
	it when Emily's skin was getting dry.

	Karen

    Wow, all the rituals!!!!
    
    I hadn't actually thought of bathing with Sarah yet, but I like the
    idea of the bath sponge, I'll have to get one.  I wish I could make
    this a tag team effort but my husband is in school 2 nights a week (3
    next quarter - oh joy!!!) we'll have to try it on the weekends. I bathe
    Sarah every other day, so I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out
    for those daddy's in school nights.
    
    I think we'll eventually have to remove the tub doors and put up a
    curtain, too.
    
    Thanks for all the responses, I thought I was just being a spaz 8^)
    
    Happy bathing!
    
    Susan

    We've had good success with both kids with one of those rings with
    suction cup legs on it. You put the ring in the tub, press the cups
    down firmly, then put the baby in so she sits inside the ring. Some
    come with a round sponge for them to sit on. 
    
    Then you don't have to worry about them falling over, and they can play
    while you do the hair routine. It's much easier for one parent to
    handle a small slippery kid in the big tub with one of these. We
    started using it as soon as our kids could sit up. 
    
    When they get older and bigger, you put the kid down in the tub first,
    then put the ring down over them. To get them out of the ring, first
    loosen the suction cups, then just lift the kid out. (If you try to
    lift a larger kid out without loosening first, they get jammed in and
    mad.) We still use it with Charlotte, almost 17 months old.
    
    Lucy
    

    We bought a body sponge (not one that comes in a tub) when Chelsea was
    born.  We would sponge bathe her on the bathroom floor and the sponge
    provided great cushion and support.
    
    When she was 10 days old we put the sponge in the tub.  Now at 7
    months, its still working great.  She hasn't tried to turn over in the
    tub yet, its like she knows this is something we do on our back.  She
    holds a tupperware bowl and Daddy does bathtime..while mommy runs
    around house like a madwoman, trying to get as much done in twenty
    minutes as possible.  We do bathtime every night...Chelsea seems to
    really enjoy it and we haven't had a problem with dry skin.  Actually,
    I've never even used lotion on her since she was born.  Rinsing hair
    on the sponge is easy, cuz we just use the bowl and pour away.  
    
    We did replace the sponge after 3 months (didn't want to take a chance
    on mildew...even though we ring it out really good each night).  At
    $6.00 a sponge its worth the investment.  I've wanted to get one of
    those rings where she can sit up in the tub, but for now as long as she
    is happy laying down, I'm not gonna push it.
    
    ...Lori
    
    (Chelsea who is 7 months and 1 day...16-1/2 pounds...27"...and has what
      we call mohawk punk style hair...won't lay down for nothing!)

    My 2 year old hates getting water in his face, but isn't really able
    to understand about tipping his head back, so I gave up shampooing him 
    while he's in the tub.  This is what I do now.  I have him lie on his
    back lenthwise on the kitchen counter, with his head extending over the
    kitchen sink.  I support his head with one of my hands while washing
    and rinsing his hair with my other hand.  (You have to have EVERYTHING
    ready and convenient since you only have one free hand!)  
    

    re .0 and water in the ears
    
    Our pediatrician gave us specific instructions which said to make sure we 
    do let water run into Emily's (1 year) ears at every bath.  He said it 
    will reduce the wax buildup in her ears.  We used a baby bathtub for
    about a month and we've been using the big bathtub every since.  I
    bought a very large Rubbermaid tub mat which covers the whole bottom of 
    the tub so that when Emily moves around/stands up she has some traction.
    
    Carol

    re: .11
    
    I too lay my daughter on the kitchen counter to wash her hair.  I have
    done this since she got her tubes in her ears at 16 months.  Every once
    in a while, I suggest that we wash her hair in the tub or shower (she's
    6 years old now), but she doesn't care for that suggestion.
    
    Anyway, instead of propping her head with my hand, I roll up a face
    towel and place it under her neck at the base of her hairline.  This
    helps to free my hands to wash her long hair.
    
    Diana

Susan,

	I've had no problems bathing Emily solo - I prefer to have Dad
	help out so that I can dry off properly, but if he's not around,	
	I just manage on my own.

	re: water in the face, ears, turning over

	I want Emily to be used to the water, so I splash alot, and
	don't try to avoid getting water on her face (except when shampooing)
	
	Her ears get wet - how can they not ?  Saturday, I let her roll onto
	her tummy (still on the sponge) and play in the water.  She held
	her head  up and tried to crawl, but Mommy was holding her legs.
	She touched her face to the water a couple times, then turned to
	look up at me each time, as if to say "hey, what's that ?".

	She'll be too young for the 1996 Olympics, though...

	Karen

    We had sliding doors when we first bought the house, but removed them
    when I was pregnant with Daniel, anticipating that they would be 
    impractical with a baby. We managed to put them to good use though, a 
    single friend of ours had just bought a condo and wanted tub doors. So,
    we installed them at his place. Everyone happy.
    
    We do not linger in the bath very often, since I am always afraid that
    it will be too cold for the baby. She seems to cool off very quickly,
    so its into the assistant's arms with a towel she goes as soon as we
    do the big rinse off (we take the rest of the bowl of clear water and
    pour it over her from the shoulder height. She loves it).
    We don't have a bathroom heater and the house is quite cool in the 
    winter - Its already been close to -15C here and no matter how much
    the heat it turned up, its still cool..
    
    Monica

    Monica...
    
    I feel for you with such a cool temperature in your house!
    
    Here in California (we have such a wimpy winter!)...the house is
    usually at a cozy 76 curing bath time and doesn't drop a degree unless
    I turn the heat off...this makes a 20 minute soak a comfortable time
    for Chelsea and she really loves her bath time!
    
    ..Lori

    You can buy special visors that fit over the childs head (like a big
    brim) but leaves the top open so you can wash their hair.  You can
    pour water over the childs head and it spills right off the brim, 
    never getting in their eyes.  It's worked great for my daughter.  I 
    bought mine from the Lillion Vernon catalogue, but I've seen them 
    in toy stores as well.
    

    
    My wife and I differ somewhat when it comes to our daughter's (2.5
    years old)  hair washing and bathing.  Right now we bathe Emily nightly,
    wash her hair at least every other night, and use a hair dryer to dry
    her hair.
      
    I'd be interested in knowing how frequently other parents of toddlers 
    bath and and shampoo their kids, and how you feel about using a hair
    dryer on them.
    
    
    Thanks,
    
    Gene                            
    

    it depends on the kid and the time of year for us.  
    
    Carrie has inherited Frank's and my dry and sensitive skin.  She gets in
    the tub twice a week or so, sometimes less sometimes more if she wants
    it.  We wash hair according to whether it looks and smells like it
    needs it.  In the winter she gets fewer baths than in the summer when
    we are out doing garden work constantly.  If I bathed her daily her
    skin would peel off, and so would ours.  She is now seven and pretty
    much does all the cleaning she needs to.  When she was younger we
    soaped the "dirty parts" and got her out of the water as fast as
    possible.  
    
    Lolita was in the tub at least every other day as her skin and hair
    were much more oily and her hair looked and smelled like it needed to
    be washed often.  It was a tremendous relief to my hands when she could
    do all the washing herself.
    
    I would say whatever feel right for you and your kids is probably the
    best way to go.  A little bit of grubby just doesn't bother us, but it
    might drive someone else nuts.  If the kid's skin is turning raw then I
    would probably cut back on the bathing schedule.
    
    Meg      

    In the summer the boys get a bath/shower every night or every other
    night.  In the winter, it's every other, or every third night.  They
    get CLEAN - which means Wash the hair.  They need it that often.  
    
    I have RARELY used a dryer on my kids' hair.  Sometimes if I'm
    showering at about the same time, they like me to dry theirs a little
    just to be "part of the gang".  On really cold winter nights, I might
    dry it to help them warm up quicker.  For the most part, I'd rather not
    use a dryer because it tends to dry out the hair a LOT and make it very
    brittle.  If I had a daughter with long hair, I'd probably try to dry
    it some, just to help the length dry up, but drying the scalp is where
    you'll do the most damage.  It also saves a lot of (my) time to let it air
    dry.
    
    Oh yes, the boys are 7 and almost 5, but this has been their routine
    since they've been about 1.
    
    Patty
    

    Gina is 2-1/2 with hair down to her waist.  The hair is such a battle
    that I only wash it when it's absolutely necessary--about every 5 to 7
    days (usually after she has gotten food into it).  
    
    She gets a bath every 2 to 3 days.  She has sensitive skin and couldn't
    tolerate it more often than that.
    
    She tries to wash herself, but I do a once over to make sure she hasn't
    missed too many spots.  I also make sure to rinse her, since when she
    does it she tends to miss spots.
    
    judy

    I saw a show last week on Electro Magnetic Fields that suggested that
    you never dry children's hair with a hair dryer.  I'll probably be a
    little more cautious about using the dryer from now on.  But generally,
    I'd use the dryer when her bedtime was too close to the bath time and
    her hair was too wet to go to bed.  Damp, I don't mind, but wet bothers
    me.
    
    judy

    My two girls will be 4 and 6 after next month and they take a bath
    TOGETHER every night.  They stay in the tub anywhere from 15 minutes to
    as long as an hour and a half.  My youngest is usually the last one
    out.  I go in an wash their hair (Lauren the older, has hair to her bottom
    and it is curly, i.e. easily tangled; Amanda has shoulder length hair that
    is baby fine and has almost no curl to it) about twice a week.  Every 
    night Lauren's hair gets combed out and put into a braid, to make combing 
    for school the next morning easier.  I have never used a blow dryer on
    either one.
    
    Roberta
    

    
    Since the start I've pretty much bathed Michael (15 mos) every other
    day, and as others said, more when needed (messy mealtimes, playtimes,
    humidity, etc...). 
    
    We let his hair dry naturally now, unless its too cold, etc..  But did blow
    dry his hair from about 0-4 mos. He was born with a full head of hair, 
    and we just got into the habit of it. He loved it too! And this way I
    knew his hair was dry before we went out into the cold weather
    (Oct-Feb).
    
    Chris
    
                                     

    When Charlotte was an infant, say 0 - 10 months, we would bathe
    and shampoo her as needed. At a certain point, baths became a
    necessary part of the winding-down process in the evening more
    than a getting-clean thing. Bedtime goes more smoothly when we
    do the full bath-pajamas-books-bottle-singing than it does when 
    we skip the bath part.
    
    We never have blown our kids hair dry, never occurred to us somehow.
    
    Lucy

    Guess I'll add my 2 cents...Kaitlin, age almost 23 months, gets a bath
    with a shampoo every night.  I only use Johnson's baby shampoo (no
    soap).  For the few nights we've missed, her hair looks greasy the next
    day.  She perspires through her head!
    
    Robin

    Re:  25
    
    I'd have to agree with Lucy.  Chelsea's bathtime is really not so much
    a need for cleaning or washing hair (what little she has!), but it
    really is that start of the winding down routine we have for night
    time.  She really enjoys her bath too.  When I have her in the bedroom
    getting her clothes off, while Daddy runs the tub...she starts laughing
    and get so excited.  I also like the idea of a nice soak for her bottom
    after being in diapers all day.
    
    Now if she only enjoyed putting her p.j.'s on as much as she likes her
    bath!!
    
    P.S.  We have been using a bathsponge since birth in the big tub and
    she does very well with it...lately she has showed a desire to pull
    herself up into a sitting position.  I want to purchase one of those
    bath seats for the tub.  Any comments on those of you who have them
    and how your child likes it?
    
    ..Lori
    
    
    
    
    
    

    Lori,
    
    Charlotte's favorite pre-bath game is to wait til all her clothes
    are off, then run away screaming with laughter. She streaks through
    the house until no one chases her any more, then settles happily
    in the tub. She plays alone in the tub (with a parent hovering 
    around to monitor her) for long periods. 
    
