So my oldest daughter is going to be 3 in July. For the last idk few months (it’s escalated for the last few months but has always been somewhat of an issue) she has been TERRIFIED of taking baths. She used to be ok to play in the bath but once it came to getting cleaned up and rinsed etc she would freak. I try simply using a cup to wet and rinse her hair, I try the shower head, it doesn’t matter, any form of water hitting her head terrifies her. I try to tell her to look up so the water doesn’t run in her face but she won’t/doesn’t understand, (and you can’t reason with her, especially when she’s in a state of fear) she won’t sit down she has to be standing holding on to the bar in the tub. There hasn’t been any kind of trauma such as slipping, falling, or water being too hot or cold, I make sure soap doesn’t get in her eyes etc. I don’t know what to do. We try to make it a fun experience and talk to her, sing, play with her toys before we wash her, but the fear of what she knows is about to happen, she can’t take her mind off of it. We try to be stern with her and tell her “no screaming” but it’s like she can’t control herself, so we’ve come to the conclusion that it isnt bad behavior it’s a serious fear. We could try sponge baths, but when it comes time to wash her hair (we don’t have to wash her hair every time, but she has long thick hair, a lot of times she gets food in it or it gets in her mouth and has saliva stickiness on it, so it’s hard to go more than a few days without needing to wash her hair) we don’t know a good alternative. I don’t think dry shampoo will do the job cause of what I just mentioned. I don’t know how to get her to not be so afraid, and I don’t want to keep giving her baths when she’s so scared. We don’t give her a bath every night, or even every other night. To be honest, I give her a bath on the weekend (Friday or Saturday) and mid week (Wednesday or Thursday) cause of how fearful she is. I’m afraid to keep giving her baths and making her fear worse, but I’m also afraid to stop cause what if when she finally does get a real bath again she’s still scared or more because she isn’t used to it at all..plus how do I simply not give her anymore baths? I need advice, is there anyone who has or is dealing with this? Or with some other fear that you’ve helped them get past? She literally SCREAMS bloody murder, me and my husband get scared that our neighbors will hear and call the cops cause it sounds like we are torturing her... No amount of comfort helps her calm down, it’s like she’s lost all control.