2 1/2 Year Old Terrified of Automatic Flush Toilets

The same happened to me when my little girl was two! All I had to do was just sit down on the toilet and she would sit down in front of me. No fear of falling in or the toilet flushing. She could even still sit in front of me when I was nine months along.I think we did this till she was five.She is fine now.Hope this helps!

I haven't gotten to this point yet--my son is only 15 months, but as a prior poster mentioned, I know my SIL had this problem with her son and she uses the post it notes as well now! Hope that helps!

a friend of mine suggested to keep a pad of post-it notes in my purse and to put one over the sensor while my child was pottying.....haven't tried it yet but it makes sense.

I went through this too with my now almost 3.5 yr old.
I started telling her We need to go potty and it will be LOUD. We made a game of it to jump up and wipe/cover her ears b/f the toilet flushed. The advanced notice seemed to make a little difference.
I also would hold her up and let her watch the toilet flush and would say it is just like at home only louder.
When in the hospital our girl was tested for hearing and the tech said she was Very Sensitive in the auditory area. Your girl might just be sensitive.
Our girl also used to HATE the vaccum she'd cover her ears and complain about how LOUD it was. She still doesn't like it. I think that was the prob. with toilets.
I hope this helps.
C.

Maybe is she will see that nothing bad happens to you when you use it first then maybe she won't be as afraid. And I would tell her you wish it didn't make all the noise that it makes. Maybe that would help her understand. I would also tell her that if she doesn't go ahead and go to the bathroom that she may get a stomach ache. Best of luck. She is so young yet to understand so much.

My daughter is also terrified of the automatic flush potties. In our case we lived through a tornado and I think the sound of the potty reminded her of that. (My daughter was 23 months old during the tornado and she is now just over three years). Since she is still pretty small I usually hold her when she is on the potty anyway so if the potty is an automatic flush I just always make sure to squat down to her level while I hold her and if it flushes while she is on the potty I just repeat over and over that I have her, she is okay and thepotty can't hurt her. If she is off the potty when it flushes she just backs up against the door and covers her ears. We spoke to a counselor after the tornado who told us that avoidance is not the solution, but rather repeated exposure with your reassurance will eventually show the child that while the noise might be unpleasant it won't hurt her. You might want to try planning trips into public restrooms even when your daughter doesn't need to use the potty. Just go in there and flush the potty and listen to it--when she doesn't have to actually sit on it. Hold her close and reassure her that she is safe. Eventually she will recognize that the potty doesn't hurt her and she will outgrow the fear, even if she never really likes the sound she will at least learn to deal with the fear. Hopefully she will get over this soon. I know that it is so frustrating when your child is so afraid of something that you can't avoid.

My son, 3, was very afraid too. He still is to some extent. He still asks, "Will the potty flush by itself?" or "Will it be loud?" At first I covered the sensor with my hand, but that was hard because I had to hold on to him too. I try to be honest & tell him that yes it will be a little bit loud, but not too loud. We use the family bathrooms whenever possible because it's not quite as loud out in the open as it is in a stall & he can get farther away before it flushes. I explained to him how the sensor is like an eye & it sees him there & flushes when he moves away. Of course there are occasions it messes up, but I try to stay close to prevent it. I wish I had thought of the tape or post its, but it seems he's mostly over it now. Though it is still a relief to enter a bathroom & discover a normal toilet in there. :) I still have to reassure him though.

K saw "Flushed Away", which should have never bothered her but it did. She is 5 and still has some issues occassionally. The only thing I can tell you is prepare for this by having her go at home before you leave. Every time she has to go outsie of home then put your finger over the sensor and don't take it off. Tell her her hinney is too big to go down the drin, it is only water, whatever she is having issues with. She will eventually forget about the fear if you just be patient.

I went thru that with my son. He hated the loud sound, and even one restaurant wouldn't wash his hands because the faucet made so much noise.

My little boy would use the toilet, but would hold his hands over his hears. That's really how we handled it. I would hold my hands over his ears while he pottied (he initially wanted me to wipe, etc so he could cover his ears, but I refused) and then I would flush for him while he was covering his ears.

He's almost 5, and still doesn't like public bathrooms always, but he knows the importance of using them. Your daughter will get over this in time. I hope this helps.

I went through the same thing with my daughter who is almost 5. She would absolutely refuse to use the bathroom even if it didn't have automatic flush. I would talk so positively before we would get to the restroom, but until recently it didn't help. Once on a long trip, 8 hours last summer she just refused to go, then finally she fell asleep and peed all over herself and her seat. This was last year and she is doing much better. If it is automatic flusher she jumps off so quick. In time I am sure your little girl will be more tolerant. Have patience and laugh.

N.,

I can SO relate! When my daughter was 2.5 she had an automatic toilet flush under her unexpectedly, twice in a row. On both times she got her bottom splashed which was an insult to boot. Since then she has been afraid to go on "those toilets". She is now 6.5!

At first I tried telling her that it wouldn't happen again but of course, it did. Then, I'd hold my hand in front of the sensor. I also bought a pack of colorful PostIts to put over the sensor but that was a temporary fix. Finally, what I did, was take a survey of the toilets in the businesses I frequented and the ones that did NOT have automatic flush toilets were the ones that I shopped at. I have also gone to the extreme of making mental maps of which bathrooms, restaurants and welcoming stations between here and the grandparents' houses have these dreaded toilets. Just telling her that she's going to have to sit on one causes her to go into a panic and she will literally pee on herself instead of sit on one.

Businesses have gone to automatic toilets because people are lazy and don't flush. Then others poop right on top of the mess the others left behind and also don't flush. Pretty soon you've got an overflowing toilet and that's not only a messy health hazard, it's expensive to fix. Also, it costs less money to have the toilets essentially clean themselves (by flushing every time) than to hire cleaning crews or have the employees check them ever so often.

K.

Hey N.,

Sorry to hear the trauma your little one experiences. My LO also doesn't like the noise but we just cover our ears. As for a sugestion, I would recommend DUCT TAPE. It is dark enough to do the job and goes on and off fairly easy. You can place a piece over the sensor as soon as you enter the restroom, then you potty, then manually flush, then let her potty and her flush. once she is out the stall, pull the tape off and voila. Only thing is you are now going to delight in carrying a roll of duct tape around.
Hope this helps, or that someone else can enlighten us all.
-MB

N.,
My son used to be afraid of that too. You can take some toilet paper and cover the sensor, and just uncover when you are ready for it to flush. It will probably take some reassurance that it will not go off until she is ready, but my son quickly adjusted to it after a few times.

my sister actually came up with a great idea. She makes sure she packs post it notes with her to cover up the sensor. My little girl was a bit startled by the toilet too (she's also 2 1/2), but I just kept with it and made light of the loudness and she's fine now. I didn't even think about the post it notes with her because she got over it pretty quick. She just smiles and says "the potty's loud". Hope this helps.

You may have already figured something out in the last month, but my solution to the loud toilets is to cover my daughter's ears with my hands. A few times she's used her hands before I can get mine in there and that's not the most sanitary since we haven't washed our hands yet. No need to worry about sitting on the toilet yourself or remembering to pack post-its. I've always got my hands with me! It gives my daughter a peace of mind when she's hopping off the toilet and she's still got her hands free to pull the clothes back up.