bugs and baths

FtrMrsC

Recently my 2yr old son has developed a fear of bugs. I mean any crumb or fuzz caused a freak out. We are working on it daily and can reason with him during the day but bath/shower time is another matter. He is convinced there are bugs in both and won't get in the bath no matter what I do. In the shower my husband has to hold him and he won't stand and play like usual. Any suggestions? I hate that what used to be a calm lead up to bedtime is a meltdown every night.

rjeller32

My daughter went through this at 18 months and we kind of just made her face her fears. Sadly, it's winter so it's hard to do that now, but you could always tell them interesting facts about bugs and how they help the world. When they learn that they aren't there to hurt them, kids deal with it better. Now my daughter is obsessed with learning about spiders and ants, and previously she would scream bloody murder if an ant was on the sidewalk.

You could play like investigator and both look for bugs before you give him a bath/shower and make it a game, that helps my daughter when she is scared. That's all I can really think of doing...