22m old traumatised after poo in bath

[bookwormthatturned]

DS2 did a poo while in the bath a couple of weeks ago. (He had an upset stomach so it was rather messy.)

He was upset at the time but okay when cleaned off, dried, cuddled etc. but now he's having major traumas each time it's bathtime - crying, not wanting to get in, saying 'poo' and 'nappy'.

I've tried letting him wear a swim nappy, only putting an inch or two of water in the bath, using lots of bubbles and toys and hoped he'd get over it in a few days but, two weeks later he's still got just as strong a reaction as on day one.

Any ideas folks?

Oh bless him! What a shame! What about a shower? Get in a bath with him?

Hi wowserz,

I've tried getting in the bath with him and he's still not happy but might try again with the incentive of a feed - that normally sorts most things out, so I might have to spend the next few weeks BF in the bath!

Showers probably aren't the way to go - he's already v unhappy about getting his head / hair wet so might just add to the trauma at the mo.

Tonight he was really distressed and screaming (in 2 inches of water) so I gave him an ultra quick wash and then got him out and dried but 10 mins later he was back in the bathroom leaning over the edge of the bath playing with his brother who was in it - I think the issue is being in the water not wearing a nappy. I'll have to find some mega-distractions - we've never tried bath crayons so maybe something like that would help.

Any more suggestions gratefully received ....

Been there!
We used a swim nappy too. Quick in and out bath and let him play over the side with his brother.
He eventually forgot about it. We only put the swim nappy on when he mentioned the poo, so if he didn't mention it, no nappy.

Arrrgggghhhh, I feel your pain, the same thing happened to us a month ago. DS is 2.4. I have tried the same things as you and, like your DS, he is happy to stand at the side and play with the water while someone else is in there (although he often asks if there is a poo in there), but he has full on out of control panic if he goes in the bath without a nappy on

We've reached a slight compromise in that he will now (reluctantly) go in with his swimming trunks on, but the mere mention of a bath is still enough to reduce him to tears, and he used to love them

I bought a bubble blowing machine to use in the bath, which has helped a little bit, and someone suggested getting him to choose a new bath toy, which we haven't done yet, mainly because I can't find any decent bath toy selections actually in any physical shops.

I'm hoping that time will be a healer, but I will also keep an eye on this thread in case anyone else has any good ideas!

DS developed a fear of the bath after he was scalded and DH had to sit him in the bath and pour cold water on him.

We used to let him play with a basin of water in the bathroom, then in a dry bath with the basin full of warm soapy water. We then gradually started adding a little bit of water to the bath until he was sitting in a full bath with a full basin in it. It took a long time for him to be happy in the bath again but work the effort.

We had exact same problem. Dd did a poo one night and it was months before we could bath her alone.

What helped was bathing a plastic doll with bubbles and toys. Eventually dd asked to go back in the bath as dolly was having so much fun