    Lucy

    My Charlotte, although she's much younger, seems to like a version
    of this game. Gets undressed on the change table, is put naked over
    mommy's shoulder, cloth thrown over her back, and bounced to the
    bathroom where daddy's running the bathwater. Result: screams of glee,
    arms and feet waving merrily - likes to push open the bathroom door
    (with a little help from me) is walked in, spys daddy filling the tub,
    more screams of glee, sees self in mirror, more laughter, lots of 
    bouncing, etc.
    The opposite is  not true alas, the assistant of the day brings wet
    baby + blanket back to change table. Baby grunts and strains and does
    NOT want to be lying down. Does a "situp" using only belly muscles,
    and reaches for usually the most inconvenient thing. Must be wrestled
    dry and usually some strange little parent-baby dance must be performed 
    to get Charlotte into sleeper. (I usually just put her half 
    dressed onto my bed where I can get a better grip on her).
    
    Monica
    

    Lucy and Monica...you made my day...nothing like a good belly laugh to
    add a little sunshine to ones day.
    
    When I read Lucy's note it made me think of Chelsea, but just a little
    older version.
    
    Monica...your note was a dead ringer!  Now being that our girls are 3
    days apart, maybe this behavior is pretty normal..but it still touched
    my heart to hear another mom describing it.
    
    I lay Chelsea on our bed to strip her down.  The minute she hears Daddy
    running the bath water along with the action of me taking off her
    clothes...she starts getting all excited.  By the time she is naked she
    is giggling away...I lift her up and let her jump on the bed (mom
    supporting the arm pits of course!)  She screams more with laughter.
    Mom lifts her high up in the air and the arms and legs are shooting out
    in every direction...with of course, laughter!  We pass the mirror for
    a look...squeals of pleasure...we peek-a-boo into the bathroom where
    Daddy is waiting to intercept this little precious bundle....after
    several fake plays to hand her to Daddy, I put her in her arms and she
    has a wonderful bath.....20 minutes later.....
    
    the wet child in the blanket is delivered into my arms as I have a
    blanket on the floor with her clothes laid out next to it.  No more
    then 3 seconds of rubbing the head to dry the little amount of hair
    and my precious daughter does a 360 personality turn....screams of
    displeasure...arching the back...turning sideways...crying like I'm
    burning her with a torch!  Mommy turns on the Sony Cassette player and
    finders herself singing at her loudest "Who Loves Me!....That Furry
    Blue Mommy of Mine!"....all the time handing Chelsea a tube of Desitin,
    the Baby Brush...any new object to buy me a couple more seconds of 
    time.....
    
    Ain't it the best time every in your life!  I mean it....never knew I
    could be so happy and full of joy!
    
    ...Lori

    
    re last 2 replies:
    
    You just made MY day!!!  Your descriptions of the "after bath" putting
    on-the-clothes routine was GREAT!  You described Michael to a TEE after
    his baths!
    
    BUT.....he is 15 months, and BOY do they get stronger with age! Some
    nights it just seems impossible to get his PJ's on! And the changing
    table toys just don't work anymore. Its so much fun trying to wrestle
    on the diaper (before he gets ya!) and sleeper, while he's flipping
    over saying "dddooooonnn'ttttt"...and screaming like fire! It takes
    all of your strength! (and patience...)
    
    
    Get your muscles pumped ladies!   ;-)
    
    Chris
    (but they are worth every minute of it, aren't they!)
    

    I had one of those ring type seats, but it didn't seem to work well for
    us.  I can't even remember why I didn't like it, it's been so long.
    It was the Fischer Price version. 
    
    judy

    I just bought the Fisher Price ring seat for Sarah and it didn't work
    too well.  Our problem is that we have a non-skid surface in our tub
    and the suction cups wouldn't stick, so while she was leaning over to
    reach for her tub toys the whole ring would start to go with her. 
    Definitely not safe for our situation.
    
    Susan

    A friend had one of these ring-seats... and said it was difficult to
    reach all the kid parts, around the ring!

    re: 33 & 34
    
    Well we tried the bath ring last night...both of your points were right
    on target.  We have a non-skid surface and found that it did not stick
    very well.  Also Daddy had a hard time getting the bottom areas cleaned
    on Chelsea....the bummer is she just loved it!  After about 30 minutes
    in the tub she still didn't want to get out.  She loved watching her
    toys float around her and reaching for them.  It didn't tilt and Dad
    is right there during bath time...but I'm just wondering if we should
    keep it or return it.  Its not the expense thing, because they are
    pretty low price...I'm just worried about it tilting too.  I guess we
    will try it a couple more times.
    
    About what age can you start bathing your baby without anything...i.e.
    sponge, ring, etc. and just supervise them without worrying about them
    falling over to much.  Chelsea sits great, but I feel she is still to
    young to be sitting on her own in the tub.
    
    Washing hair was a breeze with her sitting up....scrub it all up and
    she loves having a bowl of water poured over her head.
    
    ...Lori

    
    We use a ring seat and really appreciate it.  As an earlier noter said,
    it can be difficult to reach some of the kid parts, but we usually do a
    quick soap-up and rinse, THEN go into the ring for some (monitored)
    independant play.
    
    Jamd

    
    We used one of those rings and I swear by them.  I 
    don't really wash those out of reach areas, but 
    figure they get clean as he soaks in the tub. 
    
    Jeanne
    

    Because Charlotte is small for her age, relatively, we were
    able to continue using the ring until very recently. (She's
    almost 18 months). We found it helped in keeping her in one
    spot. Without the ring, she wanted to stand up, or flop 
    around in the water. 
    
    When ours comes loose, we just press it back down -- it seems to
    stay suctioned for long periods usually. We manage to get her
    clean somehow. And the trick for getting a larger kid out of
    the ring is to first loosen the suction cups, then lift kid and
    ring, and let the ring fall off her as you pick her up.
    
    Lucy 

    
    I'd love to try the ring on our Charlotte, but our big issue
    as I said before, is temperature. The whole house is relatively
    cold in the winter, and the bathroom is no exception. Even with 
    very warm water, the tub itself is cold and cools down the water.
    The room is also too small to add an extra heater. So, with fast
    cooling water, as well as relatively cool temperatures, we cannot
    really linger to play. As well, since Charlotte is large for her age,
    she's tough to control and doesn't really know what she's doing -
    hence our decision to trade off going into the tub with her. 
    Its fun, but it is a 2-parent job.
    I must say its a lot of fun to compare bath-time stories!
    
    Monica
    
    P.S. Moderators, apologies for changing the topic slightly, maybe 
    we should be renaming this topic to tub-time.
    

    Monica,
    
    Have you tried showering with Charlotte? Some little ones hate it, but
    some love it. They do get slippery, but it might be an alternative. The
    hard part is for one person to soap and rinse a wiggly infant...maybe
    skip the soap/shampoo on shower night and consider it just a rinse-off.
    Or all get in together, like now?
    
    Our bathroom is small and cold too. I don't know if this would work for
    you, but we warm the room by running a HOT shower for a couple of
    minutes before bathtime. Our old routine was to then get Charlotte in
    her ring and away from the tap, and leave a slow stream of hot water
    running to keep the bath temp comfortable. (Now that she's out of the
    ring we just hold her out of the way while we blast some hot water in.)
    Sometimes we blot her hair and shoulders dry after a shampoo, while she
    stays in the tub to play. 
    
    Lucy

    I like the blotting idea. Will try it.
    As for showers - 
    It seems like such a romantic notion, the whole family under a shower,
    fun and sudsy with laughing chubby baby.
    Well, we tried it when Charlotte was about 4 months old.
    My description of the event could be summed up by the word "awkward".
    Its alright when neither parent wants to get clean, but these days,
    when I finally get near a shower, I WANT one.
    So:
    Father soaps. shampoos and rinses off while mother peels of clothing,
    takes baby from crib, undresses and goes into the bathroom. Family
    now all naked.
    Into shower, take turns holding/sudsing/rinsing one slightly bewildered
    wiggly wet chubby naked baby. 
    Father gets out of shower and quickly dries and gets dressed while
    mother keeps baby warm under the shower.
    Father takes baby and dries while mother victoriously claims shower
    for purposes of personal hygiene and relaxation.
    
    Well, it WAS a romantic idea at first - and we may repeat it
    one day for the novelity.....8-) 8-)
    
    Monica

    I absolutely love this string!  What a lift for the day.  What bunch of
    FUN memories this brings back....
    
    First the realities, we first used one of those small hospital basins
    until AJ was probably 4 months old.  (you do have to realize he was
    only 5 pounds at birth, and very slow to gain weight)  Then he
    "graduated" to our kitchen sink, a double stainless with a sprayer.  He
    was probably about a year before we used the tub for bathing.  Since he
    had a colostomy until he was almost 18 months, we only bathed a few
    times a week.  However a wet facecloth with a little soap on it did a
    quick body wash and we ran it over the little bit of hair he had as a
    poor excuse of hair washing.
    
    One of his favorite things was, and still is, to take a shower with his
    DAD, after all dad is his best hero.  Just one word of caution MEN, be
    careful WHERE the love of your life reaches up to grab, if he should
    loose his balance....IT COULD BE HARMFUL TO YOUR MANHOOD!!
    
    I do like Monica's idea of mom getting the shower to herself, but you
    should have seen all three of us in the shower the night we lost power
    in December, due to an ice/snowstorm.  We did a quick family shower because
    the lights had gone out, and we (rightly) anticipated that we might be
    without them for a loooong time, and didn't know how hot the water
    might be if we waited til morning.  
    
    lyn
    

     
    QUESTION!!
    
    My neice who is 3 yrs. old, has eczema that was only located around her 
    neck.  Now it has spread to her scalp/hair.  My sister is wondering if
    anyone have knowledge of any shampoos/cream that deal with that situation.
    Be it over-the-counter or prescription.  Any help or advice would be greatly
    appreciated.
    
    
    
    Thanks,
    
    Leslie
    

    Please see note 435 for a discussion of eczema.
    
    Laura
    co-mod

    All the hairwashing notes were great but what about hair-cutting??
    Holly (nearly 2) has beautiful hair that is down to the middle of
    her back. On humid/damp days, it's all in ringlets in the back,
    but it's perfectly straight in the front!!  Anyway, I used to be
    able to trim her bangs myself, but now I need a way to keep her
    hair out of her eyes. Barrettes/covered elastics are OK, but she
    tends to pull them out and (said the paranoid mommy) I'm afraid
    she might accidentally choke on the little things if it came
    loose during her nap and she grabbed it and put it in her mouth.
    (OK, I know it's far-fetched, but...!!!!!!!)  
    
    Anyway, I have an appointment with the hairdresser on Saturday
    afternoon for a lot of reasons, one of which is I'm not that good
    at cutting hair.  I used to grab a handful of bangs when she was
    in the tub and her hair was wet, but no more.  Should she get a
    real haircut (the child has hair that a lot of us grown-ups would die
    for!), or should we just get a good professional trim?  Thoughts?
    
    Thanx,
    Kate

  Samantha is 2 and a few weeks ago I took her and Anthony with me to get
  hair cuts.  Originally just Anthony (4.5) and I were to get cuts. 
  Anthony went first and he does very well in the chair.  My turn was next
  and it was fun observing Anthony and Samantha playing together and
  actually keeping out of trouble!! :-)
  
  When my turn was over Samantha just climbed up in the chair expecting her
  turn!  Up till then my wife just trimmed her bangs and we've left the
  back long.  Since she was in the chair I just had the woman trim her
  bangs.  She sat very still, just like Anthony and didn't fuss at all.
  
  Since then she has gone with Mom and had her nails painted a few times
  too.  Only problem with that is when she shows someone her nail polish
  she holds her hands up with the nails towards her own face.....
  
