What to do when newborn cries murder during shower

Hi Mummies, My 1 month old baby boy cries murder when we bathe him. I have tried sponge bath, normal bath, singing to him while bathing but nothing works. He literally screams every time I bathe him. Currently we bathe him in a bath tub on the floor as the tub is without stand and we use lukewarm water. Want to know the experience of other mums here on how to manage this kind of situation ? Would have a bath tub with stand be better? Looking for tips and advise 🙏 #firsttimemom

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Try to shower baby when he is not hungry or tired? Maybe he cried cos he was hungry or wanted to sleep? I squat down to shower my baby with the tub on the floor . In my opinion , i think the stand would only affect the ones showering the baby? So no much diff if your shower routine stays the same for baby ba .. Also, can try to lightly wrap the baby (just use a thin towel or swaddle blanket to cover baby body) and hold the baby when washing baby face and head . Then unwrap the towel a little to dab some water on his chest to let him know he gna be in water soon . Then remove him from the towel / swaddle and slowly put him down in the tub to wash the body. My baby likes to go in water so i usually skip the dabbing water part haha cos she will start to cry if she i wash her head for too long and stops crying immediately once she touches water. Let us know of he still cries after trying these! Also , my baby used to come out of shower crying badly . I reduced the temp of the water a little to make it like room temp water and it seems to stop . Maybe if u use too warm water to shower baby , baby might feel cold when they r out ? Hmm

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I usually stream water down my LO’s head first, while holding him like a rugby ball still swaddled (but naked) to let him feel water and the temperature. Slowly I will massage and shampoo his head, wash it off. Then later I will put him in the bath tub FEET FIRST, butt, then slowly towards his torso. Everything have to be super slow and you have to speak in the most gentle voice, make it like a spa for the baby! I find that it helps if you talk to the baby what you are going to do next as if he/she understands. It’ll help in their communication and articulation skills in the future too. Hope it helps, you’re doing great mommy! Edit: Also, might I add that it helps to introduce water to their faces early - I did this with my baby since he’s only 1 day old and today he loves bathing and don’t mind water down his face at all. He’s 13 months old.

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2y ago

This is great tip. Will try this. Thanks mommy :)

Hi mummy, make sure the water temp not too hot or cold for them. Some babies scare of bathing like my lo. U can try putting a small towel/handkerchief on his chest while bathing him to make him feel secure. Pat pat him & tell him it’s safe. That’s wat I do for both my boy & girl. Currently my 3mth old girl like bathing now 😊 hope it works for ur bb too.

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2y ago

For my lo about 1-2 week they get used to bathing already. Also try not to bath them when they are too hungry or sleepy. Usually I bath them at least half an hr before next feeding (becoz my lo easily spit out milk so have give some time to digest the previous milk first) so after bath I feed them & sleep.

it’s normal, some babies don’t like the temperature change and mine was the same. nothing to do with the stand, it’s the change in temperature when showering. just let them cry it out, no choice. he’ll get used to it. mine stopped crying around 2-3 months

2y ago

Oh okay. Thanks for sharing

this crying phase will pass eventually, think u are doing it correctly