Sometimes bathing a toddler can be like trying to hold a fish—a wiggly, giggly, slippery minnow that can even run away from you. Here are four ideas to help you make bath time less fishy.

Don’t Pass on Prep Time

Before trying to corral your kiddo, make sure you have everything you need within reach. Don’t forget to pull together towels, soap, shampoo, and the all-important toys. If you encourage your child to help gather the bath-time items, he or she will feel more included and can even learn some skills like planning ahead and organization and you’ll avoid your kid standing in a cold, wet puddle while you search for that special towel.

You can also include a build-up to bath time as part of your prep. Give your child a few minutes warning in the lead-up to their bath like saying things like, “It’s just five minutes to bath time!” Toddlers don’t usually like to stop one thing and start another without notice. You can use these same kinds of signals when it’s almost time to get out of the bath too.

Make sure you test the water before helping your child climb in. The back of your hand is more sensitive than your palm. And, never run hot water when your child is in the tub to avoid scalding. Once your child is in the tub, always stay within arms reach.

Combat Fears of Water and the Dreaded Drain

It’s not uncommon for children to be a little apprehensive about a bath. Sometimes it’s feeling nervous about water getting in their eyes, and other times it’s a fear that they might get sucked down the drain with the rest of the suds. Kids can also be a little unnerved by the sound of rushing water or can be worried about slipping.

Identify the reason for your child’s concern first, and then use small steps to help calm their fears.

For a child with a lot of uneasiness about water, it’s sometimes helpful to give them a chance to put their hands in the sink water to learn that water play can be fun. For kids who are extra frightened around water, you can even start water play in the kitchen sink or in a bucket/tray of water outside the bathroom. Then, over several days or weeks move it closer and closer. For example, start in the kitchen and then move it to the bathroom. Finally, move the bucket into the tub so your child can play with water when the tub is empty.

Introduce new bath toys outside the tub too, and show him or her how much fun it is to float them in water. Try only filling the tub with a couple of inches of water at first—just enough to splash a little—then gradually add more water as he or she gets more comfortable.

Get a nonskid mat for the tub to make it less slippery and cover the faucet with a piece of pool noodle to avoid head injuries. And don’t forget the non-slip mat outside the tub to make the floor less slippery. Even a towel on the floor will work in a pinch. If the rushing water sound is scary, try filling the tub when your child is in another room.

If your child is afraid of getting pulled down the drain, try having him or her help fill up the bathtub and bathe a toy or doll. Practice cleaning and grooming the toy and then leave it in the water and unplug the drain. Watch together and see that the toy doesn’t get sucked away. And don’t forget to point out how much bigger they are than the toy.

If none of these ideas work, you could try washing someplace other than the bathtub. Fill a different kind of receptacle with water instead. Try a flexible tub with handles or even a laundry bucket. Sometimes smaller options will be a novelty and will help your child look forward to bath time.

Add Some Fun (and Some Learning)

Bath activities can be fun, and you don’t need fancy toys for a good time. Even funnels, plastic bottles, or measuring cups can make bath time interesting. Rotate toys to keep things fresh, or try singing songs and telling stories. Helping your toddler make up their own games and stories will fuel their imagination.

Because toddlers are constantly learning, bath time is full of opportunities. Try naming the different parts of the body as you wash them. You can also add new vocabulary by repeating and incorporating new words. Repeat words for actions like: splash, pour, splash, spill, or sit. Learn the words for toys like: duck, fish, turtle, boat, ball, etc. Or, try naming the colors all around the bath. But also remember that bath time doesn’t mean school time, so keep it natural and low-key.

Try adding a few drops of food coloring to the bathtub to catch a wary toddler’s attention. Or, freeze small bath toys inside ice cubes and watch how much fun your child has as the ice melts to reveal what’s inside. Ice cubes made with colored water are also fun to chase around the tub.

Communicate to Calm Nerves

Give your child a heads-up when you are going to pour water over their head. Help them tilt their head back, or have them hold a washcloth over their eyes. If you are having trouble getting them to look up, try putting a picture of their favorite character on the ceiling (like Mickey Mouse or Thomas the Train). Then have them look at or find the character.