  Dave

   Well, I've been cutting hair for my oldest 2 girls for years now (the
   baby doesn't have enough hair yet), and they don't seem to mind... my
   oldest is a little over 4yrs old now, and the next one is about 2.5yrs
   old.   Sometimes I do it wet (in the tub), and sometimes I do it dry -
   it just depends on the situation.  I'm not trained for this stuff, so
   I keep it simple - I trim the bangs to get it out of their eyes, and
   trim the backs to get the ends even.  My 4yr old's hair is thick and
   it curls when it gets muggy, so we tend to keep her hair a little
   shorter (eg, shoulder length).  My 2.5 yr old's hair is thinner and
   straight, so its longer.
   
   Once they got used to it, they have been great about holding still and
   letting me do it... I tell them to close their eyes and that it might
   tickle a little, and they seem to handle it just fine.
   
   - Tom

    Jessica is 2, and has very curly hair that she likes to have pulled
    back in a ponytail or french braids or something of that nature. I
    think it looks kind of severe, and would like to have her hair cut so
    she will have bangs, but my husband and sitter think bangs will be too
    much trouble and that they won't stay straight.  My bangs were straight
    when I was a kid, and my hair was just as curly.  Should I push the
    issue to give her bangs?  It seems all the little girls I see have
    them, and I'm kind of tired of pullin her hair out of her eyes.
    
    Thoughts?
    
    Cathy

    My daughter is 3 and has waist-length curly hair.  It's really nice
    hair--I wish I had it!  She also has bangs.  They are definitely not
    straight, but I think they look cute anyway.  
    
    Every day I put it up in a ponytail or I braid it.  I buy those metal
    clip type of barretts because they stay in very well, and are very
    comfortable.  Her hair stays this way for the entire day--she even
    sleeps in the ponytail and barretts.  (This prevents her from rolling
    on her hair and pulling it and from getting it in her face too
    much--both annoy her.) Each morning I then fix her hair for the day.  
    
    We wash it once a week and get her bangs trimmed once every 6 to 8
    weeks.  
    
    She isn't always keen on getting her hair fixed in the morning, but I
    remind her that this prevents her from getting food and junk in it, and
    we won't have to wash it every day that way.  It seems to work better
    now that she is older.
    
    judy

    I always had curly hair as a kid, always had bangs, and they always
    looked ok.  Sometimes they'd get cut too short, but that's another
    story!  I also have a "high forehead" so if you pulled all my hair
    back, I look pretty ridiculous.  One thing I do remember about bangs is
    that in the summer they're a lot hotter.  If you can pull ALL the hair
    off of your face, it's much cooler than having sweaty bangs clinging to
    your face.  Remember too that shorter hair tends to curl less.
    
    Who has to take care of it?  Is it a lot of work?  Would it be easier
    with bangs?  They'll always grow out if you decide you don't like them!
    
    

    
    I can't believe all these kids with hair!!!! Anna is 25 months old
    and she's had 2 haircuts (if you could call them that). The very first
    was in ~Feb and she got an all over trim. Basically she got a half inch
    off the back and then all the wispys around her face trimmed. Not a
    super noticable cut, but it made her hair look neater. Just before her
    birthday I brought her in again and she got more defined bangs but that
    was about it. Her hair is only below her shoulder line in the back and
    the sides kind of taper up to her bangs. This is the way her hair has
    grown in. Her hair is also paper thin. With this yucky weather (humid)
    I'll be having to wash her hair every night practically cause it gets
    so slimy feeling and gets all bent from hats and stuff such that you
    can't comb it down. Well, I guess that's what happens when your
    daughter is a twin to her father and he's got thin oily hair, instead
    of Mom's thick, normal hair with body. I'm jealous of all the little
    girls I see with curls, or thickness, or length. Maybe someday she'll
    get a little more hair.......
    
    Patty

    Has anyone ever used a Flowbee? (for those of you who don't know what
    this is, it's a hair cutting system which you hook up to your vacuum
    cleaner, it sorta sucks the hair into it and does an even cut (I
    hope)). I was thinking of buying one to give my boys (1 and 3 years)
    haircuts (my husband has PROMISED me that I WON'T get near him with it).
    
    Have any of you noters used one of these things, and what were your
    experiences with them?
    
    Thanks,
    Sandy

    
    	I ordered a video that taught me how to cut hair and I cut
    Spencer's hair with a plain ol pair of scissors. A lot less expensive
    and certainly less noisy. I don't know what with cat and dog hair going
    into my vacuum, I wouldn't want it anywhere near my kids faces.
    
    			Wendy

My wife cuts my son's hair (mine too) with a pair of ordinary hair clippers. 
With my son, it was not always easy -- a couple of years ago, he simply would 
not sit still for her.  With kids the age of yours, that's something to keep 
in mind, especially if your husband won't let you use it on him, and 
especially since, in addition to the noise of the clippers, you have the 
noise of the vacuum.

With minimal practice, my wife was able to do all the popular boys 
hairstyles, in my son's case a "buzz" and now a "mushroom" with minimal 
practice.  I suppose the feature of the Flowbee that vacuums the clippings is 
a nice feature, though.

We regard the hair clippers as a very good investment.  They paid for 
themselves in a few months; might have taken longer if my son hadn't 
cooperated, but they still would have been a good investment.  Not to mention 
the fact that we are not dependent on the barber's hours.

Clay 

    I have a relative who bought one of those (this woman is a gadget
    freak!).  It works great on straight, fine hair.  For people with curly
    or wavy hair, it was useless.  
    

You can get an electric clipper set on sale for $15 or less.

    
    	Okay here is hte information on the video that I have:
    
    	How to Cut your Child's Hair with Michael Herber
    
    	Sherry NElson Productions
    	Atascadero CA 93422
    
    	The video shows how to:
    
    	find natural part
    	trim long hair
    	cut bangs
    	taper or layer cut
    	curly cut
    	boy's cut
    
    	The address and price (I think it was 14.95) will have to be listed
    by someone else, it's in the book The Tightwad Gazette and I let a
    friend borrow my copy.
    
    			Wendy

>                    it's in the book The Tightwad Gazette and I let a
>   friend borrow my copy.

Your friend's a better tightwad than you are.

    
    			;-)
    
    
    

    Thanks for the video info Wendy.
    
    
    Jodi-

    I second Wendy's opinion on the Haircut video. I was able to borrow it
    (thanks Wendy) and cut my 3 year old's (boy) hair. I had to watch it a 
    couple of times, draw a couple of pictures, then did a cut along with the 
    video.
    
    What I liked about the video was it explained where you should start,
    then what pattern you should follow. I certainly need a lot more practice, 
    but I think I have the concept down (and even sit in meetings now looking 
    at mens hair to see if theirs is cut to the suggested pattern, and how I 
    would cut it ((I hope noone brings a pair of scissors to any meetings in 
    the near future)). :^}
                                       
    Wendy, thanks for suggesting this!
    
    Sandy
    [EOB]

    I'm not sure if this should go in this topic so mods - feel free to
    move this note...
    
    Samantha is 2yrs 3months and has always loved her bath.  It got to
    be that we couldn't even say the word bath around our house because
    she would go crazy...and most of the time, we had to drop what we
    were doing and give her one!!!  She would play in there for the longest
    time - the water never bothered her at all...
    
    Until 2 weeks ago.  All the sudden she HATES her bath.  I've stopped
    giving them too her every other day - now it's about every 3rd (I do
    wash her down with a warm cloth every morning though - to get the
    sleepies off!)  When I say hates her bath - I mean that I have to 
    get in the tub with her and physically hold her while she screams
    'bloody murder'....The first night she did it, dad thought something
    was wrong - like she hurt herself.  I feel bad holding her in a place
    that she doesn't want to be but she has to get clean?  She really
    needs to have a bath more often too as she's potty trained and has
    to do it 'All by herself' and she doesn't do a very good job wiping
    all the time?
    
    Does anyone out there know why she is all the sudden so scared of
    taking a bath or have any suggestions for me as to what to do?  
    She's got me stumped this time!!!

        
        How talkative is she.? Maybe a gentle talking to her to find out
    if maybe she heard some story or percieved something as a horror 
    story (to her) about water or bathtubs.? Maybe say something like,
    "I love to take baths and I remember Samantha used to. Now she seems
    scared and I don't know why?" 
    
        My kids all loved baths and they never suddenly started hating
    them so I don't know if it's possible to go through this stage. I
    think I would want to try to find out as gently as possible. Re-assure
    her that you understand that some things are scarey to people and
    you want to help her with it. 
    
       Take care,
    
        Rose 

Dr. Brazleton mentions this in his book on toddlers.  We haven't
reached that stage yet.

He suggests you bathe with the child to help ease their fears. (When
they're not fearful, this can be a lot of fun!)

He also suggest you might have the toddler give a favorite toy a bath.

Have you considered a shower, rather than a bath?  I've done this
a few times with our daughter. A rubber shower mat is a must, but 
this can be fun too.

    When my son was around this age, he also became fearful of baths. 
    It eventually wore off.  I attributed it to the fact that he was scared
    that when the water went "bye-bye" he would go with it down the drain. 
    
    I started to take him out of the tub before draining the water.  I
    don't know if this was the cause but after a few weeks it ceased to be
    a problem.
    
    LG

    
    	My daughter went through this phase.  She hated "fuzzies".
    Basically, any miniscule piece of lint or a single hair floating
    on the water.  She starting taking showers with one of us and still
    prefers that to a bath.  Though, she's no longer afraid of baths,
    if she has one, she needs toys (mostly a cup and a scoop to pour
    water in and out of)

    Both Nicole and Zachary went through the "bath terrors" right at about
    18 months of age.  They too loved baths, and suddenly one day they
    were terrified to get into the tub.  In both cases, it only lasted
    about two weeks, and now it's tough to get them out of the tub again.
    
    It seemed to help to cut down as much as possible on the baths during
    that time.  I just rushed them through the washing.  It also helps
    to get into the tub with them.
    
    -Joy
    

    In a previous incarnation of this conference, someone brought up a
    story of a toddler suddenly screamingly-scared of the bath and about a
    dozen people chimed in with "my kid too" replies.
    
    The ideas that I remember using, that worked like magic, were two kinds
    of bubbles: bubble bath and blowing-bubbles.  To do the second, we
    played with them in the bathroom and then used them as a bribe into the
    tub.  Once the fear was gone, it never came back.
    
    Good luck!

Be careful with bubble baths.  As a kid, I suffered from chronic 
bladder infections.  Turned out that the buble baths my grandmother
gave me were the cause.

Am not sure if boys have this problem.

    Never thought mine would go throught this, as she always loved the bath
    too...but she did.
    
    She was verbal enough to talk about things, but I could never get to
    the bottom of this one....What we did was space out the bath nights
    as you are doing, tried some new distractions (bath toys), tried
    cutting out the hairwashing part (did this at the kitchen
    counter/sink as needed), made sure we didn't drain the tub while she 
    was around, did lots of playtime in the kiddie pool in our yard 
    (thankfully this phase hit in summer!).
    
    We had about 2-3 weeks of really tough times, gradual fade for 2-3
    weeks, then it completely disappeared.   Actually, now about 1 yr
    later (she's 3 yrs. 4 mo), she has voiced periodic concerns now when 
    we 'pull the plug' and the water drains out....Here we go again?

    We've passed the stage now where Samantha didn't want to take a bath. 
    Just mysteriously disappeared.  We did 2 full baths a week during the
    time she hated them, and washed up with a face cloth when she needed
    it.  So, she was 'dirty' for a while but happy :*)  
    
    Now we're back on schedule - every other day (and now, she's asking
    to take one EVERY day....)
    
    

	A little late to this note, but I just thought I'd mention...
	
	my kids have always had only two baths a week.  They've both
	got sensitive skin that tends to dry out easily, so the less
	frequent the baths, the better.

