North Carolina Babies
Options
afraid of public bathrooms...any ideas?
my 2 1/2 yr. old daughter is now afraid of all public bathrooms...it started a few weeks ago at one of the bathrooms at a mall - the hand dryers were super loud and she got freaked out by the automatic flushing and the bathroom was really busy...so now she's afraid and will not go to the bathroom in a public bathroom..
any suggestions? I am starting to just take her into the bathrooms and let her see that they're not 'scary' (and bribes don't work, I've tried) . ???
This discussion has been closed.
Re: afraid of public bathrooms...any ideas?
Liam is still sketchy on public bathrooms. Sometimes he's fine, sometimes they weird him out (he's scared of the big toilets). We keep the trunk potty on hand and head for the car when necessary.
Hopefully it's a short lived phase for L if she wasn't scared of them before. GL!
I think this is a good idea & just keep it up. Hopefully enough exposure will help her get over her fear. Also, maybe try to talk about the difference between loud & scary (although sometimes there's not much difference to a toddler).
J keeps his hands over his ears almost the entire time in a public bathroom b/c they are LOUD between the flushing, hand dryers, people talking, etc.
That's a good idea!
Natalie is also scared of public bathrooms. I usually only get her to use them if it's one that doesn't have a lot of people in it and doesn't have automatic flushing. I don't flush the toilet until she's walked out of the stall and don't dry her hands with the dryers. It's hit or miss with her still.