So, I decided after G practically flipped himself out of the FP whale tub that it was time to move on. I bought a bath mat today, set him down in the tub somewhere near the faucet with his back turned to the rest of the tub (he likes to play with the water as it comes out). All was well, he was splashing along, until one of his toys floated behind him and he looked back, to see the rest of the tub. He freaked the hell out and started screaming. I tried to show him it was alright...more screaming.
What do I do? Obviously, he's going to keep taking baths. Do I just wait for him to get over it? Anything I can do to show him it's alright?

Re: Scared of the real tub.
Maybe less water?
Kids get freaked out over the strangest things. My girl was BSC in the elevators at the mall today.
There was just enough in there to keep him warm, waist level, maybe?
I'm always alone with him, so that's a no-go.
SCANDAL!
I have one more idea. But he might be too mobile. DD1 didn't like baths at first either. When she was 8 months I got a basin. It was just big enough for her little body to sit in. I put it on the floor, not in the bathroom. You would need something bigger now though. Like a really small baby pool, I found one at Target for 5. That way you could be sitting right there with him to reassure him. Hope that makes sense.
Maybe someone else has better ideas.
1999- Dx Prolactinoma
8-25-2012 - Lucas born via C-section at 38 Weeks 2 days
Good luck!
What about letting him in supervised obviously when there's no water just to play around and check it out?
Same here.
This. Or we use the Munchkin duck tub in the big bath. https://www.target.com/p/munchkin-white-hot-inflatable-safety-duck-tub/-/A-10209874#prodSlot=medium_1_8 Maybe you could use that for a little while? Sam loves it! He gets excited when he sees it, and tries to help me blow it up when we take it up to my parents cabin.
Baby #2!