Sunday, March 1, 2009

Traumatized?

So a couple weeks ago, Jeff was taking a bath, and unfortunately, as has happened before, he pooped. I didn't freak out or anything, but I did pick him up very quickly to get him out of the poop water, and then said, "Oh Jeff, we don't poop in the tub," in a definitely disappointed tone. He was heartbroken. I mean, more than heartbroken. Devastated. Also, he was already a little startled by the quick jump out of the tub, so that didn't help. I didn't think much of it, I was trying to clean him up and clean up the tub and then get him ready for bed, and everything seemed ok. Well then, the next time he was going to take a bath, he was standing next to the tub getting ready to get in, and he peed. I said something like, "Oops, don't pee on the floor sweetie," you know, no big deal, it's not that big of a deal, pee on the old linoleum. Whoop-dee-doo. (I don't know how to spell that.) Well, he didn't take it that way. I think he knew he was peeing and already thought maybe he shouldn't be doing that right there, and so my comment put him over the edge. He felt bad and I just kept telling him it was ok, no big deal, mommy will clean it up, etc. But he didn't get over it. He got in the tub and sat rigid the whole time. He wouldn't play with his bath toys. He screamed bloody murder when I washed his hair. He cried big tears and had a look of sheer terror on his face. He kept saying "Up!" and "Out!" and holding out his arms towards me. Poor baby. I thought maybe it was just because of the pee incident from before, but every bath since the poop and pee baths, he hasn't been happy. He has been so upset, and always says, "no" in a worried tone when I ask if he wants to go take a bath. I feel TERRIBLE. I didn't mean to traumatize my little guy. I have tried to convince him that everybody poops and pees, and that sometimes we go where we shouldn't, but that it's ok and it's just an accident. I try to make bathtime as fun as possible, and tell him to splash me, and dump water on me, or to swim around, but he won't even try at all. Last night we at least had a glimpse of him having fun in the tub, he splashed a little and actually turned around. Anyway, not such a fun thing to blog about, but I wanted to document it, and hopefully I will be able to look back at this as a little phase and hope he goes back to totally loving his baths!

1 comment:

Heather said...

Aw. So sorry to hear! I can just imagine that breaking your heart to see him so scared about bathtime now. Those are the moments I get nervous about now that I am a mom. Thanks for sharing your story, it's nice to read about other children and their experiences! :)