My child is petrified of having his nappy off

[Chitch]

a few weeks ago my son was walking around not wearing a nappy and pooped on the floor he got very upset we cleaned it up and comforted him telling him it’s ok and it was an accident, in the same week he pooped in the bath and got really scared. He now gets really upset when we have to change his nappy and shouts no poo poo and screams for a nappy which we try and reassure him that we will put a nappy on straight away and that it’s normal to poop. He is also really scared to get in the bath again screaming no poo poo while holding is private area. We have tried distracting him and putting toys in there but if a toy touches him he freaks out again thinking he’s pooed himself. We speak to him a lot about us using the toilet and how mummy and daddy poop and try to reassure him during nappy changes and bath time but it doesn’t seem to be helping. Does anyone have any advice on how we can stop him from being so scared of this he’s almost 2 and will be (when he’s ready) starting to potty train we just don’t want him to be upset and hate nappy times and bath time as he used to love splashing around in the bath and it’s heartbreaking to see him so upset.

Can you just maybe put a swim nappy on for bath time for the minute?

Messy play & plopping motions / noises can help normalise a lot of the sensations of poop. E.g. bucket of water and sand.

Open conversations on it, like you're already doing, and bringing him in the toilet with you when you're going. Making it a bit of a curiosity - sorry this is grim - but saying things like "I wonder what noise it'll make!" Or "I wonder how big it will be!" engages them with the process.

Stories about pooping / toilet training can help too, if they like reading with you.

If he's a little constipated (1 in 4 are at any given time) the warmth of the bath may be making him feel like he needs to go, and that could be behind the fear too? He could be getting the urge again while in the bath.

Making bath time fun again might help - if you have any water guns they're an instant win at bath time for toddlers. Or bath crayons & blowing bubbles.

I'd switch to showers for a bit, or very bubbly bubble bath. He'll get over it after a while.

My dd got headlice and while we were treating her, sometimes a louse would float in the bath. After that any tiny bit of sock fluff etc in the bath gave her the creeps for months. We got round that by using loads of bath bubbles so she couldn't see anything floating.