by Megan Torres

Created on: May 18, 2008   Last Updated: May 19, 2008

What to do when your Child Poops in the Tub

Now for some this may sound silly but if you have a clueless partner and they need help with this process then it is just as important as learning how to change a diaper. I know many children that have done this, including my own. Especially when they are not toilet trained yet, they do not understand that pooping in the tub is not a good idea.

So first things first, you need to get the kid out of the tub. Get a towel to dry them off and get a diaper on them; they may not be finished with their duty. You should make sure that they will be safe without you to supervise them for about 5 minutes. Then go find yourself a bucket, gloves, and a strainer. If you have toys in the tub you'll need to fill the bucket up with a cup of either bleach or vinegar and add water. The toys need to be sanitized if you want your kids to be able to play with them again. Put on the gloves and take all the toys out of the tub. Place them in the bucket; let them sit there while you finish cleaning out the tub. Now take the strainer (you can sanitize it in the dishwasher later) and fish the poop out of the tub, flush it down the toilet. This is important because we don't want feces in the drinking water, and that's why I haven't said to drain the tub yet. Okay, now you can drain the tub. Find the bathroom cleaner and a paper towel to wipe down the inside of the tub, this way next time you fill up the tub you won't have any tiny floaters. We use a paper towel instead of a sponge so that we don't spread the bacteria around the rest of the bathroom. Now spray the tub with the bathroom cleaner and clean the inside of the tub. Throw out the paper towel and rinse the tub with fresh water. The tub is clean now, and all that is left are the toys, you'll need to dump out the bleach mixture, and rinse the toys with fresh water as well. That's it the tub is clean, the toys are clean, and the kid is... still dirty. What are you waiting for fill up the tub, and give the kid a bath already.

On a more serious note this is not necessarily a sign that your child is rebelling or that she is ready to be toilet trained. It's a natural process and some children feel natural doing this. I would just say to watch your child while in the tub and pay attention to their body language; you could stop them from going any farther. You might take this opportunity to sit them on the toilet and see how they react. If this happens often, you may want to change bath time since that seems to coincide with your child's bowel movements. Here's to hoping to keep bath times cleaner.

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