Baby Afraid of Public Bathrooms

[EEEBEE]

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas for a baby who is afraid of public bathrooms. My son is 8 months old (he will be a year when we're at the world) but currently he is terrified of public bathrooms. Whenever I have to change his diaper in a public bathroom he shakes and looks terrified. Watch out if someone turns on a sink or flushes the toilet he just screams and screams.

Hopefully he will grow out of it otherwise I am not sure what to do, I hate the thought of having to torture him but obviously he'll need lots of diaper changes.

Any one have any ideas? Help!

 

[kevschickee]

wow I never had this problem with my girls. Either change him in the stroller or just keep bringing him in the bathrooms until he gets used to it. I know its sad seeing him cry t he really does need to get over the fear. Good luck

 

[daisyduck123]

Will you have your own stroller in WDW?

I have a DD14 and a DS11. Neither one was ever, ever changed in a public bathroom. I always just reclined them in the stroller & did it that way.

 

[mom2meiko]

i say either use the stroller (discreetly of course!) or the baby care centers (which aren't always convenient to your current location). never heard of that problem before but it doesn't really surprise me when you consider the acoustics in the public restrooms. must be intimidating for a little guy.

 

[disgrl]

My son is the same way. He's now 20 months and it seems to be getting better slowly as he gets older.

I never really found the trick of making it 100% OK for him but he was always more reassured if there was someone else with me. It gave him some thing else to focus on and let me get the change over more quickly.

Not super convenient, I know, but it helped.

 

[TheDizMom]

I haven't had this problem, but I do have a thought as to how to maybe get him over it. It totally makes sense to me that the noises would scare him so he needs to be distracted in some way as a PP said. Why not get a toy that he only gets when you have to go into a public restroom for a change. He never sees it at any other time so it will be more of a distraction for him and hopefully keep him focused on the toy instead of the noises going on around him.

As with all things when it comes to babies, this to shall pass .

 

[wickywinn]

Wow, I thought I was alone in this with my youngest (3 now). Every time I laid her on the changing table she'd stiffen up, eyes as wide as saucers, just waiting for a toilet to flush. She'd wail and wail. I started laying an extra diaper or something soft under her head and I used my own diaper pad under her so she wasn't on such a hard surface. It seemed to help quite a bit. She still holds her hands over her ears after she goes potty for the inevitable loud flush at public restrooms. Poor babies.

 

[candielips]

I would also have to suggest the stroller, which we use most of the time anyways, as it is much more sanitary. No rotavirus there.
While our DDalmost2 isn't afraid of public bathrooms, she will not have a bowel movement in public or anywhere other than our house & grandparents house. Now imagine her on a 25 hr car drive to WDW & over a week there. We were so worried, but she adjusted as most children do. And while she never went anywhere other than in a public bathroom with us encouraging her or in the hotel room, we got through.

 

[Betzee]

My daughter went through this until she was four. It was the loud noises in the bathroom. The toilet flush would terrify her.

She has always been very sensitive to loud noises and to this day, (she's 6 now) if she gets very frightened of something, she will put her hands over her ears, even if noise has nothing to do with it. I guess the noise thing got confused with the "scary" thing in her mind and now she needs to not "hear" anything if she's scared.

This probably won't work at 8 months, but when he gets a little older, you may want to try ear plugs. They make them child-sized now, and if you keep a couple disposable pairs in your purse, you can pop them in, when you need to go into the rest room. They don't actually go into the ear, they are pliable and you knead them, then place them in the outer ear area, which blocks the sound.

In the meantime, you may want to try a musical toy for him to play with while you're in the bathroom. If he hears the music, maybe it will help to drown out the other "scary" sounds.

Good luck!

 

[EEEBEE]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Its good to know that we are not alone with this fear. We will have his stroller so I will definitely give that a try. Otherwise he will have both his grandmas along too so if nothing else they can do double distraction duty!!!

 

[GoinToDisney]

I also mostly used the stroller. I would just find a location where I could turn the stroller so you couldn't see what I was doing. Public changing tables gross me out too much. Once my dd was big enough to stand up holding on to the stroller, I did stand up changes where she faced the stroller and held on to the seat and I changed her while she stood there. Just had to make sure to lock the stroller and my hubby was usually there to help block the view.