	I don't find them especially dirty ;-)

	(hmm, come to think of it, as a child, Saturday night was bath night at 
        our house...)

	Karen

    I heard the other day that if you use bubblebath when bathing the
    kids you will not get a ring around the tub.  Is this true?  I
    have never used bubble bath when bathing Nathan and am getting
    *extremely* tired of washing the tub after he gets out all the
    time!
    
    What has been your experience?
    
    Pam

    
    	I have found that the only way to keep the ring out of your tub is
    to keep the child out of the tub.
    
    				Wendy

    A big pink cat ring, and OH, what a thing!
    Sorry, couldn't resist (Cat in the Hat Comes Back)
    I agree with Wendy.  In my experience, the dirtier the child, the
    darker the ring.  The bubble bath is nothing but soap, which will
    release any greasy dirt from your child's body and float it on top of
    the water.  As the water drains, the dirt and grease remain.  I have a
    very old tub, so I keep a squirt bottle of 1/4 strength Mr. Clean with 
    bleach and water within reach.  As soon as the water drains, I spray it
    down. About 20 minutes later (teeth brushed and jammies on), I rinse it
    off.  No scrubbing.  Not sure if it's safe for all surfaces, but for my
    old cast iron claw-footed tub, it's perfect.
    Sarah
    

my mother alsways used it in our bath water for the
expressed purpose of not having to clean the tub
after 8 kids' baths.  just rinse the tub down and
you're done.  if we didn't use it we had to go back
and clean the tub ourselves afterward.

    Speaking of bubble bath...although I loved the comment about keeping
    the kids out of the tub!!!
    
    Chelsea is two and I have yet to buy bubble bath for two reasons.
    One is I am concerned about the amount of splashing she does and
    getting the soap in her eyes.  I have really looked to see if they
    sell tearless bubble bath.  The second is I have heard in rumorville
    that sometimes toddlers can get infections from certain bubble baths.
    
    Can anybody fill in the blanks or offer some great brand on the market.
    For now we just run the Johnson & Johnson Baby Bath Wash under the
    faucet and it makes an adequate amount of bubbles to keep her happy.
    
    ...Lori
    
    

    I know I was told that females should beware of bubble baths due to the
    possibility of increased internal infection, but I haven't been made
    aware of the same possibility with males - I believe that's because of
    the difference in plumbing.
    
    My boys will bubblebath once in a while.  Now that they are into
    showers, night time cleaning is much easier - however for some reason
    it now takes ALOT longer!!
    
    -sandy
    

    I think that Johnson & Johnson make a "tear-free" bubble bath, in one
    of the "Winnie the Pooh" character bottles (I think Eyeore sp? is the
    bubble bath).
    
    Yes, there's a concern with any female and soaps/bubble bath.  I think
    that most of the concern is around severe irritation to delicate
    tissue, and "dry skin" if you get my drift, from too much soap.  Check
    with your pedi.  I know my OB/GYNs office used to post a list of what
    products were less "harmful" to use.
    
    

    re: .73
    
    I've found that Dove "soap" doesn't leave as much of a ring as
    other soaps.  I believe Dove is actually a detergent and not a
    soap.
    
    We all take baths instead of showers so I make a point of wiping
    the tub down after my bath.  I use a sponge with a scrubby side
    (similar to the green scrubbers) and quickly wipe along the
    water line.  I don't scrub at all, just gently wipe to prevent
    build up.  I clean the tub once a week.
    
    If your tub is fiberglass waxing it seems to help.  I use whatever
    car wax we have available.  Make sure to do a thorough cleaning
    first and ventilate the area while waxing.  I even wax the bottom
    of the tub - in our case it makes it less slippery.
    
    Ruth

    Hi All,
    
    Sorry I'm a bit late on this one.  I have two boys, 8 and 6
    respectively.  When they were babies they had baths every night until
    the baby was around 2 years old.  They dropped then to every other
    night.  They have always had Johnsons bubble bath, with a brief
    diversion to Infacare, then back to Johnsons.
    
    1	Because they like bubbles
    2	Because it keeps the bath clean
    3	No tears if it gets in their eyes.
    
    The problem I have now is that they feel they don't need bubbles
    anymore because they are 'growed up' and I have always had bubbles!  Oh
    dear is this a 'girlie' thing!
    
    As for hating baths - um, I think I have that to come when they get to
    about 14/15 years old!!
    
    Regards,
    Anji

In Colorado Springs, the boys took baths twice a week, even in summer.
They just didn't need it more than that.

In Massachusetts now, they boys take baths nearly every night.  They are
so *sticky*!

   Carol

    Carol,
    
    Welcome to humidity, something you never had to cope with on your kids.
    
    Another reason for remaining in a heavenly climate  ;-)
    
    We miss you
    
    meg

    Hi,

    I skimmed through the notes on hair & couldn't find what I am looking 
    for.  If this has already been discussed, a pointer would be appreciated.  

    I am basically looking to get my son's hair cut.  Nicely!  I did cut his 
    hair when he was about 5-6 months, but at that time my sister was with me
    and she basically was walking around the place with a pair of scissors in
    her hand and whenever I was nursing him or he was napping on my lap, she
    would cut his hair.  We pretty much shaved his head, but it wasn't 
    absolutely neat.  He is now 11 months old, and if anything squirms around
    a lot more and he needs another hair cut.  I don't mind giving it another
    shot, but my husband has decided the end result *has* to be nice, which 
    of course, I can guarantee it will not.  I have asked my hairdresser as 
    well as at Supercuts, but the response has been along the lines of "we 
    could try, but...".  I am wondering if any of you could suggest a 
    hairdresser / barber / ... who might fit the bill.  If it isn't 
    appropriate to mention names here please send me email at PERFOM::SADHANA.  

    Thank you.
    -Sadhana

    BTW, I live in Chelmsford & work in Nashua, so I'm looking for someone
    in this general area.

    Find a barber shop, not a beauty salon.  That always worked
    for me.  Just look for the red and white spiral 8*)
    
    Pam

    Tha Family Haircut Store in N. Nashua .... when I asked them about
    having Jonathan's done (who's a WIGGLE WORM!), they said "We can do it
    - it just might take a little longer".  Didn't seem at ALL ruffled
    about it.
    
    

My 28 month old daughter is slow in the hair department, and just got her
first haircut a few weeks ago.

I had trimmed her bangs around Thanksgiving, and she was ok for that, so I
knew that she wouldn't mind sitting still, but she is shy around strangers.

We started by letting Daddy get his haircut first.  Then I got mine cut with
Erin sitting in my lap.  During this time, they managed to put the special
kiddie smock on her.  The hair dresser was able to wet her hair slightly with
a mist spray bottle (she also hates baths and would never like water in her 
face) and then when it came time to cut it, he gave her some mousse to play 
with on the counter, and that kept her occupied, putting a dab here and there.

The haircut looks much better, he layered it a lot to make it look fuller
and bring out her curls.  It had been scraggly down to the neck, and is still 
the same length just shaped nicer.  We'll probably bring her with us every
time, but if she doesn't want to get it cut, we'll pass and I'll shorten the
bangs if needed.

This is the hairdresser who gave me my first haircut, and who put up with
my sister trying to rip his eyes out at her first cut (so I am told) so I
knew he could put up with it.  He is located in No. Reading MA.

So, basically what I am trying to say is to go to a shop where you know they
can relate to the kids, and depending on their personality, maybe get yours
cut first so they can warm up to the situation.  We also talked to Erin about
this for about a week before we went.

Jackie

    I'm sure they have similar shops back east as they do here in
    California that specialize just in kid's hair cutting.  The one
    we took Chelsea to was terrific.  They have a play area with a
    bunch of Little Tykes equipment, about 4 tv's with VCR Tapes running
    in them.  Chelsea was about 2 when she got her first haircut.  
    They put her up in the chair and then put a bucket in her lap
    that was filled with a ton of little toys, she was thrilled.  They
    also gave her a cookie and that bought some more time.  These people
    are wizards with the scissors!  They are totally trained in cutting
    kid's hair and not only seem to have the gift of doing in quick, but
    also the patience and charm in relating to the little ones.
    
    We took the video camera and the tape is priceless.
    
    This last hair cut at about 2.5 went even better.  Chelsea is one
    of those under priveleged kids (ha ha ha) that didn't get her first
    tootsie pop sucker until she was 2.  We brought one with us to the
    shop and I couldn't believe the mileage we got out of that treat.
    Might be a good idea for your little one...depending how many teeth
    he has and what kind of a chomper he is.
    
    Good Luck!
    
    ...Lori

    We took my son (16 months) in for his first haircut this week.  He's
    usually a very squirmy kid!!  We had him sit in Daddy's lap and gave
    him a sucker - worked like a charm!  He sat still (well, pretty much!)
    and got a very good cut!  Of course, the girl who cuts our kids' hair
    is REALLY good with children, but I'm sure she would have had trouble
    had it not been for the sucker!!   Lila
    

    
    This sounds aweful but I need advice.  My son, 8, is having 
    a problem with grease buildup on his scalp.  He washes his
    hair every other day but still it is a problem.  It has 
    gotten to the point that it is driving me crazy.  Can anyone
    recommend a shampoo that could clear this up? 
    
    Pam

    
    Pam,
    
    	There are a couple of approaches, I don't
    know which is better. They are based on 2 schools
    of thoughts - one is get the grease off, the other
    one is don't use harsh soap since it would induce
    the scalp to produce more oil and also harm the skin. 
    You can try shampoo for oily hair and skip the 
    conditioner or creme rinse. Breck is a no-fuss shampoo, 
    so is Clairol Herbal. You can also try a mild shampoo 
    made for normal hair, like Neutrogena, and use it daily. 
    Repeat the shampoo and rinse cycle twice. Get someone
    in the shower with him to make sure the job is thorough. 
    
    Eva

    We too have had a problem, especially the last couple weeks with the
    real sticky weather. 
    
    Our solution has been the TRESsemme (spelled just like that on the
    bottle) shampoo.  In the black bottle.  A quart is $3.something at
    Walmart.  It's called "deep cleaning" shampoo. Seems to clean but not
    strip out the natural oils.  They also make a very light conditioner,
    marketed as "leave in or rinse out" in a grey bottle.  I like that
    since my hair needs to be conditioned everytime regardless.  My hair
    runs dry, but my scalp gets oily in the "sweaty" months.
    
    During the summer in our house we measure the weather on a scale of
    "showers per day", normal is one shower, a tough day at work or play is
    a two shower day, fairly hot and sticky can be a three or even a real
    bad hot and sticky day can be a  FOUR shower day.  It is also measured
    in the number of towels in the hamper. I've been doing a LOT of nothing
    but towel loads lately!!  Mulitply this times two adults and one child!
    
    Lyn
     

    
    	Lauren has a really scaly scalp.  She has been like this from
    	birth, and 20 months later, still has this problem.  When she
    	had less hair, I applied Cortaid (as per the pediatricians
    	suggestion) and the problem cleared up for a very short time.
    	She also suggested a dandruff type shampoo but I have a hard
    	enough time rinsing Laurens hair (water all over her face) so
    	I don't want to use a shampoo that would sting her eyes.
    
    	This isn't like dandruff, BTW.  It doesn't "flake" off.  You
    	can pick off flakes with your nails but they are almost greasy.
    	It doesn't bother her and the only way you notice it is to
    	really look for it.  
    
    	I think it might be a form of excema since the Dr said she had
    	a type of excema which results in her extremely red cheeks
    	in the winter season.  
    	
    	Any ideas to help this clear up?  Or will it just go away on
    	its own in time.
    
