Anyone know how to stop my 12 month old from pooping in the tub? It's literally happening during every bathtime at night. We talk to her "no poop-poop in tub!" over and over but she does it anyway. She also stands in the tub alot.. seems to enjoy standing rather than sitting. Any advice?
My daughter went through a phase where she pooped in the tub (relaxing) on every tub for about a month. She seemed to outgrow that phase, and I didn't change the routine at all. It was annoying for a while but we worked around it.
I agree with the other posters - the warm water is relaxing her so that she poops, and there's probably not a whole lot she can do about it at 12 months. She should grow out of it soon.
We had the standing problem with my son, too. I started taking him out of the tub as soon as he stood up, and he learned pretty quickly to stay seated if he wanted to stay in the tub. Of course, that solution only works with a child who likes their baths...
Hi H.,
As odd as it may seem it is not uncommon. It is most likely the warm water from the bath stimulating a bile movement. My daughter used to almost everytime as well. I just cooled the water by a few degrees and it immediately stopped.
I also believe the persistant standing will also end. This is probably the only way she could control the "Poop".
I hope it works for you too...
Good Luck!
T. G.
Since it's the same time every night, maybe you can bathe her a bit later to give her time to poop in her diaper. Good luck!
At one, she's a bit young to control her bowels and I'm sure the warm water relaxes the muscles so she loses what little control she has. I would be careful not to over react since that will effect your potty training efforts in the coming months. I'd try to wait until she poops before giving her a bath. If she doesn't seem to do it on her own, I suggest the following techniques: 1. "bicycle" her legs, but honestly at 1 she may not want to allow that. What worked in our house was: 2. sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor and scoop up baby so that your hands are under her thighs and you form a sort of "swing" with your arms. By lifting her knees up and leaving it so her bum is hanging down, this does a natural pushing set up and should allow her to poop. Good luck.
She's only 1 she really has no controle over that but if you give her a bath at the same time every night you could try doing 10 or so minutes later than normal and see if she goes before going in the tub my oldest pooped in the tub all the time as a baby but my little guy never did not even as an infant.
My nephew did the same thing untill he was 4 years old. That nice warm water is relaxing her abdominal muscles and stimulating her bowels. Maybe switch to quick showers or have her wear a swim diaper while playing and if/when she poops take it off and finish the bath.
Happens all the time - my child did it much later than that, too. The warm water just relaxes everything in the abdomen and the bowel. I think it's really impossible to "train" a 1 year old -- she doesn't know what she's doing, she can't predict or control the muscle movement or the anal sphincter. I would just plan bathtime differently if you are tired of cleaning out the tubby - bathe her after a poop to get her really clean. There's no advantage to trying to discipline her or teach her now, and zero success rate if you ask all the experts! - potty training is challenging enough at 3 years old!
Can you sit her on a potty for a while before bath? I know it is too early for potty training, but maybe that's just her schedule, and you just need to give her a chance to go beforehand?
Lots of kids do this. The tub is relaxing and it probably makes it easier for her to poop. I've never experienced every day pooping, but honestly until she potty trains I don't think there's a way to stop it. You could try introducing the potty now though and see if you can get her to go before she takes her bath. Or maybe if you can tell when it's coming if you have the potty chair handy you can plop her on it before it happens so you don't have to clean out the whole tub. I don't think I'd make too big of a deal out of it though. It's one of those pick your battle sort of things. She's really too young to control it much anyways. As far as the standing in the tub goes, my son likes to get up too. His new found mobility just makes it so appealing to cruise around the tub. If it's really making it difficult you could get one of those rings and sit her in it. Not sure if she'd be able to climb out or not. I'd say you could get in the tub with her, but if she's a pooper you probably don't want to do that. So maybe just don't make it a play time tub just a wash time tub and wash her up really quick and get her out. I only let my son take a playtime bath once a week. The rest of the time it's put him in get wet wash head to toe and out of the tub.
Hello H.,
I just quickly read through some of the responses you've had so far and they all sound right. Once your daughter hits that warm water that's it. It's natural. I wouldn't try and get her to stop. Take it from a Mom who has had trouble with her daughter usually trying to hold back from going because she's afraid it will hurt. (One bad experience set the precedence.)
Try changing the bath time. And I like the idea of using a swim diaper until she goes.
Also, with the standing......Keep sittin' her down until she learns. I believe they also sell "Tub Bumpers".
Good Luck and Hang in There!
I would sit her on the potty or toilet for a while before every bath. Sounds like it is a time of day when she poops AND a trigger of warmth or something. I would read her a book. Also, keep the potty right next to the bath. When you see her starting to poop, get her out quickly and sit her on the potty. It might actually jump start potty training. As long as you handle it calmly, I don't think it would make her feel anxious around pooping.
My son used to poop in the bath too. I got sick of cleaning it up so I started to watch and when he got that look I would pull him out of the tub and hold him over the toilet to poop. He didn't like coming out of the bath to poop but it was so much less messy and he could still enjoy a nice long bath afterwards instead of me having to pull him out and drain the water out and clean it all out. He hated to have his bath cut short. Eventually he just stopped pooping in the tub. He stands up all the time too, walks all around and dances standing up if he hears music somewhere in the house. :) He loves the tub, I just watch to make sure he doesn't fall and bump his head and we are all happy. Good luck.
Try a shower, maybe that will end the poops?
