When does the tub pooping end?

I'm on my last nerve :umm: with the tub pooping. DD poops in the tub every week (sometimes 2x/week). This has been happening for months. At first she would get upset about it. I tried to stay very calm, took both kids out of the tub, washed the tub and put them back. When it started happening more frequently, I was still calm but would wash the tub and then just rinse them off (no more continuing fun bath time). There was a brief time right after Oliver was born that it stopped and I thought we hit the end of the phase. Apparently not.

In the last month or so, Natalie will announce "poop, poop." So, I've taken her out and tried to put her on the potty. She screamed and stiffened her body. I tried the regular toilet - same response. I've tried just taking her out and putting a diaper on her. Then she would just cry and want to get back in the tub (when I let her, she would poop in the tub).

I've been very calm. I do tell her that poop does not go in the tub, it goes in the potty or in a diaper. She will repeat "poop, no tub. poop, potty." Granted, she's probably just repeating me like she does with most of the things I say, but I figured after a few months she would catch on to the "poop, no tub" part.

Any suggestions (other than a strong drink after the tub has been scrubbed and all kiddos are in bed)? Is this something that will just stop eventually or should I be doing something else to curb this behavior?

-Catherine

 

Mine ALWAYS poop right after I change them in the morning or during their afternoon nap...thankfully, we've NEVER had poop in the tub...knock on wood I guess!

 

Do you have bath time at a set time everyday? Maybe you can try moving it earlier or later in an effort to thwart her. I have no advice to offer as I'm not really sure how to make her stop. Maybe you can try just quick showers with no bathtub playtime to get her in and out as quickly as possible. Good luck!

 

We had several incidents of tub pooping over about a 6-9 month period. When they started to really get the hang of toilet training, the pooping stopped. It never happened as much as yours, though; it wasn't every time. I think we were lucky in that our girls didn't like having the "foreign" object in the tub. I would watch for the squatting maneuver and yank her out of the tub when I saw it - early on I put a diaper on her, and as they progressed I put her on the toilet (with one of those potty rings).

I also did a bit of what the previous poster said: I tried to do bath time after the poops had been done. Doesn't always happen, I know. If one of the girls hadn't pooped yet that day, I put her in the tub last and quickly washed her up and removed her.

I know you like them to have fun tub time; I do too. (there are so many things I can get done while they are in the tub: I sit next to them folding laundry, ironing, cleaning up the sinks, etc!) But during this period of tub pooping I cut it short because I didn't like disinfecting the tub every time.

 

Mine have never pooped in the tub, but like a PP said, they like to poop just after I change them in the morning!

 

This has only happen to me once. When Zack was sick with the diarreah.

 

Catherine,

I think it'll just stop eventually. Jade was a fairly regular tub pooper (maybe once every two weeks or more) and it just gradually petered out. I think the last time was around Thanksgiving, so she was 2 years 3 months old. If that's any consolation. I didn't do anything, just remained calm and vigilant.

 

Can you try a swim diaper for a while? Sounds wasteful, but it would hold the poo in and they can't rip them off as easy as a regular diaper. You can't get the parts clean with it on, but you could do that while doing a normal diaper change?

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to try giving much quicker baths for awhile. They usually play for 20 minutes or so during each bathtime, so I think I'm going to shorten that up and just read a few more books before bed. I've tried playing around with the timing to see if I can get her to go before or after bathtime, but she never poops at the same time (or the same number of times) every day. If we have a longer bath, I may try the swim diaper. DH cracked up when I told him that suggestion!

Thanks for your help and letting me vent a little!

-Catherine

 

Mine have never pooped in the tub, but they have "normal" pooping times in the day (more in the morning and right after afternoon nap). I would try changing bath time so maybe she gets it out and then it's time for bath? Otherwise that swim diaper idea sounds good too