13 Month Old Scared of Bath Mat

E. - it's probably just a phase that your boy is going through. I would just remove the bath mat and not press the issue. There's something that makes your son uneasy about it and rather than "forcing" it on him or trying to acclimate him to it - just get rid of it until he's a few months older. In the whole grand scheme of things, he's not going to be fearful of bath mats when he's 5 and it's really not too much to just remove it until he's a little older.

You know your boy best though and I'm sure you'll make the best decision for him and your family.

Something you may do is put it on the ground out of the tub. Maybe in the living room. Twist it up so the suction things are showing. And don't let him see you do it. Then, when he gets out of bed in the morning or afternoon, take him into the living room and set him down about 4-5 feet away from it. It will catch his eye and like any toddler, he will be extremely curious. He may get scared and not want anything to do with it. But maybe he'll approach it and unwind it and feel and discover it and figure out what it is and decide it's not harmful or scary. I hope for the latter. :)

I think bath mats are important as they learn how to get in and out of a tub safely. Maybe take him to a store where they sell the "fun" ones and let him pick one out so that he feels safe with it? Maybe one in his favorite cartoon character or something like that?

For my daughter we moved bathtime from the kitchen sink to the bathtub around the same age as your son. However, we didn't want her to be overwhelmed with the new size difference, so we bought an inflatable bathtub that fits inside the larger one. It safe because it fit her just fine and it uses less water than filling the larger tub. We bought it at Toys R Us for $9.99
I introduced her to the tub in her play area DRY and let her move toys into it. Then told her it was for her bathtime with water. She loved it for months until for some reason unknown to us to this day decided she did not like baths anymore. We are back to the kitchen sink. Good luck.