Child Toilet Fear? Any help advice?

Question

We have a 5 year old in our house and shes deathly scared when the toilet overflows, or if there is any kind of malfunction or minor problem with the toilet it used to not be such a big problem but now its becoming stressful and extremley difficult. She is constantley checking to make sure there is nothing wrong with the toilet and then asked "Is it not going to do that again?" every five seconds. And has a terrified attitude from that moment on, is there any advice or help someone can offer us. Please note: this is not the "potty training" fear more of a psycological fear of the toilet overflowing. We have tried to talk her out it and tried everything please help. Our neurologist doesnt seem to have an answer at this moment. Thank you.

Answer 1

Wow...tell her even when the toliet does overflow it will not flood the house or anthing. Very odd problem, maybe take her to a doctor.

Answer 2

This is something that my cousin has a problem with and she is 35. I don't know what to say about it because she has had the problem all her life. She is a cleaning lady so when toilets overflow she kinda can't do her job. She will go and get one of her kids to plunge the toilet. It's funny to us but not to her. The only thing I can tell you is to break her of this fear now or who knows how long this will last for her.

Maybe you can take her to an plumbing store and show her a toilet and have the attendant tell her how it works and why the water moves up in the bowl. She might be better able to accept the water rising that way. Good Luck

Answer 3

I actually have a fear of overflowing toilets myself, and I'm almost 33 years old. I noticed someone else said they know someone that deals with this. The following is just some ideas based on my own experience trying to work through it.

She may or may not be too young for this, but if possible/practical, try to show her as much as you can about how the toilet works when it's not misbehaving. Especially for kids, the more they understand about something, often the less scary it is. Talk about and even show her what can be done when it does overflow. Not just plunging, but how the water turns off, for example.

You may have already tried this, but perhaps sit down and talk with her about what's scaring her. Find out what she's thinking and feeling when she gets scared. Is she afraid the water won't stop? Is it the fact that it's dirty? could be a number of things especially in the child's mind.

Do your best not to get angry either when the toilet overflows, or about her fear of it. For me personally, I think my own fear started because my mom would get very angry when it overflowed, and this translated into a more generalized fear because for a long time I didn't know how to stop it when it happened.

If she's showing tension or fear over just flushing, try desensitizing her to that when the toilet is working properly. But you may have to do this slowly to avoid forcing her into it and intensifying the fear. Hopefully your calm presence will make it easier. Just some thoughts.

Answer 4

when it does that just say in a funny way too: look Niagra Falls is in our bathroom! plus this is a good subject change scince she willl wonder what it is

Answer 5

Maybe she saw it overflow when she was a a child and the expierence frightened her.  The neurologist isn't going to have any answers to a psychological problem.  

Answer 6

Be fun and upbeat when the toilet overflows or something bad happens to it. Say, "uh-oh! The toilet did an oopsies!"

Smile and tell her it's no big deal.