You can talk through the process so they aren’t surprised by saying things like: “Now let’s wash your hair.” And, don’t skip the praise. Let them know how brave they are, or how calm they are being.

You also could invest in a bath visor to keep little eyes dry. Even a foam visor from the dollar store would work. And, make sure your bath products are gentle and “no-tear” formulas. But, keep the focus on fun. You can sometimes skip the soaping and shampooing when it’s too much of a stressor.

If your child is especially unhappy about a certain part of bath time (like washing their hair), try singing the same song during this part every time. This ritual will help your child know what is coming and it will also help them realize it will be over soon. They’re done as soon as the song is over.

When all else fails, maybe a little togetherness can do the trick. Try getting in the tub with your child. Your example goes a long way, so showing your toddler how much fun you think the bath is might be just the inspiration he or she needs. Plus, who wouldn’t want to take a turn dumping water on mommy or daddy’s head?

Written by Annie Buck, OT

Annie Buck is an Occupational Therapist with Kids Who Count. She specializes in helping children with feeding and sensory delays. She lives in a houseful of boys. She and her husband have four sons, from 8-months-old to 7-years-old. Things are always loud at home with fun that usually involves someone wrestling someone else.

Sippy cups have quickly become synonymous with toddlers, but you might want to consider skipping the sippy altogether, and here are a few reasons why:

Sippy Cups May Cause Developmental Delays

Hard, spouted cups may not be helpful for your child’s development. Leading child development specialists say that because spouted cups are held on the front of a child’s tongue, he or she may not develop what is called a “mature swallow pattern.”

Young children are learning how swallow like an adult and are pushing up their tongue to the roof of their mouth. Cups with a hard tip can hold the tip of their tongue down when they swallow instead of letting the tongue tip rise. If something holds their tongue down, they could develop a tongue-thrust, (or immature swallow) which could delay progress both in speech and motor development. Also, they can have difficulty with producing some speech sounds, like the “s” sound.

Speech-language pathologists consistently agree that prolonged use of a bottle or sippy cup can cause abnormalities in mouth development.

Your toddler is also figuring out his or her own eye-hand coordination. Many great skills combine when a child uses a glass and learns to drink on his or her own. For many parents whose child seems to be having a difficult time transitioning from a bottle, a sippy cup may seem like a terrific solution. But really, this intermediate step may just delay the natural learning process for your child.

It can take time and patience to help your child learn to drink from a real cup, but it’s worth the effort and will give your child valuable life skills they will need anyway—even if you were to inadvertently delay this process with a sippy cup.

Increase the Risk of Tooth Decay and Decrease Healthy Appetite

Another reason you may want to eliminate the sippy cup step altogether is because it can encourage unhealthy habits that can cause tooth decay, interfere with hunger, and create unhealthy “grazing” tendencies.

Kids love to drink apple juice and milk because of their sweetness. However, when a child sips continuously throughout the day, the lactose from milk and fructose from fruits stays on their teeth and gums, putting your child at a higher risk for cavities in their developing teeth.

And, when kids always have a sippy cup full of calorie-dense liquids they may have a decreased appetite for healthy food at mealtimes. Nobody wants to add more stress to toddler meals!

What to Do Instead

Many parents don’t realize that babies can and should be introduced to regular, open cups at about six months when they begin eating solid foods (with a lot of help from you!) If they have a lot of trouble you can try starting with a thicker liquid like a smoothie at first. By the time your child is 18 months old they should be able to use a regular cup fairly independently without too many spills.

A cup with a half lid (or a cup without the valve or nipple installed), and even a cup with a short straw is a better choice for busy toddlers. Or, try starting with a very small cup (like a shot glass or play cup) and a limited amount of liquid. Another trick might be to use a travel coffee or hot drink cup that has a small opening at the top. Sometimes these types of cups will help to decrease the flow of fluid so your child can drink with fewer spills.

If you have tried some of these ideas and nothing seems to be working, talk to a doctor or pediatric speech or occupational therapist about different, more individualized options.

