Toddler Scared of the Bath.

Try to work around the fear of the drain. Figure out a way to neutralize the fear the drain causes. (Block it...cover it up...use magic or a spell to put it to sleep or render it powerless.) Your son may even help with the idea of what can help...if you can have a conversation with him.
The other idea is to just do sponge baths to take the stress of you and him until you find a way around the drain fear.

Have you tried the color tablets you can find in the bath area for babies? My son will go running for the bath when I ask him what color he wants to make it and let him know that he can throw in two fizzy tabs! Bubbles also work wonders, and lots of toys! Cups, ice cube trays, and squirt toys are great!

It's possible that he's just scared of the unknown. Where does the water go? Maybe you can explain to him where the dirty water goes (and just the dirty water and nothing else, as he might be afraid of going down the drain himself). I remember we had a children's book from the library that explained how stuff like that worked. Unfortunately, I don't remember the title of the book.

An alternative is giving him a shower (with a handheld shower). I actually do that with my kids now (better than sitting in the dirty water!). That way your son will be more removed from the drain.

Whatever you try, good luck!

Hi,
I'm right there w/ you! My youngest was afraid of the tub for awhile. The tub in our new house has an exceptionally loud drain! Fortunately, he just go over it and learned to think the noise was funny.
Maybe you should try bathing him in the kitchen sink for awhile?! Its a completely different environment than the bathroom and you can give him spoons and strainers and all kinds of things to keep him distracted!
Hope that helps, and good luck.

You can always try spongebaths until he gets over this fear. We call them "catbaths" and my daughter loves them. My daughter did the same thing around 2 1/2. She's now a little over three and is fine with the shower again. :)

My 2 1/2 year old is going through the exact same stage. I have tried everything mentioned below, but after doing some research learned that many of those things just won't work. Their understanding of space isn't strong enough to really grasp that they won't go down a drain. Also, they are not rational yet, so while my son can tell me that only water goes down the drain and nothing else, once he is in the bath for a few minutes his anxiety kicks in anyway. From what i gather, and have done myself, I clean him as often and as best I can with short baths and sponge baths, and will wait patiently for this phase to be over. As with all things, this too will pass.

Hi M., My son was also afraid of the bath. He was terrified of the drain as well. It was a stage that passed after a very long 5 months, until the stage passed we gave him showers by himself which took a little coaxing at first but then he grew to love them. Finally we got him back in the tub after putting a washcloth, bowl and something heavy on top of the bowl to hold the contraption in place over the drain. He saw his cousins having a great time in the tub and then was willing to try it again with the drain being covered. Good luck! I hope this phase passes quickly.

My son had a similar incident about the same time. I went out and bought one of those rags that has a cute frog on the end of it and put it over the drain to cover it up. It seemed to work. I was able to get him in and out with no problem. I explained to him see the froggy is not afraid. And then showed him the drain, then I put the froggy rag on top of the drain and my son gave me that tilted head and concerned look then he smiled and said ok mommy. I got the rag at target, but this was years ago. I am sure you can find them. Good Luck.

D.