Stepped in Animal Poo?

Updated on August 03, 2016
T.M. asks from Craftsbury, VT
12 answers

My almost 3 year old stepped in poop without us realizing until weeks later. My guess is at the school playground. He stepped on the car seats and walked briefly around our house before we finally noticed. Do I even bother trying to clean all of these surfaces now? It has been 2 weeks since I noticed. I cleaned the shoe and his car seat cover but he might have stepped on numerous things. Should I worry about worms in the animal waste? I know those eggs don't die easily but I'm a little late in trying to clean now. Thanks. I also have anxiety about certain germs so be gentle with me :)

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Featured Answers

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Sounds like you got it all cleaned up.
Consider it to be over.
Don't worry about it.

Additional:
Just because it's brown doesn't mean it's poo.
Poo certainly would stink even if it were just a trace - I think you would have noticed it a WHOLE lot sooner.
Other possibilities are melted chocolate, mud, melted brown crayon, pudding, cookie, chocolate ice cream (if someone dropped it, he could've stepped in it), etc.
You might not know what it is but it really might not be poo at all.

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More Answers

T.D.

answers from Springfield on

we go by the if it don't smell like poo then no one bothers with it. we have chickens and dogs. poop is everywhere. both dh and i will be in the chicken run and that poo is unavoidable. we will have poo on our shoes and we will wipe off on th back door mat and wear our shoes into the kitchen. i clean with vinegar so the floor is sanitized every few days but we don't treat it as a toxic substance, and when the kids step in the dogs poo they use the hose and rinse it off and get a bath later that day. (they run barefoot in the backyard so its on their skin when they step in it) if your not eating off the carpets and any othe surfaces that the poo may have touched then there is nothing to worry about.

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S.B.

answers from Houston on

Its ok. Poo happens. You cleaned it up all is well.

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O.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Is this a real question? Finding it hard to believe it was on his car seat and you didn't notice it in a hot, enclosed space. Usually it smells so bad you can't stand it and there's no way you would "not notice" it for 2 weeks. Regardless, yes, you clean the surfaces. Not sure why you would ignore this knowing that its on there. Especially if you have "anxiety about germs." If that was really the case I would think you would have had everything cleaned by now and it wouldn't even be necessary to ask this question. Good luck.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

All of us step in animal poop. I know of no one getting sick as a result. If you can't see or smell the poop, you don't need to clean it. Because you are sensitive to germs, etc. You could spray spots you're concerned about with Lysol.

We do have worms in poop but rarely. Third world countries have a serious problem with worms. Relax.

Another way to look at worms is to know that they are not life threatening, are easy to recognize, and easily treated. Living in fear affects every part of your life. Stepping in poop is a one time event.

3 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

You will be ok. Just clean it up and move on.

No need to be paranoid about it. There will be more than poo headed your way as your little one grows up!! Don't sweat the small stuff!

It is not worth living life in fear.

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E.T.

answers from Rochester on

Clean it the best you can. This is why we always take shoes off when we walk in the door. No chance of mud, dirt, or worse on the carpets.

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R.B.

answers from San Francisco on

No, don't worry about worms. Just clean where you can, in your usual fashion. Nature's Miracle, from the pet store, is good for rugs or sofas or places that you don't want to use cleaners on.

I will say that my son and 2 of his friends running in a pile of dog poop and then running through the house one time was the beginning of a period of OCD that I went through when my kids were little. I got really germ-phobic for a while.

As someone below said, there will be more poop. That's why we have immune systems, and zillions of germs make it into your house every day anyway. Relax.

2 moms found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

I agree not to sweat it out. Even if anything was in the poop, it's long since dried up by now. When we were kids, no one picked up dog poop at all, and while I agree it's far better to do so, it's comforting to know that we didn't all fall ill from worms or bacteria either. Just do what you do when you change a diaper - basic hand washing. We walk outside all the time and are stepping on bugs and in bird poop, and we just can't stop every germ from coming in the house. All you need to do is keep your immune systems strong and use plain soap and water (NOT antibacterial - harmful to skin, kills off weak germs and allows strong ones to flourish). Just regular soap and work up a lather because it's the friction and bubbles that help float dirt and germs away.

I'm not sure why anyone's getting on your case for not realizing it - I am assuming that his shoes came off and just didn't get worn right away. The poop dried up and you would have no reason to turn them over to inspect them.

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N.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

If you have carpet then rent a Rug Doctor and buy some of the carpet cleaner for pet stains. It smells very nice and cleans well.

If you have solid floors then mop with some mop water with a little bit of bleach in it.

If you have wood floors then I'd mop with a pretty wrung out mop with a good disinfecting cleaner like Lysol or Mr. Clean or Pinesol or something.

Otherwise...why worry. There are things like this on the bottom of your shoes every single day. You track what is on your bathroom floor all over your house every time you go in there. You don't sanitize it every time before you walk out so there is stuff on the bottom of your feet or shoes all the time.

1 mom found this helpful

B.P.

answers from Chicago on

There is stuff that I must do to keep the house clean, and there is stuff that I want to do, cause it helps me feel better about our environment. Do you have to clean all the surfaces? If nothing seems amiss, probably not. But, if it would make you feel better, go for it!

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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

I have a houseful of pets - stepping in poop is an almost daily event, even though I keep the yard cleaned.
I don't scrub floors every time I notice that I've brought in a souvenir. I just take my shoes outside and clean them off.

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