    	Karen

    
    sounds alot like "cradle cap" which tends to go away as they
    get older.   on small babies, you can loosen it with oil but
    you probably don't want to do that at this point.  
    
    cj/

    
    karen,
    
    That sounds exactly like what my son had.  I say had because we
    finally found a cure.  We are using Neutragena T-Gel.  It contains
    Coal Tar and apparently tar is good for the scalp.  He used it once
    and the problem cleared up immediately.  Now, he uses T-Gel twice
    a week and regular shampoo the other times.  I was amazed at how
    well it worked!  It says on the bottle that it is for Dandruff,
    Psoriasis and Seborriah (sp?).  
    
    Pam

    
    re: -1
    
    Neutragena... how is it for stinging the eyes?  I cannot get Lauren
    to tip back her head while rinsing or close her eyes so I need to be
    careful.
    
    Karen

    Karen,
    
    Nathan is 8 now so he washes his own hair but I think it would
    be the non-tearless type.  I always had problems washing his
    hair too because he did not want to get his eyes wet and would
    not lay back. Our solution was got get swimming goggles.  He
    thought they were need and it made bathtime much more bearable.
    And, he did not grow dependant on them.  Now, he only uses
    them once in a while when we go swimming and there is too
    much chlorine in the pool.
    
    Pam

    
    That should read: Our solution was *to* get swimming goggles.
    
    Trying to type and talk on the phone at the same time does not
    always work! 8*)
    

	Neutrogena T-Gel is *not* tear-free.

	If you were to use it, Karen, I'd try folding a washcloth and
	holding it on her forehead while you rinse, so any drips get
	absorbed by the cloth.

	Karen

    
    	 My daughter was terrible at tipping her head and hated her head
    	 washed until I saw my sister washing her daughters hair.  
    	
    	 What we do now is sing an editted version of the itsy bitsy 
    	 spider while washing her hair.  While singing it you are talking
         about the spider crawling up the shower wall and up on the 
    	 ceiling and she looks around to see it and focuses on something 
    	 else.  She can tip back pretty far to find that spider on the 
    	 ceiling.  When the water comes down the spout to wash the spider out 
         you are rinsing her hair.  It is a big game at my house now and 
         made her a great head tipper over time.  
    
         Its worth a try.
    
         lori

    
    What a cute idea!

    
    Our babysitter taught us a good way to wash hair.  We don't fill the
    tub real full -  only about 3-4" of water at the high end.  Have
    the child lay flat on their back in the tub - sometimes you need a
    distraction for young kids (like the spider on the ceiling - good 
    idea! - we also make a "lake" in the bellybutton)   Rinse the hair 
    using a cup or bucket - water runs straight into the tub!   We usually
    have them cover their eyes with a dry washcloth because it's soooo
    traumatic if they get a drop of water in their eyes 8^) (these are
    kids that spend every day jumping in and out of a swimming pool, 
    but heaven forbid they get a drop of bath water on their faces...)
    
    cj/ 

    I just read a suggestion in PARENT yesterday too... Something
    about getting sticky decorations to put above the bathing area,
    or some sort of mobile to get your child to look up at them as you
    rinse.  
    
    I just won a long time battle with cradle cap with Angeline.  I've
    been giving her the oatmeal baths for her eczema and they seem to
    have done wonders with her scalp.  But I've also been much more
    diligent with taking a comb and combing (very gently "scraping") the
    affected areas while she is in the bath.  It helps to comb the flakes
    right out as the scalp is wet.  She also has a prescription shampoo,
    who's name escapes me - but it's something like Nizoral, or Nitxoral,
    that has helped a lot.  You let it sit in the hair about 3 mins then
    comb it out, then rinse.  
    
    It, the shampoo, also came in a cream that you could put on her 
    scalp an hour before bathing.  Then comb it out while bathing, but this
    was a lot more difficult to arrange the hour before bathing, and
    besides,  Angeline has always had a TON of hair and it was a pain in
    the neck.
    
    One week of this regiment (she bathes every other night) and she has
    a clean, clear scalp.   I was just so sick of looking at those, as
    you said, greasy, yellowy, flakes on her scalp.
    
    If you are interested in the exact name of the shampoo, let me know,
    I'll call her pedi today and ask her.  
    						cj *->
    

    Shampooing/rinsing in the tub can be a horror for little ones, and  a 
    little hard on whoever is doing it, too.  This method takes me a few 
    minutes longer, but in the long run, I find it to be much less taxing 
    on the baby and myself.  
    
    I do the shampooing in the kitchen.  I put a couple of folded towels on 
    the counter and lie her down holding her head in my hand over the sink.  
    She holds a book, or some toy, and I talk to her, explaining what I'm 
    doing, and how this is easier, better, no water in her eyes, etc.  
    
    Using the spray/hose on the sink allows you to control the water pressure 
    while rinsing and I never have any problem with her, because her face 
    stays dry.  To get her to turn from side to side, I ask her to either 
    look out the window, or to look at my 'tummy'; this way I get the sides/
    back with a minimum of trouble, too.  
    
    It's a much more pleasant experience!
    
    Lorraine/Nana  
                                         

re: washing hair in the tub / previous note.


I bought an attachement to the shower in our tub that
has a hose and a handle. The hose is connected to
the old regular showerhead and a switch determines
whether the water should go through the hose or
out through the shower head at the top.
The handle/sprayer on the hose also has kind of a switch
that allows you to temporarlily turn off the spray.

( I did buy a good quality model attachment made of metal and 
have been really happy with it for 3 years, I did try a cheaper 
rubber/plastic type first that did not work at all)

This makes it much easier to wash the hair, I shampoo and
then ask Jonathan to look up at the ceiling while I carefully
rinse with the hose making sure no water comes in his face. Works 
perfect and Jonathan is good at cooperating.

The hose/sprayer combination is also good for the "guick-baths"
when there is little time: shower off, soap, rinse again : done, 
no need to fill the tub with water.

/Malin

    I kind of skimmed a bit for similar topic, and decided to open
    this up.  Hopefully I didn't miss another note that would have
    been an appropriate place.  (I'll open a reply with my own 
    thoughts, etc.. and what prompted me to write this)
    
    So... hair care.    
    
    .  How often do you wash your baby/toddler/child's hair?  
    
    .  Would you blow dry?
    
    .  Shampoo's preferred, or horror stories
    

    Now, why I wrote that....
    
    First, my brother sent a video tape of his family.  He has a
    daughter just a month younger than mine, so 17mths old.  He
    blow dries her hair all the time.   I found myself going, "WOW".
    But then, I do not blow dry my own hair.   Although I cut about
    a foot and half off it last year, I never blow dried it short or
    long.   Now that's my own personal preference.   But don't you
    think that's kind of harsh on such a young head of hair???  
    
    Now for frequency, I shower with Angeline every other day.  Skip
    a shower, and on a third day her hair is lank and matted.  (She
    has very thick, curly, unruly, WILD, hair).   Lately it's been
    out of control the after it's been washed, and is getting almost
    dry feeling.  I use Baby Magic, Lite conditioning shampoo.   Do
    you think I should switch?   I know we tried Johnson & Johnson's
    when she was younger and that had the opposite effect.  Her hair
    got kind of greasy looking.   Maybe I should give that another
    try now?
    
    						cj *->

    My twin girls are 6 months old and they get a bath along
    with a hair wash and blow dried every night.  They both have
    a FULL head of hair and have since birth.  They have actualy
    already had the bangs trimmed a month ago (that was a record 
    for my hairdresser).   We started with the nightly bath and
    hairwash as a nightly routine so they might sleep through the
    night...not sure if that alone was what worked but they did
    start sleeping through the night (10-12hours) at 11 wks old.
    We blow dry because they have soooo much hair and go to bed
    right after their bottle which is given right after the bath
    and we didn't want to put them to bed with wet hair.
    
    We use Johnson's Baby shampoo and their hair definatly gets
    greasy looking if we skip even 1 day.  Maybe we should try another
    brand.  Has anyone spent the $$$ to try Paul Mithchell's Baby
    Shampoo, if so is it worth it?
    
    Deb (Jordan Rae & Brooke Marie's mommy)

    When Matty was born my hairdresser gave me a bottle of the Paul Mitchell 
    baby shampoo as a 'gift'.  It smelled great, but costs ~$5 or $6 for a 
    bottle.  Since then I've used Suave baby shampoo, Johnson & Johnson 
    and Baby Magic.  I love the way the Suave and the Baby Magic smell, 
    and they seem to do just as good of a job as the Paul Mitchell.  J&J I 
    could take or leave.  
    
    I do Matty's hair every morning.  He's 17 months and has a lot of
    hair (thick, curly).  It doesn't look/feel greasy or static.  I can't 
    skip a day because he always has his hands in his hair while he's 
    eating, and it gets greasy looking if I don't wash it. (plus I love the 
    way it smells when it's clean!).  He's been having his hair washed 
    every day since about 2 months (first haircut at 2 1/2 mos), and NEVER 
    blow-dried, that's wayyyy to scarey!
                                        

Ask your pediatrician about blow drying hair - they usually have a call in 
hour for non-critical questions.

I just use Johnson's on my 3 yr. old.  It seems to work okay, she seems to 
have average hair not too oily or dry.  The only thing is that she has this 
funny cowlick on the back of the top of her head which of course always 
sticks up!

Anyway - my husband and I both use Paul Mitchell shampoo and really like it. 
We use their #1 formula - they are all numbered depending on your hair type.
He and I both had to use dandruff shampoo religiously until we tried this 
non-dandruff shampoo - and guess what no more dandruff. I didn't realize they 
made a baby shampoo, but I'm going to try it on Sarah's hair.

I use to bathe my 11 yr. old everyday when she was a baby and her skin 
started getting all dry and yucky, and the doctor told me to cut it out. I 
guess it's just different for every kid, depending on what their skin and 
hair type is.

Marianne

    
    Washed hair every night in her bath, with Tom's of
    Maine baby shampoo (very mild and gentle), towel dry 
    during the summer and blow dry until almost dry in 
    the winter. We used Johnson until my brother, a chemist,
    told me why the shampoo is stingless - they put an
    anesthetic in it, the worst part is when the stuff 
    (not harmless) does get in the eye, it doesn't get 
    flush out by the tears - bad idea, IMO!!! 
    
    Eva
    
    

I'm impressed that you all can get your kids' hair washed that frequently.  My
3-year-old son goes absolutely ballistic when we want to wash his hair, so we
only make an issue out of it about once a month.  He bathes 3-4 times a week
with no trouble, and doesn't mind getting his hair wet (somewhat), but has a
terrible fear of shampoo.  (My wife was "surprised" (tongue-in-cheek) to find
that shampoo was not on a list of common childhood fears we saw in a magazine
article.)  Oh, and no blow drying for him, although we do blow dry my
daughter's hair, which is long.  (She washes her own hair, and much more
frequently.)

						Brian

    re.3
    
    How are you washing his hair every day?  Is he bathing every
    day?  With Angeline's eczema I couldn't think of bathing her
    every day, and I'm just too tired at night to think of making
    it a daily ritual.
    
    But there are definitely nights where a way to just wash her
    hair would be easier than us taking a shower every other night.
    My skin is drying up like paper because now I'm getting daily
    showers, plus an extra one every other day.  (I've just gotten
    her to standing up in the shower without me having to hold her,
    she's not ready for getting in there alone.   And the shower is
    a lot easier than a bath every other night).
    
    						cj *->

    My 14 month old daughter gets a bath and hair washed 3 times a week,
    unless she has barf in it like this AM. 8^{
    I use what ever we have for shampoo, she has that lite blond flyaway
    hair and it doesn't seem to matter one way or the other. I rarely
    blow dry it, maybe if it's especially cold in the house. 
    
    Gail

Re: .5

I didn't realize this about Johnson's baby shampoo.  I also found a note in 
the Medical notes file that said the same.  We'll stop using it.

Marianne

    re .5, Eva that's amazing--anesthetic!!!  I had no idea!
    
