Argh!
My boys are 7 and 10....
What the heck is going on? They can not seem to get their pee into the toilet. It goes on the seat, it goes on the floor....and then no one cleans it up!
So, I go in there to go to the bathroom and there is piss all over. About a year ago I wasn't as angy, but I swear this happens every single day. How hard is it?
The boys are not circumsized, so for a minute I thought it could be that they are not pulling their skin back and just kind of splooshing out everywhere as opposed to a steady stream. But that's not the point.
If they do "sploosh" why are they not cleaning????
Every single time I walk in there I call them in, someone looks guilty and they are given 409 and some paper towels to clean it up.
But, how do I get them to do it without me having to yell!?
I have talked quietly with them about pulling their skin back, I have yelled, I have threatened, I have angrily whispered...I have taken to charging them $.25 for every time I need to call one of them in to clean up.
And can I just say, it's not a little drip here and there! It's a LOT on the toilet seat or a LOT on the floor!
I have a daughter who is 2 and toddles all around in bare feet, heck I do too! It's so gross to step in pee or sit on the toilet in the middle of the night and come up wet. My toddler will soon be potty training and these boys have been doing this for a long time!
Any ideas on what I could do to get them to cut it out short of going in with them every time they go to the bathroom?
Argh!
I’d have them learn to pee sitting down. My grandson who is 9 has always sat down and there is no pee outside the toilet.
Do your boys do other things that you tell them to do? Put away their toys without you reminding them, for example. I also suggest that this is just the nature of many boys and even many men. Well, shucks, even women aren’t always neat. They don’t see the need to be careful or clean up after themselves.
I suggest that you’ll need to devote a week or so to wait with them every time they pee and teach them to immediately clean up. Tho, if it was me, I’d have them pee sitting down. Have their male influence show them how to hold their penis down and your show them how to do it. Over and over until it becomes routine. Remember this is new territory for them and they don’t care if there is pee on the floor.
You could give them stickers or some other reward.
Added, I just have to say this has nothing what so ever to do with respect. They’re young children. Respect is an intellectual concept that their brain is still immature enough to understand.
Instead of .25 cents…make them pay you a dollar, then two dollars, and so on. Then they will maybe get the point.
Have them sit to pee. My guy is not circumcized, he doesn’t sploosh, even when standing, and he’ll be 4 next month. Tell them to sit.
RESPECT pure and simple respect. Where is their dad in all of this? Does he make a mess when he pees too?
They will follow the example set by dad. I think this is a conversation for dad to have with them. If dad is not available then an uncle or grandpa.
Basically, they need to learn to respect you and your boundries. It goes beyond peeing all over the bathroom but to all parts of their life. Mom said so ----- so do it darn it. !!!
Tell them you are going to invite one of their friends over to clean up their pee.
I have 2 boys, when they missed they cleaned it up.
You havent found the right currency to use on them yet I guess.
Why would they be peeing on the seat? Don’t they even bother to lift it?
Get more creative with the punishment, that’s all I can think of.
You don’t want them to be messy men, your daughters in law will never forgive you.
My husband sits to pee 
- My grandmother enforced an ‘everyone must sit’ rule. (If it was broken, grounded for a week). She had lots of boys. She confided to me at one point that she knew they still stood… But in order not to get “caught”, they’d clean up after themselves & police each other (one drop, one smelly floor, and she grounded everyone).
She also had an embarrassing sign in the guest bath
“If your hose is short
Or your pressure’s weak
Better stand close
Or you’ll pee on your feet!”
Which shames men into the whole “Those why drip are shorties or have girly streams.”
- I just have my son clean the bathroom every night. Its part of his bedtime chores. Before bathing, he cleans the seat/bowl/floor. Takes 2 minutes, tops. Because its done daily.
…Oh. I also leave the seat up. I’ve always been outnumbered in my house. With MY seat left up, it doesn’t get peed on/ dripped on/ or those grimy hand stains. Put my seat UP, boys.
At a guess… I’m suspecting they’re either peeing on the seat directly… To see how the stream rolls into the toilet, and how close they can get to the edge before it changes to the floor. Fluid dynamics. Or, that they’re dropping their foreskin before “shaking off”. This is a thing my son has started since going to public school. NO idea why… But he drops his… Oh. Now I know. Headsmack! Anyhow… He lets go of his fore skin to shake off by the base of his penis. Which I’ve just realized makes him “look” bigger. Sigh.
My husband says it makes no difference if they’re circumsized or not.
He also says there is no answer to getting them peeing in the toilet, besides for them to grow up and get married - their wives will sort it out. My husband can be kind of a dick sometimes.
I’d give them a big consequence for it. I would make them clean the bathroom EVERY SINGLE DAY, Laura. It’s the only way to break them of this habit. Make them both do it at the same time. NO privileges like TV, gameboy, xbox, etc. Not until they clean the bathroom. Stand there and watch them scrub the entire toilet and the floor. Every day.
They will quickly learn after they figure out you mean business and their lives are full of cleaning toilets. And they will stop peeing anywhere but in the right place. Meanwhile, your husband needs to go in the bathroom with each boy separately and show them EXACTLY where to pee (against the bowl up above the water, in order to prevent splashing.) He also needs to discuss pulling back the foreskin so that they can control the stream.
