bathing?

hi does any1 have problems with bathing?my son is 3 non verbal asd,bath time is a nightmare hes always hated the bath,he gets so scared,his body tenses up he covers his ears and screams and screams, and screams,he hates the water on his head,cries so much he struggles2breathe,he shakes and looks so petrified tht i cant stand seein him like tht i end up taking him out the bath,i dont know what to do,i feel im doing wrong by taking him out the bath as its like im taking the easier option,but i dont want to put him through it.

Parents
  • Hi Char,

    It took my autistic son a long time before he was happy to have a bath. He is now 4 years old and having a bath is no longer a problem. I think what helped him most was:

    1. initially me having a bath with him to reduce the anxiety;
    2. introducing a mini plastic watering can and boat;
    3. introducing an illustrated flannel

    My son has a "Nemo" flannel and when I bought it, I never in a million years realised how useful it would be at entertaining my son in bath, whilst also being educational. Without boring you, I spontaneously developed a story/song around "Nemo", which has just hit a note with him and has really made bath times easier.

    This is how it goes. I know that this might make me sound insane, but hey it works. You have to do the actions with the flannel as you're singing and start by holding it up vertically so your child can see the character on the front.

    Nemo is a happy fish. Nemo is a happy fish.
    He likes to jump. He likes to jump.
    He likes to dive. He likes to dive.
    He likes to twist, twist, twist, twist, twist.
    He likes to swim. He likes to swim.
    He like to stroke. He likes to stroke.
    He likes to float.

    Most of the actions are obvious, but for the stoke part of the song, I simply drag the flannel over his leg or arm just to get him used to contact with the flannel. I end by lying the flannel flat on the surface of the water and we watch it gradually sink. He now recites the whole piece himself and has learnt a decent number of verbs in the process.

Reply
  • Hi Char,

    It took my autistic son a long time before he was happy to have a bath. He is now 4 years old and having a bath is no longer a problem. I think what helped him most was:

    1. initially me having a bath with him to reduce the anxiety;
    2. introducing a mini plastic watering can and boat;
    3. introducing an illustrated flannel

    My son has a "Nemo" flannel and when I bought it, I never in a million years realised how useful it would be at entertaining my son in bath, whilst also being educational. Without boring you, I spontaneously developed a story/song around "Nemo", which has just hit a note with him and has really made bath times easier.

    This is how it goes. I know that this might make me sound insane, but hey it works. You have to do the actions with the flannel as you're singing and start by holding it up vertically so your child can see the character on the front.

    Nemo is a happy fish. Nemo is a happy fish.
    He likes to jump. He likes to jump.
    He likes to dive. He likes to dive.
    He likes to twist, twist, twist, twist, twist.
    He likes to swim. He likes to swim.
    He like to stroke. He likes to stroke.
    He likes to float.

    Most of the actions are obvious, but for the stoke part of the song, I simply drag the flannel over his leg or arm just to get him used to contact with the flannel. I end by lying the flannel flat on the surface of the water and we watch it gradually sink. He now recites the whole piece himself and has learnt a decent number of verbs in the process.

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