When alone with my 10 mo son at bath time, I place his tub in the shower stall, shower first, and then clean him.
For the past couple nights, he’s suddenly started scream crying because he can’t reach the shower drain in the middle of the stall floor.
When I briefly moved his tub closer, he started putting his fingers in the drain hole. I stopped that immediately as the holes are dirty, being a drain and all. This made him angrier.
Tonight, he didn’t even get near the drain but still lost it for over 10 minutes, until we were done.
I’ve tried giving him another toy in the tub, moving the tub over the drain once the crying started (figured he wouldn’t see the drain and could calm down), and singing aloud. I also tried covering the drain with a wash cloth but that just blocked the drain and had no impact. In other circumstances, I’d put my son in his crib so I could calm down but he’s already wet so I’m stuck. Naturally, I don’t want to leave him alone in the shower.
We’ve done this for 2-3 months now and this has never been a problem until now.
Are there any other techniques to distract or disinterest my son from the drain, and break the scream crying cycle?