The last thing these boys want to do is clean the toilet and surrounding bathroom several times a day, everyday, over and over and over. Do this and they will stop this silly stuff.
Dawn
i’ve been having to “retrain” almost since the beginning, as well. we’ve had to retrain on flushing, wiping, and washing hands. UGH. granted, mine is only 6. but what worked for us was catching him when he wasn’t even out of the bathroom yet, or had just walked out. “did you flush? better check.” did you wash your hands? really? let me see…" either he realized i wasn’t going to let him slide, OR he was reminded so many times it finally became habit…either way…i cracked down and that helped. i know it is harder with older boys but hey, if nothing else is working…back to square 1!! everytime you hear that flush, just make a mental note to remind them. “son did you make a mess? CHECK!” i’m sure at least partly it’s because it’s not habitual for them to check when they get done.
I agree to retrain. For weeks. A pain but who wants their mom in the bathroom with them. Get your dead serious face on and police till they get it. You have to make them care. Like most things, boys just don’t care.
I always counted the first time I heard them wash their hands after using the restroom as a victory that only a mother could understand!
MY friends son thought that if he didn’t hold his penis to aim then he wouldn’t have to wash his hands, so he ended up peeing all over the floor. Check to make sure they are aiming. Anyway, I would just make them sit down and pee if they can’t get it in the toilet standing.
I’m working on the theory that eventually DS (7) will get tired of having to clean the toilet seat every time I find it. It is much less of an issue (for me) since he is now only allowed to pee in his own bathroom. That is also the guest bathroom so I do need to police more aggressively when we (rarely) have house guests. He is circumcised to I don’t think that has anything to do with it. Oddly he ALWAYS washes his hands and never seems to make a mess in a restaurant bathroom or at other peoples’ homes. Small blessings I guess.
Ditto the retraining.
In the meantime, wash everything down with bleach. Line the floors with newspapers, and tape cheap plastic tablecloths to the wall and behind the toilet. Line the area between the lid and the tank with folded up newpapers or paper towels. That should cut down the smell/mess.
The retraining, making them clean up daily etc. are all great. I’d add that this is so unsanitary that it should involve discipliine like losing desired items (electronics) or activities (TV time etc.) if they can’t get their act together. They are old enough to connect losing some thing desirable with their own problem behaviors.
I would add one devious thing if you are really upset.
I’d get a water alarm and not tell them. There are small box-shaped alarms that you sit on the floor and if any liquid touches the bottom, a sharp alarm goes off. If they are really peeing to the point of puddles on the floor and not just dampness, and it hits that alarm, they are going to get quite a wake-up call. If you can put the alarm where they won’t see it, all the better. They really are too old to be that disgustingly messy and unsanitary.
I don’t have the answer, but if you figure it out, please let me know! The boys bathroom in my house is awful- I should be paid to clean it. I just hope we either add on or have a new house in the next few years, because there is no way I am making my little girl share a bathroom with her four disgusting brothers!
Laura,
Have them sit down.
I know it’s ‘not cool’. Some guys say its emasculating (not really-- we’re not removing the crown jewels here!), but I’ve known at least two families who have had to have the floor and subfloor replaced due to urine. That costs a lot of money. Like, hundreds of dollars.
Clean it up or sit to pee. Those are the options you give. I know several men (and my own son) who sit instead of stand. They will stand at urinals and out in public, but one tells me that “sitting is just more relaxing”. Laura, with Kiddo-- I’ve had maybe about 10 drops on the toilet seat and a couple occasional ‘pee-throughs’ (when he is in a rush and he starts peeing before he gets himself situated, so that it goes out under the seat and to the floor). But this is NOTHING compared to what you are dealing with.
Make’em sit. Retrain them with rewards, if need be. I’d be using a cumulative positive incentive plan-- check the bathroom five times a day at specific times and every time it’s clean, the boys earn a point. 50 points (10 days) means that they can choose a video or get a treat-- something family oriented (no toys) that everyone can enjoy.
It’s a riddle of the ages! Lol
I’d be happy with pee neatly OR flush! Haha
Mine just turned 10 and it’s getting better, so I think it’s a maturity thing.
When forgetting to flush was a bigger issue here, the threat of -.50 from allowance for each non flushed toilet was VERY motivating.
Have you seen the new Windex pump cleaner? I got it for my kitchen, but I might get 2 more for the bathrooms. Works perfectly for “rim” clean ups!
I think it’s just how boys are. My husband still sometimes misses the toilet and gets it on the floor! My son who is 5 and is not circumcised also has this problem, although it’s not as bad as it used to be. I don’t know what to tell you to do besides making them clean it up every time. Sorry
I agree, that’s gross. And I have no suggestions on how to train your guys to pee neatly. But there are 2 uncircumcised boys in my house and no pee on the seat or floor, even when they were little. Whether they sit or stand, they need to aim. So whatever your boys choose to do, please know that it is possible for them to learn to point and shoot with better accuracy than what you’ve seen so far.