Toddler afraid of plughole in bath!

[Hellohowareyou112]

My toddler has developed a severe (and I mean severe) fear of the plug hole in the bath. I think he thinks he’s going to be sucked down it. Bathing him is impossible. Anyone know of any toddler baths that don’t have a plughole and you empty by just tipping them out? Or anyone have any other tips?

Can you show him how the plug works . Don't pull the plug out until after you have lifted him safely out if the bath. Make sure no one is saying stuff like 'you will get sucked away ' . He's got the idea from someone hasn't he?

Can you shower or put a large baby bath in the tub?
Each of mine had an allconsuming terror for about a week as a toddler. For one it was loose threads and the other was clouds. It passed really really quickly.

It’s a perfectly valid fear when you have no spatial awareness!

baby baths can be quite big or you can cover the plug with a cup or similar

or Let him play around with it when he’s out of the bath - maybe have a rubber duck or a ball and show that doesn’t get sucked down. Put your own finger in the funnel to show him it’s not that powerful etc

Would something like this help to
cover the plug hole? Is it okay with the plug
in?

Im not surprised actually, I hate the plug hole!!! Always given me the heebee geebies

Can you just bathe him in a really big tub of some other description for a while, or even put something over that end of the bath, held down with something, like a towel over that end of the bath under the water, held down with some stones (nice ones) and then only take the plug out once he is out of the bathroom

Over time, he'll be able to rationalise it better and the fear will disappear I would have thought

We had this. She went from loving having a bath to screaming the house down and resisting getting into bathtub. She was convinced she was going to be sucked down the drain.

It took months to break the cycle.

Schnuggle have a “toddler bath” https://www.boots.com/shnuggle-toddler-bath-with-light-grey-backrest-10311717?traffic=paid.shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&gadsource=1&gadcampaignid=19973634862&gbraid=0AAAAA-AdmwRXE6h4Eh61F2UxOgNQKWvj

we tried this but found we only kicked the problem down the road. In the end we had a bright/fun Bathmat and toys as a distraction (Amazon have some fun bubble machines for bath). Also as someone else said don’t open plug whilst child is in the bath.

she eventually got over it and back to loving having a bath. Two years on she now insists on staying in the bath to watch the water drain away!

Can you get one of those non slip bath mats that sucker down and put it over the plug?

My son had this! I covered the plug with a flannel so he couldn't see it. At the end of the bath I got him out and (from a distance to start with) we watched the water go down the plug hole.

Towards the end, once there was a vortex going, I would throw in a small floating bath toy or two and laugh at how funny it was them spinning around. That would usually pique his interest to look a little closer. I would encourage him to throw one in himself if he wanted.

Once the water had gone (with cuddles and ears covered against the loud gurgling noises) we would see that the bath toys were perfectly safe, and hadn't gone down the drain. Eventually he got to the point he insisted on the plug being taken out while he was still in the bath so he could make the toys spin in the whirlpool.

All three of my kids have been through this. We switched to showers until they were comfortable in the bath again.

I’d just rip the band aid off and pull it out when they’re in the bath and say look, nothing bad happens, you’re waaay to big to fit down there. You can pull it out next time. Might be a bit traumatic the first few times but they’ll soon get used to it!

Funnily enough I have come across several small children who’ve been worried about this over the years. I don’t think you’ll help him by doing anything that scares him, however well meaning. I’d just go with it for now: it’s not as if he’ll go through his whole life never having a wash if you take things easy now. Could he have a shower?

Obviously he’ll grow out of it. You can get toddler bath tubs but I don’t know of they’ll be large enough for what you want. Really I wouldn’t worry. You can just get a large baby bath that fits in the main bath, and even if he can’t sit in it, you’ll be able to wash him enough.

Children and animals never learn by being frightened.

Omg, this just brought back a memory of being scared of this myself as a young child! I'd totally forgotten!

My brother and I were scared of being sucked down the plughole and used to argue about who was going to sit at that end. Eventually we grew out of it...
the rational explanation demonstrated by bath toys sounds a very good idea.

My daughter had this fear when she was around 14 months. She’d only get in if I was in the bath with her and sat at the plug end. She was okay quite quickly after that, think it lasted max a month. She just needed to feel safe, I did not blame her and it actually made sense as I had similar fears. Mine was the toilet, I used to think I’d get pulled in 🙈

I think I'm still mildly worried about the plughole to be fair.

Although with my mental load I think sometimes it might be quite nice to be sucked into a vortex and be spat out in Australia.

A game of scientists?

Your first experiments might be things going through sieves (flour, salt) if they are small and not going through if they are bigger (eg peas or sultanas).

Then move on to a colendar. Get them to guess if the rice or the marbles will go down the holes. Ask them if they think they could go through the holes.

Then try the sink (maybe with a baked bean and an apple. Again, get them to guess.

Then move on to the bath

My daughter had this fear for ages, we just took her out of the bath, wrapped her towel around her and then pulled the plug. It wasn’t until she was 8 and had a friend sleep over who took a shower at our house with DD chatting to her in the bathroom and did not get sucked down the plug hole and showed her it’s totally safe that she agreed to try showering.

Sorry op I guess this is just a phase you’ve got to go through.
My son, around 4 or so was convinced that the sun would devour the earth as it was just so bright. Perhaps a little older than yours but these fears are real for them.
I guess you’ve just got to try to talk them through it.

Hopefully, the fear will be short-lived. When my DS was little, he used to be terrified of the flush on the airplane toilet, and he would hold in his wee, even on eight hour flights. This went on for years. No manner of coaxing or cajoling would convince him to go. Out of desperation, I even brought along a nappy, and told him to go in it, and we’d throw it in the bin once he was done; but to no avail.

I remember being scared of the plug hole, my mother covered it with a flannel and got me out to a safe distance before the plug was pulled!

Memories of Harry H Corbett singing “Your baby ‘as gorn dahn the plughole” (A Mother’s Lament) on Junior Choice way back when. Can’t work out how to post the link :)

I either got them to block their ears or put a cloth on the plug as soon as I pulled the plug

Me too! Can still remember the lyrics. “Not lost, but gone before” - bizarre!

You can bath him in one of those rubbery Trugs which can be tipped out. But I would look to cover it with a non slip mat and then provide reassurance while emptying the bath while he's out of it, to show him that it is in fact safe. Avoiding fears too much just makes the general tendency towards developing fear/anxiety worse.

Me too! No advice OP, but I can confirm I did grow out of it and now love a good bath with no fear of the plughole 😂