Remember, the sippy cup is a relatively recent invention. Your grandparents, and maybe even your parents, survived the toddler years without them. And, although it can be a bit messy at first, it is important that most children learn how to drink from an open cup by 18 months of age.

Written by Annie Buck, OT

Annie Buck is an Occupational Therapist with Kids Who Count. She specializes in helping children with feeding and sensory delays. She lives in a houseful of boys. She and her husband have four sons, from 8-months-old to 7-years-old. Things are always loud at home with fun that usually involves someone wrestling someone else.

Your toddler is learning to eat more solid foods and is becoming more active and independent. This is a time of exploration and discovery that sometimes doesn’t include being adventurous with food. You may even notice that your toddler refuses some of the foods he or she loved as an infant.

To make mealtime a bit easier—and healthier—have a few tricks up your sleeve. You may find that your child isn’t a picky eater, but may just take a bit more time to learn to enjoy different tastes and textures.

Variety keeps it interesting

When you offer your toddler a variety of shapes, colors, textures, and tastes at mealtime it not only keeps them interested, but gives them a more nutritionally balanced day. Try something crunchy, like whole grain crackers with something sweet like banana slices. Then add something with protein like cubed chicken or lean meat (cut into small pieces to avoid choking) and a bit of dairy like few pieces of string cheese or a cup of whole milk. You could serve salad as finger food with leafy greens without dressing, along with cut-up grapes or orange slices.

Use child-sized plates, cups, and utensils that fit their little hands and appetites. Then, pair unfamiliar food with a choice they already know and like to help them broaden their palate and enjoy more challenging foods. You don’t need to stick with the things you view as typical kid-friendly foods, but you can help them enjoy a bigger variety by serving them the same foods you are eating, just in smaller portions.

You don’t need to force your child to eat something he or she doesn’t like, but keep offering a variety of foods. The key is to keep exposing them to new tastes, colors, and textures. And, your example is critical. When your child sees you eating and enjoying veggies, they are much more likely to eat and enjoy veggies too. Sometimes your child just needs a model. When they see how much you like something they will be much more likely to try it themselves.

With your older toddler, it can be fun to take them to the grocery store with you and let them pick out a new fruit or veggie to try. Often when your child helped pick out a new food they will be more excited and willing to try it. Who knows? They may pick out something new to you too!

Make food easy to eat

Toddlers are enjoying their new independence. They like food they can hold themselves, like whole green beans, steamed carrot strips, or cubes of whole-grain bread. You can try things with different textures like avocado chunks, scrambled eggs, or even tofu. Noodles and pasta with different shapes and sizes are fun, and you can try cutting veggies in different shapes as well.

It’s best to avoid foods that are easy to choke on. Be careful with sticky foods like peanut butter and marshmallows, and watch out for small, hard foods like nuts, seeds, popcorn, raw carrots, and raisins. Slippery foods can also be troublesome, so avoid serving your child things like whole grapes and large pieces of meat or hot dogs.

Plan mealtimes and introduce a bit of structure

Keeping mealtime more structured can help to regulate your child’s appetite and attitude. Serve most meals and snacks in a designated area, like the kitchen table, and at about the same times each day. Avoid falling into the short-order-cook habit of giving your child requested items all day long.

Toddlers’ tummies are only about the size of their little fist and fill up easily. A common mistake is to allow children to drink milk and juice throughout the day or snack between meals, decreasing appetite and intake at main meals.

As your child grows, so will their love for different foods. Be patient and keep introducing new, healthy alternatives to keep them on track and happy.

Written on February 21, 2019 by Annie Buck, OT

Annie Buck is an Occupational Therapist with Kids Who Count. She specializes in helping children with feeding and sensory delays. She lives in a houseful of boys. She and her husband have four sons, from 8-months-old to 7-years-old. Things are always loud at home with fun that usually involves someone wrestling someone else.

How to make learning fun when it’s cold outside

Winter can be a challenging time for parents and kids with special needs. Now that holidays are over and routines are returning, you may need some fresh ideas to fend off the chill. So, if you and your kiddos have a bit of cabin fever this winter, here are five ideas for activities you can try to pass a long winter’s day.

