Bathphobia

Jackson has developed an unnatural fear of taking a bath. It is very disturbing to me because he used to L.O.V.E his baths. He would squeal with delight while I was taking his clothes off of him & he would clap while watching the water run. He was a little nervous when he moved out of his ducky tub into the big tub, but that only lasted a day. He went right back to loving baths and did great for about 2 weeks.

NOW, he starts fussing the minute we step into his bathroom and occasionally tries to high-tail it out of there. Once in the tub, he holds onto the sides & shakes while crying the WHOLE time. This has been our bathtime for the past week or so. In order to help him overcome this fear, I have tried to make bath time as fun as possible. In fact, his bath tub is one clown short of being a 3 ring circus! Toys galore -- squirt toys, a toy fishing pole & net, those foam letters & fish that stick to the walls when wet, a sea animal ring stacker, even a turtle sprinkler. I wish I had a recent picture -- it's ridiculous! We sing songs like Row, Row, Row Your Boat & Hey Mr. Splash Man, but none of this helps or if it does it only distracts him for a minute. I thought maybe he felt like the tub was too big, so I went out and bought one of those inflatable pad things that cushion the tub walls. I was thinking that they would make the tub feel smaller and maybe that would ease his anxiety. Nope.

The ONLY thing I can think of is that about a month ago he was crawling around in the tub after a toy and his hand slipped & his face went in the water. Of course, I was right there and immediately pulled him up, but he was still scared. I thought for sure he'd have forgotten or gotten over that by now. The reason I think this might have been the turning point is that Jackson will no longer crawl around in the tub. In fact, if a toy goes out of his reach he will cry (or cry harder rather) until I get it for him. The only movement he will make in the tub now is to reach for the side & pull up so that I will get him out. I have considered getting the ducky tub back out, but I don't really want to regress like that. I have also read some stuff suggesting taking a bath with him. We've tried that in our garden tub & he still cries, but maybe we should try that in his normal tub. I am at a loss -- anyone experienced this or have any suggestions? I've read that a lot of kids go through this between 13-18 months, but snap out of it by 20 months, but I'm thinking I can't handle this for another 6 months! Arrgghhhh!