Pooping in the Bathtub

It's probably the warmth. It's what they tell you to try for constipation! Can you tell when she's about to poop? I'd get a little training pot and put it right next to the tub. When she starts to make a straining face, quickly pick her up and plop her on the potty. It's a great way to start early potty training and it might carry over to the rest of the time!

i agree with Dana T.
my daughter is the same age, and is doing it too.
if she has already pooped after dinner its not an issue.
BUT she nearly always poops sometime between 6 and 7.
and the warm water does help her relax.
so twice she has pooped while int he tub. ugh.
my son did it too.

what we do it keep a close watch. as soon as she tries to stand, or makes a face, i pick her up and put her on the potty.
she's still getting used to it, but the last time she pooped in the potty! both my husband and son came running in to tell her she did a great job and give her kisses.

it will help with potty training.
we did this with my son and he was mostly trained at 18mo (peeing 100%) and completely by 2.

good luck!
may we both have fewer poopy tubs to clean :)

Hi M.,

I'm laughing as I read this because my daughter (who is 1) started doing that also. I believe the reason is because the warm water moves their bowels. In fact if you have a child who's constipated it's recommended you put them in a warm bath tub.

What works for us is this: when she's in the tub and I can tell she's ready to poop, I grab her out and sit her on the toilet. It falls in the toilet and we haven't wasted her bath water. Plus it gets her used to the toilet.

Good luck!

Are you giving her a bath directly after a meal? If so, you should probably expect that she'll poop then for quite some time. It's just how their bodies work. I recommend giving a bigger gap of time between dinner and bath and having her crawl/walk some to work it out before bath or give the bath before dinner.

Hi M.. This only happened to me once. I don't know if your daughter has certain times that she poops. I can mostly tell my son's "cycles". Anyway, you may want to try to bathe her right after you have changed a poopy diaper. Hopefully, her bowls are emptied by then. Or you can try to bathe her before dinner time in the evening. Then her digestion system is not "in action" from dinner.

I had problems with my daughter doing this too. Very frustrating she would wait all day till she got her bath then poop. My aunt suggested changing her bathtime a little this way she won't know when and won't hold it till then. It did work good luck

To me it sounds like the warm water is relaxing her bowels. Have you tried the bath right after a BM?

I wonder if hte warm water makes her able to relax and go... very interesting. Is it every night at the same time? if so what about a bath right after dinner? change the routine and see if its just "her time to go" at night before bed so, if you do it earlier shes not ready to go. Make sense?

I have scooped poop out of the tub a million times and still have no solution, but lots of empathy for you! My kids did grow out of it by about 15 months, so hopefully you won't have to deal with it much longer :)
Good luck.

I understand your pain. My oldest son (now 17, yes he outgrew it) and my little guy (22 months) both pooped in the tub. I asked his Dr. and he said it is because the warm water relaxes him. Since so many moms comment on how they can't get their little ones to poop in the toilet, I decided to try to use this problem to my advantage. Now everytime my little guy starts to poop I pull him out and sit him on the toilet. It has worked twice! Good luck

That's too funny. My 13 mo is doing the same thing. The other night, after I drained the bath water, I turned around to get her towel and she started screaming. I looked in the tub and she had pooped (not the first time this has happend). She was afraid of it. When I can see she's getting the urge, I try to set her on the toilet, but that seems to scare her too. Honestly, I don't think there's any solution to make it stop. Mine has been doing it for a couple months now. Not every time, but often enough. I know it's gross, but just be happy that she's able to go and not stopped up and hurting.

LOL...I believe its a girl thing...lol...I don't know, I know that I have 3 girls and they all did it at one point in time. Geez...lol..I believe that once you get warmed and relaxed it causes the bowel movements to escape. I have heard from several woman that said, "How come when I get into the bathtub, I just start to relax and than gas escapes?!" Being in a relaxation mode and all, that's what happens. Its not entirely a bad thing. But yes, I believe several people go through this. It is very gross indeed! But its natural. Good Luck!