    We used J&J (every other night, I think) because Alex has never
    liked getting even *water* in her eyes.  Later we switched to the
    "Pooh" shampoo, but last year when she was 10 she tried a sample
    of "Pert" that came in the mail and they sold her on it!
    
    I mostly towel-dried Alex's hair when she was a baby/toddler, but
    at some point during toddlerhood I started using the blow drier
    occasionally.  Mine (a "Dry Guy") has a medium temperature setting,
    which was critical for us (the hot setting was too hot for her ears
    and, IMO, for her scalp and follicles).  It also has a blower-speed
    setting, so it doesn't have to "roar" or blow the hair around too
    wildly.  Now she uses the dryer full-bore, but our major disagreements
    revolve around precision de-tangling (and who ends up doing it!).
    
    Leslie

    
    CJ,
    
    	Dry skin...some thoughts...
    	Try scheduling your showers so that you don't have to take
    extra showers to wash Angeline...I shower at night before
    bed, since I was brought up that way and I just can't 
    sleep comfortably with dirty body/hair/sheet (the pores in
    our skin actually open up during our sleep and stuff, hopefully
    clean moisterizing stuff, goes in). Also, try not using soap/cleanser 
    all over your body eveyday. I only thoroughly scrub myself once a 
    week and just "soap" the important areas and rinse the rest of my 
    body everyday. I use a mosturizer right after the shower everyday, 
    let it soak in a few minutes before putting clothes on. When it is
    really dry, I put a second application of mositurizer on before bed.
    
    
    Eva

    Matty gets his hair washed while he's taking a bath every morning. 
    I started doing morning because it fit into our schedule better, didn't
    have to worry about drying hair before sleeping, and there's nothing
    like starting the day off clean after being in that diaper all night! 
    I use baby magic baby bath (wash) for his body, and we use baby lotion 
    all over after the bath.  He's had no problem at all with dry skin, 
    except a small spot of eczema on his face this winter which cleared up 
    with some baby cortezone the doctor recommended.
    He loves the tub.  He'll play in there as long as I let him (he has
    all sorts of tub toys/people.  He knows to tip his head back for the
    water, and he laughs when the water runs down his body (of course we
    immediately have to dry the eyes when the water goes down the face!).
    I let him play with the cup, and he tries to pour the water over
    himself too!
    
    Cheri

    Jonathan gets his hair washed and a tub 2-3 times/week.  More than
    that, and he's too dried out.  He usually gets a dose of baby oil in
    his water, or some lotion after the tub (he has his Mom's dry skin
    )-:).
    
    DRY it?!?!  HAHAHAHA!!!  I think he's had his hair COMBED a grand total
    of about 12 times in 2 1/2 years - he HATES it, and he has that fine
    straight flyaway hair that goes where it wants anyway.
    
    Shampoo - I don't know, it's in a barney bottle.  Sometimes I'll toss
    some of my conditioner on him too, but not often.
    
    One thing that I've recently discovered that makes a WORLD of
    difference for me, is to take whatever your favorite liquid soap is (I
    use Jergen's body wash), and add about 10% baby oil, shake well.  This
    doesn't make the tub slippery, gets me clean, and leaves enough
    moisture on my skin to keep it from getting too dry.  Certainly quicker
    than applying moisturizer later.
    
    

    Sarah, now 9, has dry skin, too.  She's had an excema problem since
    about 7 week of age.  We couldn't bathe her more than twice a week,
    unless she got into something really dirty, like paint.
    
    Anyway to shampoo her hair, I would use the kitchen sink.  I would
    lay her on a towel to the side of the sink with her head hanging
    into the sink.  I would use a rolled-up towel under her neck for
    support.  Then I would use the sprayer to get her hair wet and
    rinsed.
    
    She has very beautiful hair, and now at 9 she's experimenting with
    "grown-up" shampoos.  But before this she used Pert for Kids.
    
    Regards,
    Diana

    My nearly-2 year old gets his hair washed whenever he takes a
    bath--every 3 days in the winter and every 2 days in the summer. 
    (Excezma for us too.)  He's too young to understand about not getting
    food/dirt/gunk in his hair.
    
    My daughter, who is nearly 6, washes her hair about once a week.  
    
    We don't usually blow dry their hair.  
    
    judy  

    Like us, Atlehi gets shampooed twice a week, if then.  We have
    extremely dry skin and hair and live in a dry environment.  I use J&J
    shampoo with detangler in it.  Frank or I take her on after baths to
    get her hair (very wavy) straightened out, but most o the time we refer
    to her as Einstein and relax about it. 
    
    meg

    Kathryn too is a 1/2 times a week child for hair washing. Sometimes she 
    asks for it to be done more frequently, depending on her mood.   We don't 
    stick to  any particular brand - she likes to choose from the variety of 
    bottles we have in the bathroom.
    
    When she was a baby, we used Johnsons Baby Shampoo, but it did seem to
    dry out her hair.
    
    Jackie

our two girls (3 and 5) get their hair washed about 3-4
times a week.  They get a bath almost every night, just
to get the dirt off.

Elise (5) does her own, with supervision, Sarah (3)
prefers the torture to be over as fast as possible.

We don't blow-dry, except by special request, and then
they do it themselves.  We *ALWAYS* use detangler, not
that wimpy No-More-Tears stuff but industrial strength
detangler.  Makes it actually combable for several days.


Pat

    RE. 122
    
    Meg,
    
    I laughed at the Einstein comment.  I call Angeline "Kramer".
    (For one of Jerry Seinfeld's sidekicks)
    
    						cj *->

    And we could have called Aaron "Jean Luc" for his first year of life
    (Star Trek fans will know what I'm talking about!).
    
    Aaron is only getting his hair washed once a week through the winter,
    we'll up it as it gets warmer.
    
    sandy

    Christopher is in the once-a-month club - and that is a battle.
    We have a shower massage, so I can dial it down to just one small
    stream, but that still doesn't seem to help.  I could use some
    suggestions on how to make more fun.  Recently, I added squirt
    guns to the tub toys thinking that might help, but unfortunately
    it hasn't.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.
    
    Thanks,
    Terry

    Ahh, I love the comments.  Alyssa takes a bath almost every night.
    She loves baths again.  Her hair gets washed twice a week or more often
    if gunkie stuff gets in it.  
    
    Nancy

    Terry,
    
    do you or your partner (if available) hop in the tub with him?  When
    Atlehi and Carrie and Lolita went on the shampoo strike that was my
    solution.  It was the only thing that worked for us, and if nothing
    else gives us enough control to avoid getting water or shampoo in the
    eyes and nose.
    
    meg

    Meg,
    
    No, Christopher is in the tub by himself.  I'll try getting
    in with him.  It's funny, he'll splash and throw cups of water
    into the air that just soak him, but as soon as I start sudsing
    his hair he starts to cry and tries to climb out of the tub.
    I really don't understand it.  I have been using Johnson's baby
    shampoo, but after reading this note I am switching shampoos.
    BTW, Christopher is 2 years old.
    
    Thanks,
    Terry

    
    I think it's just 2 yr olds .... (-:  One thing that's helped Jonathan 
    avoid all this, is we taught him (well, his brother) how to blow
    bubbles in the water.  He puts his face down, and blows bubbles - I'm
    always amazed he doesn't inhale, but he doesn't.
    
    So, then when I'm washing his hair, I'll tell him "Get ready!  Gotta
    blow bubbles!", and he whines a bit, but is much easier than the "I'M
    GOING TO WASH YOUR HAIR, NOW STOP CRYING!" routine that his father
    tries to use.  
    
    I also have him "help".  We start with his belly and the liquid soap. 
    Put some bubbles on your belly - and he washes it around, and thinks
    it's cool.  Work up to cheeks, and then his hair.  We don't always get
    all his hair, but we get the "big" pieces, and that's what really
    counts.  Sometimes one of his brothers will be in with him, and I'll
    have Jonathan wash THEIR hair.  He thinks that that's COOL!  
    
    ... of course, just this week Chris and Jason both announced that
    they're going to start taking daily showers before school .... guess
    that means less playtime for Jonathan's tub )-: (he's TERRIFIED of the
    shower!).
    
    

    Katie (18 months)takes a bath about 4 times a week.  Lately though she
    wants one every night.  She walked in while I was taking a peaceful 
    bubble bath in the whirlpool tub one night and decided that she 
    should be having a bubble bath in the big deep tub with mommy.  How
    could I deny her...especially after she started stripping off her
    clothes and trying to climb in?  She loves that the water is up to 
    her waist and knows that if she turns on the jets, she gets more and 
    more bubbles.  
    
    Luckily she still likes her bathtub upstairs with all her bath toys.  
    But every once in awhile,she gets a sparkle in her eye and drags us 
    into our bathroom after dinner yelling "bubbabat...bubbabat".  
                             
    Kristen

    Emily and Stephanie (15 months) take baths once a day.  They take them 
    together which is more fun for me and for them!  They don't seem to mind 
    the water in their eyes too much -- it's just a fact of life with both of
    them splashing each other!  I had been using J&J shampoo -- but I'm 
    disapointed to learn about why it doesn't sting their eyes -- yech!
        
    

    J+J isn't going to be too happy with PARENTING ;->
    
    				cj *->

    What's this about J&J shampoo? I can't seem to find the note that says
    something about it.

    
    So far, I've been lucky.  Lauren loves bathtime.  She only gets
    a bath twice a week but its generally a long one.... resulting in
    "prune fingers" which she proudly shows off.
    
    Lauren was late getting hair so I used Baby Magic on her hair
    for the longest time.  It was NOT a good idea.  She had "cradle cap"
    until she was 18 months old before I wised up and tried shampoo.
    With the shampoo (J&J) the cradle cap was gone within a couple of
    weeks.
    
    One fun thing we do in the tub is blow bubbles (not in the water...
    we use the bubble stuff for outside).  She loves this.
    
    Bubble bath, on the other hand, was not something Lauren liked.
    The two times I've used it I've had to pull an hysterical child
    out of the bathtub.  Oh well.  It doesn't matter to me.  Lauren
    tells me every time she shes the bottle "I don't like the tiny
    bubbles".
    
    I HATE rinsing shampoo out of the hair.  I always get some in
    her face.  I've tried tipping back her head and it works to get
    out all but the last one-two inches near her face.  Then I tell her
    to close her eyes and pour buckets of water over her head to
    get the rest out.  
    
    Lauren also has very dry skin.  I prefer not to call it excema
    because I feel she just inherited mommys dry skin.  I have rough
    pathes all winter if I'm not careful with the lotion.  Laurens
    problem areas are between her legs where the diaper chafes and
    her cheeks.  She hates lotion though because it stings!
    
    Karen
    

    My 2.9 y.o. is terrified of showering and loves the bath. This past
    winter I've bathed him every 3-4 days and at that time wash the hair. In
    warmer weather I do every other night but lots of times because of
    dirt or very sweaty hair do every night. He has thick hair that seldom 
    looks dirty. His winter skin gets very dry and face gets eczema which is 
    why I switched to the 3-4 day routine for winter.  I also put cream on his 
    legs, arms and face right after toweling off. I think this routine 
    dramatically improved his skin.  I towel dry the hair with a facecloth in 
    the tub so he can stay in and play and then blow dry later.  He hates the 
    water in his eyes but we have evolved to having him fairly successfully 
    tilt his head back as the big cup of clean water is poured over his head
    several times.  If water gets into his eyes he screams and I dry with the 
    nearby facecloth.  Until he hit about 18-20 months he never minded the 
    water in his eyes. THen for a few weeks he wouldn't even get in the tub
    or let me touch water to his hair. Finally through his tortured screams 
    I figured out he was scared of sitting in the tub so I put a facecloth in 
    the tub and he sat on that - worked like a charm.  After a few weeks of 
    that the tub bottom fear was over and the water in the eyes terror 
    surfaced.  I have used a CVS tearless shampoo since the beginning. Once
    he got a lot of hair we started blow drying the hair because we blow dry 
    his bum and he is not afraid of it.  The dryer has controls for
    cool/warm/hot. Since he was a baby we used the dryer when he had a
    bm and had a lot of bum washing. We didn't want to put a new diaper on
    a wet/freshly wet wiped bum so we blew it dry.  He really likes this in
    the morning when I give his diaper area a sponge bath (doesn't like) and 
    then a warm air drying.
    