 

[powellrj]

Will you have your own stroller in WDW?

I have a DD14 and a DS11. Neither one was ever, ever changed in a public bathroom. I always just reclined them in the stroller & did it that way.

I was thinking the same thing. My youngest is 13 and none of my kids ever had their diapers changed in a public restroom. We either changed them in the car or used the stroller. Those restroom changing tables just always seemed gross.

 

[ClaireW]

Just wanted to let you know how calm and quiet the baby centres are in comparison to public toilets. We used the baby centre a number of times in MK as well as the one in CHS (which is much smaller). As well as being clean and tidy they were air conditioned and in both parks we pent some time in the adjoining room cooling off with a drink before heading off again. The changing units were padded and therefore more comfortable for DD (at 13 months) and the toilet was in a separate room (at least in MK, not sure about DHS). There are also public toilets just a few yards away near a lovely little fountain (which we used whilst one of us could wait with the stroller).

If at all possible I would say make use of the BabyCare centres - you can find out more about their locations/facilities on the WDW website (and I'm sure on AllEars as well) - as there was also water, bottle warming, etc available but don't have enough experience to tell you exactly what was available where.

 

[kimgof]

Oh I feel your plight! Although my kids were never afraid as babies, my now 6 year old DD is afraid of the automatic toilet! It was a fight to get her into the bathroom during our last trip in Sept. I would cover the sensor but she was still crying and would jump off the toilet so fast her pants would get wet! So when she started Kindergarten this year,they have a bathroom in the classroom, and guess what? It was an automatic flusher. The teacher realized she was scared after the first day of near tears because she had to go but wouldn't out of fear. They put a piece of paper to cover the sensor for her every time she went in! She is just terrified of the loud noise and she is old enough to understand she is not gonna get sucked into the toilet.
I am hoping she is better for this trip in August since she had to deal with the automatic toilet during the whole school year. We stayed at POR last visit and those toilets, although not automatic , were extremely loud! So she would leave it unflushed! Here's hoping the toilets at the Poly, where we are staying in Aug, are quieter.

 

[HGD24]

Our DD went through this around the same age - she would scream bloddy murder and cling to me whenever we went into a public restroom. That is also when her chronic ear infections started. My niece's DD was terrified of the restrooms at school. She finally admitted one day that the sound of the toilets hurt her ears. They found out that she had fluid blockages behind her ear drums which amplified the sound. She ended up getting tubes shortly after that.

As for the public changing tables being gross - we use disposable changing pads, one under her body and one one under her head. We always clean DD's hands with a wipe after each change too. You just throw it all away as you leave the restroom.

 

[candielips]

Just wanted to let you know how calm and quiet the baby centres are in comparison to public toilets. We used the baby centre a number of times in MK as well as the one in CHS (which is much smaller). As well as being clean and tidy they were air conditioned and in both parks we pent some time in the adjoining room cooling off with a drink before heading off again. The changing units were padded and therefore more comfortable for DD (at 13 months) and the toilet was in a separate room (at least in MK, not sure about DHS). There are also public toilets just a few yards away near a lovely little fountain (which we used whilst one of us could wait with the stroller).

If at all possible I would say make use of the BabyCare centres - you can find out more about their locations/facilities on the WDW website (and I'm sure on AllEars as well) - as there was also water, bottle warming, etc available but don't have enough experience to tell you exactly what was available where.

We only used the one in MK, right next to Crystal Palace & I have to agree w/ you.
They even had areas w/ high chairs where you could feed your baby in quiet & air conditioning.

 

[livndisney]

The Babycare centers are located:

MK facing the castle-to the left of Main street in between Casey's and Crystal Palace.

Studios-to the left just as you enter in the Guest Services building.

AK-heading to the safari from the entrance, pass Pizzafari and the store, it will be on the left look-for the ladybugs. (WONDERFUL playroom)

Epcot- On the world showcase side of the Odessy building. (Between Test track and Mexico)