I know this is a gross problem but I just don't know what to do. Recently my 18 month old daughter started pooping Every Time we put her in the tub for her bath. I've tried getting our little potty out and sitting her on that before bath time but she's not really getting it. I've caught her twice now just before she goes and taken her out of the tub and put her on the potty. She got very excited both times when she saw that she'd gone in the pot.
But I don't catch her everytime. It's so much trouble as it means taking both kids out of the tub, sanitizing all the toys, washing out the tub, refilling and rebathing both kids. I'm hoping for some sort of suggestion to put an end to this, she's also just kind of outgrowing other poop problems, for about the last year she's had constant, horrible constipation. She's had to have a daily dose of miralax or milk of magnesia just to be able to go. It's only been in the last month that she's been able to start skipping the medicine most days.
Hi I.!
Just a thought...why not use swimmies for a while? Just till the constipation is under control...and she is a bit more able to control her sphincter?
Never had this problem my self...but that...in conjunction with moving bath time...hope it works out!
She's young and doubtfully has enough muscle control to do your bidding if she wanted to. The tub of water is also part of the trigger to go when muscles have been used to constipation. I suggest a shower on a hose if you miss the poop, to clean up and finish the kid's baths, and restrict the toys to: recycle items you can clean with a soaking of clorox and water IN the tub, then spraying with hot water with the shower hose, leaving to dry. Then, when the pooping issue becomes more predictable, start taking chances again. My daughter is four and has constipation problems and UNlearning to hold the poop is worse than cleaning the tub twice every bath time, I am finding out two years later....
good luck, hope others have good ideas, too.
All I can say is that we had this same exact problem at around 15 months with our daughter. It will pass as her bowels do get used to not being constipated. Just as someone else said the warm water makes her need to go. You could wait an hour and she wouldn't go until you put her in the tub. After a couple of weeks of no longer being regularly constipated, my daughter no longer poops in the tub, instead her body goes when she first needs too without the need of warm water.
Oh and we got really good at observing her expressions to pull her out before the poop was in the tub.
Have confidence that she eventually will outgrow it. My daughter stopped having accidents in the tub when she was 3. (I know, another year and a half?) You might have better success than I did, so don't get discouraged. What you might have to do is keep bathtime short, quickly getting her out and then onto the potty right after the tub. The warm water probably is helping loosen her bowels and she doesn't have the control skill yet to hold it until she gets onto the potty. (My daughter also has constipation.) I found that when I kept bathtime short, we had fewer accidents.
I.,
Ont thing the bath does is relax your daughter so you may try to take her out for a few minutes after being in for a little while (before she normally has a bowel movement) and see if she will sit on the potty. It may work or may not. This will teach her that the potty is the place where we go to the bathroom. Now she is very young so accidents in the tub are very common. This is a phase that all kids go through so the best thing you can do is tell her "no potty in the tub" and take her out and place her on the potty while you clean up the mess. Be loving about it since this is not something she is doing intentionally. It is temporary. I promise! A.
If I were in this situation, I think I would try putting the potty in the tub in shallow water after she has had a minute or two to soak. Once she gets the idea that she needs to actually go in the potty, perhaps you could move it back out of the tub. However, I know that this idea may seem really odd; I just have found that I really have to think outside of the norm with my own toddler at times. Also, i have a very simple potty that would lend itself to the tub solution with little mess. Yours may not work so well. Just a thought.
Best wishes.
Jennifer
hey I.- my daughter does the same thing, and she gives me the cutest little look of shock every time. it happened at least once a week until I looked at the timing of her bath- i had been bathing her about 30 min after dinner, which is prime poop time! so i pushed the bath earlier by 15 min and so far, no poop in the tub.
as far as sitting on the potty- i have tried that a few times with my daughter too, she sometimes thinks it's cool, sometimes it scares her- i have given up on that bc i don't want to cause her any kind of stress about it at her age. good luck!
When I first got my step kids, they had been on a high sugar/milk diet and my DSS was always constipated. His grandma always gave him apple juice to try to relieve the constipation, but it didn't help. I changed his diet when I took over to very high fiber, low sugar/fat, and low dairy/only soy and he has not had any issues since....it's good your daughter has been able to skip the meds most days now...and hopefully it will continue on the same...but in regards to the pooping...I have the same issue with my Himalayan, actually! He will not go in the litter box! He is a little mental for being a cat - usually cats just go in the box....so I have started timing his poops - he will eat and about 30 minutes later or so, he will need to poop...so I just monitor him after he eats...and when he starts acting like he has to go, I will follow him to the littler box area and watch him until he goes (he of course won't poop in the floor while I am watching!). So far, so good - he has used the box this week and it seems to be working. Maybe the same can work with toddlers - wait for about 30 minutes or so after she eats, and then put her on the toilet....and also the other mom's response about leaving her in the tub for a couple minutes, then taking her out to poop maybe will work also - it will have loosened up the bowels and then she will be able to 'go,' and then she can get back in the tub....also - big rewards! Each time after my cat uses the box, he gets a treat - so he correlates the box with something good....so, if you haven't already, try giving her a little toy or something for the bathtub each time she uses the potty.....
A warm tub bath is a remedy for constipation. The warm bath may be relaxing her enough to go. I can only suggest you put a small amount of water and only her in the tub first. Then fill it up and your son and the toys after the coast is clear. Or try a warm washcloth on her bottom as you undress her to get her ready.
Hope this helps.
Hi, I've not experienced this with my 2 boys (yet - still time...never know what's around the corner) so best advice is probably from someone who's been through it. Just a thought though, how about putting the potty in the tub (call it her "bath seat/princess seat..")and just bathing her on it until she goes then take it out. Probably works best with a one piece potty for easier clean up after removing from the bath. We're in early potty trng. stages with our oldest and have tried "fun" places to put the potty to entice him just to sit down.
Good luck!
Oh my gosh, I am having the same problem with my daughter! She is 13 months, and last week pooped 2 times in the tub. I stopped her two other times, and she was so upset. I realize now that I probably scared her because of how I reacted, and that's probably not a good way to start potty training mentality for her! We don't yet have a children's potty (on the Xmas list) but I'm glad to hear that your daughter gets excited when she ends up going in the potty. When I caught her, I tried putting her on the big potty right away too, but that just scared her more and she cried harder. Not sure what triggered this, but I told my parents the other day while they were bathing her just as a warning, and they thought nothing of it. I guess it's something about the warm water on their bottom. Who knows, but you're not alone!
By the way, where do you have your daycare?
I.,
Part of the reason she wont go before you put her in the tub is because the warm water relaxes her bowel muscles and this is why she goes in the tub. Try giving her a shower and then if the water still relaxers her it is not such a pain to have to drain the tub and start over.
I had this happen a couple of times when my twins were that age too. I used to give them a bath between dinner and bed, but I found that if I gave them the bath before dinner it solved the problem. The warm water does tend to stimulate the bowel movement, but if they haven't just eaten it is much less likely to happen. I also think I'd bathe them one at a time until this stops happening!
If you figure this one out, let me know, I have the same problem!!
:)
V. (SAHM of 3 boys, ages 4, 3, and 21 months)
