As a parent to a child with Down syndrome, I’m always aware that there could be some sensory issues to watch out for. So far Zephy doesn’t seem to have any concerns with that…he used to have a slight issue with people laughing which would make him cry but he’s been much better recently and he hates wearing shoes and socks (who doesn’t) but apart from that there’s been nothing of major concern.
About 9 months ago Zephy decided he hated the bath and shower. He around the same time decided he didn’t want to go swimming either. We have since had a battle to get him washed. We tried everything from bathing with his sister to showering with us, to toys in the bath etc and nothing worked. It was always a two person job to wash him whilst he writhed around like a slippery eel. It was traumatic for all of us. Eventually I thought maybe this is a real sensory issue around water or something but I wasn’t sure as he was happy to splash his hands in water and launch himself at my cup of tea so I was a bit baffled. I reached out to one of the occupational therapists we work with for some tips. The tips looked great but I didn’t feel any of them would be connected to the issues we were having. I kept meaning to try them out, massaging with a soft brush, gentle music etc but I didn’t get chance to.
Then my mum arrived from America for a visit. She had randomly, knowing Zephy’s new found love of the Paw Patrol, grabbed him a pack of bath finger puppets. He loved them immediately, and would go around the house putting them on people’s fingers and hiding them.
I suddenly wondered if I could entice him in the bath with them so I said to him let’s play in the water with the pups. I filled the bath and put them on the side of the bath and knocked Chase into water. Zephy found it hilarious and carried on knocking them all in. Then he seemed happy for me to pick him up and put him in the bath. He spent ages splashing around with the Pups and knocking them off the side or putting them in a little boat. I was able to happily wash him stress free whilst he played. Since then we have never had a stressful bath time. In fact now he cries when we try to get him out and spends most of his time plotting how to get into the bathroom!!
Thank you Paw Patrol!!
chromosomes and curls 