    Kathy (loves)
    
       

    Evan [almost 10 months old] bathes every other night and his hair gets
    washed [he doesn't have much].
    
    Usually, he bathes alone in the tub; but there aretimes that Rick or I
    bring him in the shower with us. He's just as happy splashing around
    with his tub toys in the shower as in a tub with standing water.
    
     Annie

    I don't have any children yet (one on the way), but I remember that
    when I was little, after my mother shampooed my hair, she used to fold 
    a dry facecloth and tell me to hold it over my eyes.  Then she'd rinse 
    my hair.  The facecloth absorbed any soap/water that would have gone
    into my eyes.  Worked for me at least!
    
    Holly
    

    Holly,
    
    That's pretty much what I do with Angeline.  I hold the folded
    facecloth to her forehead as I pour the rinse water.   She doesn't
    like it, but there isn't a lot about shampooing her hair that she
    does like.  It's just something we get through as quickly as
    possible.
    	
    						cj *->

    Holly, 
    
    Yes, I do the same with Kathryn, and she actually asks me to get the
    facecloth for her.
    
    Re problems with hairwashing - we went through that phase too, and got
    over it by making "shapes" in the shampoo-ey hair (eg Rhinocerous,
    little devil..etc) and by encouraging her to try washing her own hair
    when she complained about doing it.
    
    Jackie

    Mitchell (3 yrs old next month) gets a bath 3-4 times per week.  He's
    already starting to get more now since daycare is taking the kids
    outside to play (in the sand, oh joy).  We shampoo at every bath. 
    He's pretty good about tipping his head back.  And I do use a washcloth
    or my hand to keep the drips away from his eyes.  Then I hang a dry
    towel in front of him and let him wipe his eyes when we're finished.
    
    One thing that really helps us is to do the hair washing FIRST and 
    get it out of the way since that is the part he likes the least.
    
    Some mornings, if his hair is a dissaster (he has major cowlicks), I
    will lay him back w/ a towel under his head in the bathroom sink and
    give it a good rinse.
    
    Oh - and he is another who is so proud of his "raisin fingers & toes".
    You can't get him out of the tub.  We tell him we have to let the water
    out and give it back so the fish can swim in it (like on Sesame
    Street)... that usually works and he'll unclog the drain and let me
    take him out.
    
    Julie
    

    Kevin is 16 months old.  He gets a bath and shampoo daily.  We started this
    when he was old enough to get a bath - 2 weeks or 1 month after he was born
    -whenever his umbilical cord fell off.  We did the daily bath thing as a 
    night time routine so he knows it is time for bed soon after.  We used
    J&J when he was younger and I have switched to Pert for kids lately.  Kevin
    isn't one who enjoys his bath that much.  He stands up most of the time 
    while we wash him off, so although he gets a bath everyday, I don't feel
    that it does dry out his skin that much.  If his skin is rough, I put
    Lubriderm for sensitive skin on it.  Getting his hair washed is the least
    favorite part of the bath.  I play the wetting the hair game with a plastic
    cup that has holes in it.  He likes it to sprinkle on his body.  Then I
    scrub the shampoo into his head.  After that I ask him to sit down, then
    lean him back to scoop the bathwater up with my hand over his head to do
    the rinse off.  After that he gets to brush his teeth, which is his 
    favorite thing to do, so we usually get through the shampoo procedure
    without too much whining.

    Lisa Mc.

    
    I forget if I put this in here before .... to help get the child to tip
    their head back, take some of those bathtub foam "sticky" toys, and
    stick them on the shower ceiling.  Then you point up, and say "Who's up
    there?!" and the kid looks at the Barney (or whoever) foam shapes on
    the ceiling, dump the bucket of water, and you're 1/2 done.
    
    Actually, Chris(my 10 yr old)figured this out, when washing Jonathan's
    hair ....  
    
    We pretty much leave the shapes up, though occassionally while
    showering, one of them will fall off the shower - it's a little
    startling (-:
    
    

    My two kids:
    
    When Joe (now 7, as I'm sure you're all aware) was a baby, he had *no*
    hair, none. I would, however, shampoo his peachfuzz about 3 times a
    week, but give him a bath every day.  But he had little to no
    skin/scalp problems.  
    
    At 7, I'm lucky if I can get him to wash his *hands* that often,
    never mind bathe.  It's easier to get to Joe into a shower in the
    summer, and that's about 3 times a week.  He still uses baby shampoos,
    (whatever is on sale) but his hair is starting to feel like it came
    from a broken Barbie doll, so I'm looking at trying Pert for Kids.
    
    Jake, who turns 7 months tomorrow (how time flies!), is nicknamed
    Flakey Jake in our house.  He gets rough patches on his arms and legs
    if I give him a full tub bath more than every other day.  So we
    alternate tub and sponge baths.  His hair tends to be a bit oily and
    his scalp is very flakey and dry.  I have tried baby shampoos (which
    I've always hated), castile soap (Neutrogena, which worked for flakey
    Mom as a baby), Head and Shoulders (recommended by Dr.) and now my own
    shampoo.  I tend to have a very dry, itchy scalp as well, and I am
    currently using Susan Lucci Hair Care (available from the ever popular
    QVC).  I'm using a tiny drop of it to shampoo Jake's hair, a towel dry,
    then I spray him with S.L.'s Multi-fix, a leave in hair/scalp
    conditioner.  On non-tub days, I just swab his hair down with plain
    water and washcloth, and then spray him with the Multi-Fix.
    
    The above is not having as quick an effect as I'd hoped, but we do seem
    to be making some progress.
    
    M.

    
    
    I've been trying the dry face cloth trick to keep soap out of the
    eyes when rinsing the hair.  It finally seemed to work last night.
    Lauren agreed to hold it and let me pour away and she thought it
    was funny.  
    
    Thanks for the tip!
    
    Karen

    I've been using the dry face cloth also with Christopher.
    In our case Christopher insists on using a hand towel, but
    that's okay at least I can wash his hair now.  He still
    puts up a bit of a fuss, but it has improved 100%.  Oh, I
    also get in the tub with him - that helped too.
    
    Thanks,
    Terry

    
    	We never needed the face cloth for Emily at bath time, but
    	recently she's been taking showers with me (in the interest
    	of TIME!).  She *loves* holding the face cloth over her eyes
    	while we rinse.  She's actually asking to shower with me now,
    	rather than cringing in fear!
    
    

    
    Okay .... so now he's 2 1/2, and everyone says what a cute daughter I
    have!  (-:  It's that fine, LONG blonde hair, and delicate features. 
    But I say the word "scissors", and he goes into hysterics.  I've only
    ever managed to get his hair cut "out" twice, and the last time was
    miserable, and clearly they didn't WANT to do it at all.
    
    So, how do you make him sit still??  And how do you make them not wipe
    their face/mouth and then get hair all over their mouth??  He's
    starting to look like a shaggy dog!! (-:  I wouldn't even care, but
    it's starting to get in his eyes, and as stick-straight as it is, that
    needs to be fixed.
    
    Help!
    Patty

    I've been cutting my 2.9 y.o son's hair now since he was ~2.  His hair
    is thick and grows like a weed.  I feared the task greatly because it is a
    real trick to cut his nails, clean his ears, comb his hair, etc.  At
    first he sat in a chair at the kitchen table and colored while I tried
    to cut.  First few times I only got as far as getting the back cut,
    which was where I started and then had to do the front and sides at
    other sittings. Starting in the back kind of got him used to the
    process. He didn't like it but couldn't see the scissors so wasn't
    as freaked. I had to work real fast and had mentally thought the entire
    cut through before I even started.  I also told him what I was going
    to do.  
    
    We have now gotten it down to a process we both like.  He sits and
    watches a Thomas the Tank Engine video and eats M&M's and I cut. Over
    time he loosened up about the process and likes the video watching
    and eating the M's.  
    
    It is still important though that I don't touch the scissors to his
    body.  I have to pull the hair out between my fingers and cut as
    opposed to having the scissors touch his neck or face.  When I cut
    his bangs I come from behind him,  hold out the bangs and cut. For
    the most part the haircut is pretty even, some times better than
    others. 
    
    When I think about it the reason I started doing is I couldn't imagine
    him sitting for a moment for any hairdresser.  I thought he would
    absolutely freak if a stranger came at him with scissors.  Even now
    that he's used to me doing it I don't think he'd be much more receptive
    to someone else doing it.  I also cut my husband's hair so I'm used
    to doing hair.  It is usually after Alex is in bed so he never saw
    me do dad's hair until recently. He got a big kick out of seeing me
    do dad's hair and wanted his dad to get the video and M's too.
    
    Kathy

    We just went through this.  I was tired of the  Bozo look, curls in the
    back and very little in the front!  Doug and I had cut the back of
    Connor's hair before (one would distract Connor and the other would
    cut).  However, this time we wanted a "real" haircut and took him to
    the salon.  We have taken Connor before when we had our hair cut so he
    was familar with the place/process.  However, Connor would not sit in
    the chair by himself.  So I sat down and he sat on my lap.  At first he
    was crying and wouldn't holdhis head still.  So I had him put his head
    on my chest, he quieted down and Donna cut one side and then he
    switched positions and got the other side cut.  He did okay except when
    she got near his ears.  
    
    After his haircut I got my haircut.  I made us both an appointment
    because my intentions were to get my hair cut first so Connor could see
    the process (it had been awhile since he had been at the salon) and see
    that I didn't mind it.  However, Donna said she would prefer to do his
    first because if we waited he would get too antsy.  I was aprehensive
    but it did work out okay.
    
    Be prepared for a big change.  I wasn't prepared for the effect of
    seeing my baby change into a "big boy" in the space of minutes  -- I'm
    proud I didn't cry (but it was hard).
    
    Karen

    I cut Christophers' hair in his sleep.  He is a very sound
    sleeper when he first falls asleep.  I lay him on a sheet and
    hold a flashlight in my mouth.  It may sound nutty, but I
    can actually give a pretty good and even cut this way.  
    Christopher loves his haircuts after the fact, but I don't
    think at the age of two that he would sit still long enough
    to get a haircut (his hair is very thick, just like moms).
    I also trim his finger and toenails after he falls asleep.
    
    Terry

    When David was that age, I took him to my salon and warned my stylist
    in advance that he would be a challenge.  Luckily he has kids of his
    own - he gave David a full squirt bottle!  It kept  him so occupied,
    that he never noticed the haircut.  The stylist is faster and more
    accurate than I, so it was over in mere minutes.  And david really
    looked forward to going again, so he could spray the mirror, his cape,
    etc. The sylist essentially cleared the decks so David could spray
    anything he could reach.  
    Sarah

    
    The pro is definitely faster than me (by a LONG shot!), which was why I
    tried going there.  But even with him on my lap, the last time that we
    went essentially ended up with me physically holding his head still,
    his dad trying to stop him from trying to slide off of my lap, and one
    stressed out hair dresser!!
    
    I like the sleeping idea ... and definitely will remember to not let
    the scissors touch him, as I know this makes him crazy.  Maybe tonight
    we can get somewhere ....
    