I'm guessing she's just relaxed. Though everyone's child does this at some point, it's usually only a once or twice thing, not at every event.

When are you bathing her, after a feeding? Immediately following or are you giving it some time between? I would start trying to get her in the bath before dinner rather than after to see if that makes any difference.
If that's something you don't want to do, or something that doesn't work, I would do your best to stimulate her bowels before bath time. Get her swaddled and warm in a blanket, lay her in your arms, and rub her tummy. Wait until she poops and then get her in the tub.

Yeah... you're not the only one who's gone through this. I used to put my boys on the toilet and run warm water over their privates. Something about the warm water just makes things want to flow. I've talked to girl friends and their kids have done some of the same things. I think I had to put my little ones on the potty since they were just a couple months old or I would have someone pee'ing over my shoulder or leave floating presents.

I can't give you any advice, but I've been there. And it is so annoying! I would hurry and wash my son up then let him play. Also, I just gave him a few toys and only ones that could go in the dishwasher so that I didn't have to hand wash all of the toys too. He did grow out of it! He did that mostly when he was constipated, so you may want to keep an eye out for that too.

A nice warm bath does relax those muscles. When my boy had bad constipation the doctor recommended a warm bath with baking soda to help him poop. I know that isn't any help, but an explanation at least :)

Hi M., I know this isn't funny but to me it is. When our daughter was tiny my husband put her in the tub with him and she pooped in the tub. He called for me and she never got in the tub with him again. It might be that the warm water relaxes her body and that is when she is able to go. Good luck from and old grandma. K.

Hi M.,
She just is getting relaxed! It is a very good remedy for constipation as you can see! If she really enjoys her bath you might empty the water,fill it up again and put her back in so that you can both enjoy her tub time longer!
Enjoy!
S.

We all feel your pain, b.c we have all been there. I didn't give my daughter her bath until after she had a BM. That way it was less likely to happen in the tub. It was horrible for me b.c I would have to drain the water and clean Both girls up, then scrub the tub. I just couldn't imagine letting someone else bathe without the tub being disinfected. All the while 4 other people were waiting in line for their tub time :( This is a stage that will pass, but in the meantime I would re-schedule bath time until after poo time. Best of Luck!

I think this is common ( some of my kids did it)and the warm water is a signal. I think it will pass but try putting her in the bath with you or in the shower with you at intermiten times between her bath times. Maybe that will help? Good luck.

She is probably pooping because she is relaxed. I would put her in swimmy pants that way the poop is still inside and not in the water. You could just wash her bottom separately.

Pretty certain that once she learns to control her bowels, this will stop. A warm bath relaxes their bodies. My pediatrician recommended a warm bath to help relieve a bout with constipation in my 3 year old son and it worked. He finally relaxed and passed the stool in the warm bath. Once she grasps the concept of being able to poop/or hold the poop, she won't want to do it during her bath time any longer.

Watch her and when you start to see her starting to go, move her to the potty. That way she does it in the toilet, make a huge fuss. Praise her for "poop in the potty" dance, sing whatever you want. She'll pick up the idea that it's a really good thing to do that there and not in the tub. It might make potty training easier later.

I think all kids do this - the warm water relaxes their bottoms and makes them have to go - my daughter did this regularly for awhile around that age. She's 3 1/2 now and almost always has to get out of the bath tub after about 5 minutes to poo. There's not really anything you can do to prevent it at that age, make sure you're cleaning the tub thoroughly every time she does it as bm's are quite dirty! Sorry I don't have any better suggestions!

I must say this has never happened to me, although I have had my share of accidents in the tub. It sounds to me like the warm water gets her bowels going. One idea did pop in my head while reading this, what about a swim diaper. Just have it on long enough to get her washed and then you can take it off to finish up the bottom half.
L.

According the the nurse at our doctor's office, it's simply because the warm water relaxes them, and some it relaxes to the point they release their bowels. No big deal.