My 2Yr Old Is Pooping in the Bathtub!!!

Updated on November 03, 2008
S.L. asks from Garland, TX
14 answers

Help! Just this week, AT EVERY BATH, my toddler will poop in the tub. I know my other boys did this once at around this age but I can't remember what happened that only made them do it once. I don't know if I disciplined (and if so what I did), or if it just scared them so bad that they didn't do it again. I don't have time to keep cleaning it up everynight at bedtime. Any suggestions on getting him to stop would be great. Thanks ladies!

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for your responses. I am sorry I led any of you to believe that I would actually "scare discipline" my son for this. I just meant that the poop in the water scared my other child. He does go regularly and we havn't started official potty training seeing as he just turned two last week and I know that boys take longer. Guess I'll just keep toughing it out! The timing seems like my best shot. Thanks again!

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K.E.

answers from Dallas on

My boys did that around that age also but only once I think. Maybe try setting him on the potty before bath time.

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N.H.

answers from Dallas on

Remember, warm water is great for relaxign your body and they are little and don't quite put 2 and 2 together yet. Try to have him go before, if he can't put him in the tub for jsut a few moments and pull him back out. Keep talking and explaing what you are doing. This is a good time to start the potty training.

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R.S.

answers from Dallas on

Discipline probably won't help much, since it's the water stimulating to go (especially if he's not potty trained yet at two, he may not have much control anyway)> Unfortunately this is totally natural and normal, and some kids get over it quickly while others take a while. My first probably did it for a month, and I was so depressed when my second started doing it too! I think we had the same fun with him for weeks too. It's gross and time consuming, but it does end - it could be tomorrow, it could be a couple of months, but it will end. Sorry I don't have better news!

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

Hi S.! I posted a similar question about 4 mos ago--and things have gotten better since, in that my DD poops in the tub less frequently, but it still happens occasionally. Here's what's worked for us:
1) Like another poster said, change the timing of his baths. If I know my DD is due to poop, I'll even wait and bathe her in the morning, instead.
2)Sit him on the potty before, and if he starts to look like he'll poop, scoop him out of the tub and put him straight on the potty. My DD has never actually pooped in the potty--she's only 18 mos--but scooping her out of the bath into the cold air does stop the process, and she is getting the idea that one should poop in the potty, not the tub. On Saturday, the poor kid ended up sitting on the potty with her hair full of shampoo! But no poop in the tub!
3)QUICK BATHS!!!! No playing, just business. I can get my DD in and out of a bath in about 90 seconds. It's too bad that she doesn't get to play in the tub for right now, but better that than a messy tub! It also means that we don't have toys in the tub for the moment, so when it does happen, there's less to clean!
GL! I feel for you! This, too, shall pass!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from Dallas on

Show him that you poop in 'this water' (the toilet) and not the tub, turn the tub on and make him sit on the pot until he poops! Mission accomplished!

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E.C.

answers from Dallas on

I wouldn't discipline so young. Have her sit on the potty right before she goes into the tub or make sure you watch for signals while bathing and pull her out of the tub to go poopy on the potty. I can always tell when my daughter is about to go poop. She stops and stands in a very strange position; or makes a face. Try that!

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

Hi,
If you know he's going to poop, and he hasn't pooped just recently, can you sit him on the potty?

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T.C.

answers from Dallas on

So, here's a thought just to save you from having to clean up poop from the tub, what if you put her in a swim diaper until she grows out of pooping in the tub.

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C.A.

answers from Dallas on

I had a tiny little problem with this too for a couple of days. Poop grosses me out so I guess you could say it was a bigger problem, but here's what I noticed:

I was feeding my daughter dinner, then about 15-25 minutes later, giving her a bath...I would watch her and then see this "face", every kid has their own little face or position they do when they are about to poop in the tub...so anyways, I see the face, wonder about it, ignore it, and boof, there's the poop!

So, I started playing with her for a minimum of 30 minutes after dinner, putting bath time off as long as possible, and as soon as she would poop in the diaper, I would clean her off and then bathe her. It seems like we did that for about 3 days after I got this bright idea, and after that, her "schedule" shifted and she was back on poops in the mornings.

Good luck, I hope this helps!

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J.H.

answers from Amarillo on

There may be something about the warm water that makes him go. Put him on the potty just before the bath, and explain we must try to poop , so you won't get your nice clean bath water dirty, maybe read a short story while he is on it to give him time to go, if nothing happens , maybe say lets pour some nice warm water on you to help you poop in the pot, and try that. I don't feel like he is going in the tub to be naughty.

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J.B.

answers from Dallas on

Warm water relaxes ALL muscles!! Be patient, this is not an issue for discipline. It isn't a deliberate act...of defiance or anything else. The bath experience is relaxing, probably the reason you give her a bath right before bedtime. Maybe change the bath time ritual to a different time and remind her how yucky it is to bathe in water full of poop. She may honestly not be able to control it right now. If it is quite a while after dinner, she may be close to having a bowel movement anyway. Again, I would try different bath times and be VERY patient. I sympathize with the aggravation and hassle, but it truly is not her fault.

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A.M.

answers from Dallas on

I don't think you need to scare or discipline him. He is not trying to be "bad". The tub is nice and warm and it relaxes him,hence,making it easy for a poopie to come out. I'm sure he pee pees in there too.

Mine did it about 3 times when he was almost 2 and all I did was say "yucky. poopy not for the bath. stinky poopy goes in toilet". and I let him watch me scoop the poopie out with toilet paper(or a cup) and dump it in the toilet. And he would then imitate me and say "yuck".

When you see him start to do his poopie in the tub, immediately pick him up and sit him on the toilet,wet and all.
Or you can sit him on the toilet while the bath runs before putting him in and see if he gets his poop out of the way before the bath.

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M.G.

answers from Dallas on

Warm baths have always been recommended for constipated babies and anyone for that matter. Has he been potty training? Is he going during the day? Every day he should be going, and he really should be going more than once a day. Boys are the worst at this, but they all do it. . .they hold it in all day because they don't want to go (whether they don't want to stop playing or they're still a little nervous to go in the toilet, whatever). He could be holding it in all day (or for several hours), and the warm water doesn't allow him to hold it anymore. He may not even realize he's going until he already did. I don't thinking any kind of scare-type of discipline should be done here. It doesn't sound like a discipline issue at all. I think I would just talk to him about what he's doing. Start having him sit on the toilet before bath time. If he's like my son, though, he doesn't want to sit there. If that's the case, pay attention to the time frame between being in the water and going to the bathroom. Get him out right before that time is up, and sit him on the toilet.

Also, if he is just now potty training, it may be that he truly wasn't ready, and you might need pull ups for a while until he starts going regularly in the toilet. That's mostly what it sounds like to me. Boys take a lot longer for the #2 part for whatever reason. If he doesn't like pull ups, then just explain to him that you're just doing it for a while until he starts poo pooing in the toilet when he needs to so he won't have accidents in or out of the bath. See if that helps a little, and good luck!

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L.S.

answers from Tyler on

My son did it once when he was this age. I told him that if he did it again, he would have to clean it up. He never did it again, so I guess he didn't want to have to clean it up.

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