    THANKS!
    Patty

    
    I use Terry's method (.152), I cut my daughtershair (nails etc) 
    while she is asleep. 
    Usually I do it during a weekend nap so I don't need a flashlight. :^)
    I have to pivot her head and body around quite abit in the process.
    Her hair is thick and grows very rapidly (as do her fingernails).
    The things we do....
    Nancy

    I used to do my son's in his sleep as well.  Since his hair is so
    thick, a simple trim off the ends wasn't enough.  When he was sleeping,
    I could take as long as I needed.  
    
    Peggy

    
    	I had one tough time with Emily at the stylists, where she
    	screamed hysterically the entire time, and thought she was
    	being tortured.  I was six months pregnant with my son at
    	the time, and even holding her on my lap was hard.  The stylist,
    	however, specialized in children, so she just cut away, and 
    	did a great job.
    
    	The next time, I went early.  I sat Emily in the other chair,
    	and showed her the really neat bib she would wear.  I put it on
    	her, and pretended to cut my hair with my fingers.  She was
    	giggling when her turn rolled around.  She didn't fuss at all, not
    	once!!
    
    	I made such a big deal about the chair, mirror, and bib, that
    	even now when I cut Emily's hair, she talks about it.  I've
    	been cutting her hair myself for over a year, and she sits
    	very well for me.
    
    	My son Andrew is 2, and has only had his hair cut by me. 
    	Basically, I just move quickly.  I usually cut Emily first,
    	then give Andrew something to hold/look at/play with.  The last
    	time, he got antsy and I thought I wouldn't finish, so I promised
    	him a candy if he stayed in the chair (I buckle him into his
    	booster seat).  It almost worked ;-)
    
    
    	

My 2 girls (2-1/2 & 10 months) have blonde, fine hair and I only wash their hair 2x's a week.  My 2-1/2 screams
when I wash her hair, but I believe its more the water than the shampoo.  I have never blowed dried their hair
even in the winter.  It dries so fast anyway.  In the summer, I sit them in the kitchen sink alot to clean them 
up, especially on the humid days/nights, and of course my 2-1/2 year old plays in the dirt so she is usually
covered from head to toe.

    Alyssa (23 months) will not take a bath.  This came on quite suddenly - 
    she used to love baths.  Now she won't get in the tub.  My husband
    coerced her in the other night - it had been several days, but she
    would only crouch and not sit in the water.  I'm glad it has been warm
    outside, at least she plays in her wading pool.  (But she won't sit in
    it).
    This fear seems to coincide with her interest in constantly flushing
    the toilet.  I am wondering if she thinks she will go down the drain
    with the water.
    I hope she get s through this soon - any ideas on how I can help her??
    
    Thanks!
    Nancy
    
    

    WOW!  Angeline just started another delightful phase just two weeks
    ago.  Now *she* hates her bath too!  It was like a switch suddenly got
    flicked.  She screams and yells and has a fit.  After a week of
    that (with baths every other night), I bought a foamy Winnie the Pooh
    playhouse for the bath.  That gets her into the tub more willingly,
    but she still screams like I've never heard when it comes to washing
    her hair.  I still can't figure it out!
    
    And she is 21months old.  
    
    If she didn't have all that thick hair, I'd be more inclined to go a
    third day until she gets over this.  But her hair looks really yucky
    on that third day, and she scratches away at her head.
    
    							cj *->

    re: those nasty scissors and haircuts
    
    I went through this with Joe when he was a toddler.  At 8, he is just
    getting used to scissors again.  First it was just his natural fear and
    fidgeting, then he accidentally got stabbed in the ear once.  It was a
    nightmare ofter that.  I finally bought one of those home hair buzzers
    from Oster, and did a basic "bowl" cut on him.  I'd shave him about 1/3
    of the way up the back and sides of his head with the shortest trimmer
    head, , and then use the naked tip of the buzzer to just trim an even
    length around his head, even with his ears.  This cut is absolutely
    perfect for a boy with straight, fine hair, and looks really cute on
    most boys through at least kindergarten.  The best part about it is
    that it is very low upkeep (combing, etc.), so your boy doesn't look
    like a haystack all the time.  
    
    Late in kindergarten, however, we buzzed Joe, because it was getting to
    be a very hot spring/summer.  He has worn his hair in the plain "wiffle" 
    or crewcut, with the occasional military-style "high and tight", for
    the past 2.5 years.  He likes that I don't fuss at him to comb it, I
    like that he always looks neat and polished.  I also like that I don't
    have to deal with the carrying on over scissors, and I don't have to 
    pay some poor stylist $10-20 plus a HUGE tip to make up for his fussing.  
    
    Regards,
    
    M.
    

    My daughter is 18 months old and has - from day one - loved
    her bath!  Such a fun time it was...toys, singing, even washing
    the hair was no big deal.
    
    Then one day.....a couple of weeks ago, she decided that she
    hates bathtime!  Won't even sit down in the tub.  As far as
    I know nothing in our routine has changed, same toys, water
    temperature, same little bathtime process!
    
    I know it's a phase, but I hope it won't last too long.
    Any advice, suggestions?
    
    Thanks,
    Kathy & little Heather

    My daughter is now 2 years old this week and we had exactly the same
    problem at 18 months you describe, except our problem was brought on by 
    her pooping in the bath once.  
    
    We tried everything new toys, games...nothing worked.  The solution 
    was to take small steps, she wouldn't even go in the dry tub....
    I was going to upgrade the shower to be one of those off
    the wall hand help showers (thinking she may like that better).  Well
    luckily I had the good idea of having my daughter help me install the
    new shower, first she helped from outside the (dry) tub and then she came 
    in to hold things in the tub.  Rational talking (if that is possible
    with an 18 month old) did not work.  However making a joke out of her
    fear helped.  When she would point to the tub and say "poop" I would
    jump up and down run around looking all over the tub saying "where's
    the poop".  It may sound stupid but a combination of the poop joking and
    helping in the tub (slowly) advanced her to try and like showers.
    
    At times we felt she would never take a bath again...stick with it and try
    new things until it works.  Good luck.
    
    Michael
                                                

    HO BOY! Do I know this!  Angeline is 22 months.  At about 19 - 20
    months, one night in the bathroom preparing for her bath (which she 
    *used* love), she flipped out!  I mean screaming, clinging, 'NO BATH
    MAMA, NO BATH'.  It was tragic.  If she hadn't just come from the
    park and turned into a total dustball, I would have given in!
    
    Well from that day on, it was a horror show for about two weeks.
    
    Then I bought the Pooh Foamy bathouse (she's addicted to Pooh) and
    the Tigger bubble bath soap (she's a sucker for bubbles).  It took 
    one or two baths, but she started going into them willingly again.  
    However, washing her hair continues to be traumatic for her.  She 
    alternates gasping and shuddering with screaming.  
    
    The good weather means open windows.  I swear the neighbors must
    think I'm beating her every other day!  "No Mama, Please, NO Mama!!!
    
    Then, you'd think I was drying her off with sandpaper! Suddenly she
    can't stand to have me dry her.  All she does is push and shove and
    yell "All done, Mama".   
    
    (*sigh*)  I am so exhausted by the time it's all done.  I relish the
    in between nights :-).   I just keep chanting, "it's going to pass
    it's going to pass".
    
    					cj *->

    I know there are 164 replies here (!), but check out this string for
    everyone's ideas - we ALL went through it at the same age or so!
    
    The ideas I found here, all those years ago, that worked like a charm
    were: bubbles.  Bubble baths and bubbles that you blow.  I used the
    Johnson's Baby Bath or even the shampoo (it's probably the same stuff
    another color anyway) for the bubble bath, since I know some stuff can
    irritate, and tried to rinse them a bit afterwards.

I should probably keep my mouth shut, but I want to scream from the rooftops!
I definitely went through the same with Chris and Jason.  But Jonathan will be 
3 in Sept, and I think I've managed to sneak by this, with minimal trauma.  
PHEW!  

Here's what I think helped;

o Jonathan is allowed to bring whatever he wants into the tub, unless it's 
something that will get totally ruined.  I have a huge spag.-strainer that I 
keep in the bathroom.  When tub time's done, I scoop all the toys into the 
strainer, and let it drain/dry in the tub over night, and take it out in the 
morning.  When it's time to take a bath, he won't go in until he's "plopped" 
every single one of those toys, into the tub.  Yeah, it's a pain, but it beats 
the hysterical screaming.  I just send him in the bathroom as soon as I start 
running the water.  Timing's about right.

o As soon as he started getting stressed about tubs/hair/soap/bubbles/whatever,
I'd back right off, and let *HIM* do it.  He sometimes dumps the bubbles in 
the tub, if he doesn't want me to wash him, I tell him to wash himself (hey, 
at least he got wet, that's 1/2 the battle!).  Occassionally I'll get in the 
tub WITH him, and let him wash me, dump buckets of water over my head, 
whatever.  He's pretty fair about "Okay, now it's Mommy's turn!", and I wash 
him.

o He brings squirt guns in the tub, and squirts the walls, mom and whatever 
else.  Kinda wet, but happy anyway!

o *HE* dumps the water over his own head a lot of times, and that helps.  I 
taught him to blow strawberries when the water's going over his face, which 
helps TREMENDOUSLY.  We blow strawberries at each other, then I dump some 
water, and we blow more, and he giggles hysterically.  

o His oldest brother, Chris, has been a HUGE help!!  I think it helps just 
seeing another 'kid' going through it.  Also, Chris took some of those foam 
tub-toys, and he sticks them to the ceiling.  When he needs to dump water on 
Jonathan's head, Chris tells Jonathan "Look up at Barney!", Jonathan complies, 
and there's no water in his face.

o A lot of times he'll make it through most of his 'bathtime' without even 
sitting down.  He's perfectly content to get in, splash his feet a lot, get 
out, and declare he's done.  So I make games to get him to sit or lay down. 
Telling him to 'swim' is the most successful.  Telling him to wash his feet is 
pretty successful.  Occassionally we have to resort to trying to get him to 
sit on a foam toy.  He thinks that's pretty funny!

o Drying him off -- yeah, RIGHT!  I wrap a towel around him, run him into my 
bedroom and toss him on the bed.  If he's chilly I cover him up, and 
eventually he asks to get dressed.  Evaporation is wonderful - why fight it??

I guess the biggest thing I've learned is to RELAX about it.  If he's not a 
total grease/mudball, is it REALLY going to matter if he isn't sparkling 
clean?  We'll get it all eventually.  In the meantime, I try to play as much 
as possible during bathtime, and it's really seemed to work wonders for us.
He still LOVES to take a tub, and I'm glad he does!!  

Of course when it comes to taking a shower, he will have **NOTHING** in the 
world to do with that -- but it's not usually any fun either!

This parenting stuff .... a more accurate "help" book would be entitled 
"Learning how to Manage your children".  Probably why "The 1 minute manager" 
was so easily re-written to "The 1 minute disciplinarian" (or whatever it was 
called).  

...the fine art of persuasion and negotiation.  After a day with the kids, I 
feel like surely all us parents could negotiate well enough to bring about 
world peace inside a day or two (-:

Don't you?!

Oh yes .....

and I wanted to thank the person who put in the suggestion of letting the kid 
use a water bottle/squirt gun during a hair cut.  Jonathan just got another 
hair cut last week, with a FULL water bottle, and dad and his brothers as 
compliant "victims".  It's the first hair cut he's had without so much as a 
sad face - certainly none of the normal hysterical crying.  And the kitchen 
only took about 20 mins to clean up.  The hair cut took ~10 mins ... and we 
all had fun!  It's normally 45 mins of total STRESS and screaming!

THANKS!!!!!!!
Patty (and especially Jonathan!)

    
    	Actually, adding bubbles to the bath traumatized my
    	son Andrew.  Thankfully, it only lasted one bath after 
    	"the event", but he was adamant, NO BUBBLES.
    
    	I don't know what changed his mind, because now he'll smother
    	his face with bubbles.  Must have been peer pressure from
    	his older sister ;-)