My Godson also did not like the drain and would cry sometimes for fear he would go down the drain. Fears are normal part of growing up. Just keep re-assuring her that she cannot go down the drain and she is safe. Hopefully with time she will simply outgrow her fear.
Is she a "typical" 4 yr. old or does she have any disability (Autism, Aspergers, etc..)????....the reason I am asking is my 8 yr old who does have special needs also hates when i unplug the drain while he is still in the tub....the noise scares him the most, so, i just wait until he is out of the bathroom then i pull it. Irrational fears CAN be a part of disabilities. Although, I am not suggesting your child has any, in "typical" children.....she is proabably just feeling guilty about dropping her toothbrush in there and now it has manifested its way into an obsession. What I would suggest is doing whatever you can to fix the drain, having it broke still may have contributed to her guilt about breaking it, also, don't pull the plug while she is in the bathroom anymore until she gets over her fixation, also, redirection is always good....get her thinking about other topics and activities while in the bathroom to get her mind off of the drain....read her her books while in the bathtub is a good idea...keep her mind off of it. Good luck. hope it gets better.
My daughter is 5 years old and she gets a little afraid of things going down the drain. For a couple of years, she was actually afraid that she might go down the drain. I think it's pretty a pretty typical fear. I used to be afraid of drains myself when I was small. Except I was afraid that something would could out of the drain not go down it.
My youngest was afraid of the toilet after it got clogged once while she was potty training. She had used too much toilet paper. It set us back a while and it took her much longer to train than usual... :/
The drain fear is pretty typical. I remember being scared at one point too. The whole idea of not knowing what is beyond the drain is enough to freak people out. :) There are therapies and methods for treating various phobias.. I would talk with someone who deals with that kind of thing, like a psychologist. Maybe look up information on plumbing.. show your daughter the pipes of the house.. make it a fun thing so she associates good things with drains, etc. rather than bad.. ?
I'm not sure what to do if your pipes are bad.. but I would do something like unhook part of the drain pipes so that it goes into a bucket and let her drop something in a drain and then follow it to the bucket. ? But my dad and my husband are plumbers.. so that's an easy task for us. ;)
Just know that it is NORMAL and you are not alone.
what's the best way to...
- maddie02
on Feb. 16, 2012 at 4:52 PM