# What is my child's obsession with drinking bath water?? UGH!



## ilovebabies (Jun 7, 2008)

She is incapable of taking a bath without drinking the water. I can't get her to stop. She thinks it's funny. Doesn't matter how disgusting the water is (and it's been pretty gross let me tell you) and there have been times I've just pulled her out because she won't stop. Thankfully she has not gotten sick, but it totally grosses me out!!


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## Tilia (Nov 18, 2006)

Ugh, yeah, my almost-three-year-old does it too. She either drinks from the cup I use to rinse her hair, or she lays down on her tummy and just opens her mouth.

Lately what seems to be working is "We can't drink the water because there is too much soap and bubbles." I just give her a few bubbles with her Burt's Bees. It has been working for a couple weeks.


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## jeliphish (Jul 18, 2007)

LOL!!! DD does this!!! IT MAKES ME GAG!!


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## gypsyhips26 (Feb 21, 2008)

my DS LOVES it too! 'specially with bubbles. Yum!







:


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## rabbitmum (Jan 25, 2007)

I remember doing this too! Me and my sisters (all three together in the same bath) used to also suck our flannels and drink the water that way. I can't really see what's so bad about it.


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## jeliphish (Jul 18, 2007)

LOL- I forgot to mention this!!!!

it's EVEN BETTER when DD will stand up and I will see her pee in the water and then 5 minutes later, she will be playing on her tummy and suck up a big mouth full of now, pee pee filled bath water!!!


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## kirstenb (Oct 4, 2007)

DS's new favorite trick is to put his face in the water and come up sputtering. Not positive if he is drinking any water but I am sure it won't be long before I know he is! I too loved to drink bath water when I was little.


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## MoonWillow (May 24, 2006)

My dd does this too. Drives me nuts!


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## blue butterfly (Nov 28, 2005)

not only does my two year old insist on it but my 5 year old as well, yuck yuck yuck!!


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## Ellen Griswold (Feb 27, 2008)

Unfortunately, it happens here too. I doubt anything bad will come of it, but it makes me want to barf.


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## rugbymom (Mar 21, 2007)

My son does this too. I'm just glad he is actually ingesting some water, since he doesn't all day long.
My friend's daughter (6yo) only stopped when one day her little sister pooped in the tub with her.


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## jennert (Oct 22, 2008)

Mr. Pants does it too. I'm just grateful it's not toilet water. I mean, even if he pees in it, it's just _his_ pee. That's my attempt at a good attitude. It really turns my stomach!


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## Inanna_Mama (Sep 18, 2006)

I've been pondering this mystery for months, too. I wonder if it's so appealing because the temperature is near that of Mama's milk?


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## chick (Sep 12, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Inanna_Mama* 
I've been pondering this mystery for months, too. I wonder if it's so appealing because the temperature is near that of Mama's milk?

well mine does it too and she's not been bf for 18 months!

I figure that anything in it is pretty diluted so I don't worry about it too much!


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

yuck! my 19 month old does too, drives me nuts. Especially after he's been playing outside and is quite dirty, I don't know how he can stand to drink it. And I even ditched the cup and have an empty california baby jug, yet he still thinks it's for his mouth.


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## happy2bamama (Apr 29, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jeliphish* 
LOL- I forgot to mention this!!!!

it's EVEN BETTER when DD will stand up and I will see her pee in the water and then 5 minutes later, she will be playing on her tummy and suck up a big mouth full of now, pee pee filled bath water!!!










Yes, my 22-month-old DS does this too and it makes me crazy! He also lays down and opens his mouth like a whale and lets the water slosh in there. And, he will suck on the wet washcloth too, so I can never put the soap (only Burt's Bees, but still) on the washcloth. Or wait... maybe I should and then maybe he's stop! Doubt it - he doesn't seem to care what's in that water.

On the upside, I can't wait to talk about this on his first date when he's older, "You think he's cool and cute now, well let me tell you about when he used to drink his own urine water in the bath tub..." I wouldn't really humiliate him like this, but I will definitely tell him about it when he's old enough to get a laugh out of it


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## erynw (Jun 13, 2007)

My almost 3 year old has done this since the beginning and it doesn't really gross me out.

One thing we tend to do is save soap for the end after he's played and had his fun. By then he has consumed plenty of pee-filled water mind you but like I said, it doesn't really bother me.

I think there are tons of worse things to worry about them ingesting.


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## jo15 (Jul 5, 2006)

Mine too. She looks at me gleefully as she sips it out of her yogurt containers. (She knows I think it's gross)

On the up side, she doesn't pee in the bath much anymore. I gave her a bucket to do it in once, and now if she needs to pee in the bath, she'll sit on the bucket and do it. So at least all she's drinking is diluted dirt and soap.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

I don't see how this is harmful in any way, so long as there isn't too much soap in the water. Why not let the child drink the water and stop worrying about it?


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## basmom (Jun 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
I don't see how this is harmful in any way, so long as there isn't too much soap in the water. Why not let the child drink the water and stop worrying about it?

We just roll our eyes at eachother when ds drinks his..Went through a brainstorming period trying to think of thing we could add to the bath water to make it have some nutritional value...ds isn't a big eater, but he consumes a ton of bathwater. dh suggested maybe chicken broth? (Please read the sarcasm in my post!)


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## njbeachgirl (Oct 8, 2006)

LOL, my 22 mo does this too. Another favorite is sucking the wet washcloth. And drinking the pool water in the summer (it's just hose water, no chlorine!)


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## Jess_n'_the_bean (May 12, 2006)

our 22 month dd does this too - gross. our rule is that when in the bath she can only drink 'cold water' from the cup that she has in the bath to play with. if the water is warm (that is, if she puts bathwater in it) then no drinking. It means giving her cold tapwater in the cup which inevitably gets dumped into the bath, but big deal. she knows the bathwater is not for drinking. Whether she chooses to follow the rule is another story...


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## Miss 1928 (Nov 12, 2007)

Aarrruggh! I _know_! It makes me nuts!

We have a bidet (all Italian homes do) and I always wash her butt in the bidet after a poop, so at least I know she's not drinking, as another MDC mom put it; "Dirty Butt Water".









I wait to soap her up 'til the end of bath time.

This thread is making me







in a "Sad but true" kind of way.


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