1-Use snow for sensory experiences

Winter is the perfect time to take advantage of some frosty, sensory playtime. Make a point of experiencing the cold and lightness of snow by making snowballs, tiny snowmen, or snow angels. You can help your child practice their vocabulary during the activity by naming the winter words: cold, white, snow, snowball, frozen, etc.

It’s also fun to try snow painting by filling squeezable bottles or spray bottles with water colored with food coloring. Add enough color to make a dark contrast in the snow and then let your littles spray or squeeze out a snowy masterpiece. Practice saying all the colors as you paint.

Another idea is to fill balloons with that darkly colored water and leave them outside overnight. In the morning you can peal the balloon off the frozen water and have beautiful colored orbs to decorate your yard. Kids will like watching to see if the colored balls eventually melt into painted puddles. You can practice words like: frozen, freeze, balloon, pretty, and colors.

2-Put together a fort-building kit

Gather some old sheets, blankets, pillows, cardboard, clothespins and yarn in a big laundry basket. Let the kids use their imaginations to build forts between chairs or behind couches. Don’t be afraid to get involved with the fort building, especially if your child is small or has special needs. Having a flashlight or battery powered candle will make the fort cozy. You can bring in your child’s favorite books, games, or sensory bins to spend a cozy afternoon in their soft, blanket clubhouse. While building, or once inside, you can practice vocabulary by talking about the activities. Have your child use words like: fort, blanket, pillow, hide, cozy, help, build, or other fun words. Oh, and don’t forget the snacks!

3-Create a discovery bag

Find a few items at your local dollar store, or around your house, to fit in a box, bag, or pillowcase. Try to find quiet time items that your child can use with less supervision like puzzles, fidgets, books, or sensory toys with a distinct shape (ball, blocks, car, shoe, cup, or spoon.) Then, you can hide (even in plain sight) the items around the house in scavenger-hunt style to have your child “discover” the items you suggest they find. Your child could play with each item until they lose interest and then move on to the next item to find.

Another way to play would be to look for the objects with real or pretend binoculars or a flashlight. When they find the object, practice saying the name using simple phrases such as “I see _______” to work on language development.

4-Make a winter sensory bag

Making a bag filled with sensory items is a fun way to experience winter without a lot of mess. Fill a large zip close bag with about a cup of inexpensive clear hair gel. Then add small marshmallows, glitter, tapioca balls, and little cotton balls.  You can also look around your house for small craft items or little alphabet letters that would be fun to squeeze or find in the goo. Seal the bag up tight (you might want to reinforce with tape to be sure it doesn’t spring a leak). Then your child can squish and paint and smoosh to their hearts content. If you keep the bag in the refrigerator the contents are cool for an additional sensory experience. This is a great vocabulary activity as well. Simply practice naming each of the items inside the bag.

5-Set up an indoor obstacle course

Remember “the floor is hot lava” game from your childhood? It’s fun to set up an obstacle course over stools and under tables, around chairs and through tunnels made with blankets. Use towels as free spaces or islands and pillows for resting spots. You can also set up rows of blocks to navigate around or a path with rags for jumping. Dodging around obstacles helps your kids develop their motor skills and can create hours of active fun. Practice naming actions like: jump, help, move, run, and rest. You can also practice imaginative concepts such as hot, burn, volcano, lava, and pretend.

What other activities have you thought of to keep kids busy and engaged during the winter weeks? Please share your ideas in the comments below.

Written on January 10, 2019 by Darla Davis, SLP

Darla Davis is a Speech Language Pathologist with Kids Who Count, a non-profit, early intervention program serving families within the boundaries of the Nebo School District in Central Utah. Darla coaches parents and caregivers at home to help them find learning opportunities in their child’s daily routines. She focuses on increasing expressive language skills such as gestures, sign language, pictures, augmentative communication systems, spoken language or receptive language skills like understanding and following directions. The speech services with Kids Who Count help children develop oral motor skills related to both speaking and eating.

To learn more about Kids Who Count please visit  https://kidswhocount.org/ or call 801.423.3000.