5 Tricks to Get Your Kid in the Bath

By Cailin Nelson - Dec 06 2008

My two year old daughter usually likes to take a bath, but every once in awhile she goes through a "No bath!" phase. Here are some tricks we've used to con her back into the tub.

Most of these tips are a variation on the theme of "Offer a simple choice - all options of which are acceptable to the parent". We find that asking our daughter what kind of bath she wants to take is much easier than asking if she wants to take a bath, or just telling her that it is bath time!

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1Bath Tints

These are basically food coloring in pill format. Toss one in the bath - and bingo you've got a nice blue, red or yellow bath. Added bonus - combine two primary colors for a daily repetition of the "red + yellow = orange" lesson.

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2Switch It Up

When Ava was a little smaller, we would ask her "Do you want a 'sink bath' or 'big bath'?". Now that she's outgrown the sink we offer her the upstairs or downstairs tub.

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3Turn on the Shower

Ava got used to showering at the pool after her swim lessons. She thinks it's fun, so we offer her "rain or no rain" in the bathtub.

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4Bath Crayons

Moving away from choice-based tricks, these are really just pure bribery. Ava definitely thought these were fun, but they are a bit of work to clean up. Ava's dad was opposed from the start - claiming that she would get confused and think she could right on any wall with these crayons. Guess what - he was right.

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5Bath Stickers

Unlike the bath crayons these guys are harmless. They aren't really stickers - just bits of foam that happen to temporarily adhere to damp surfaces like tubs and tile. They come in many themes - letters, flowers, farms, trucks, etc.

Got a bathtime trick that works for you? Please share it, by leaving a comment, below.