My Smelly Belly Tub Pooper!

I have a tub pooper as well. It drives me NUTS! The worst part about it is that i give both my girls a tubby together. ICK. When it happens I generally pull both girls out of the tub, drain the tub, clean it, put the toys in the dishwasher and then when the tub is disenfected put them back in. I keep hoping getting pulled out and being cold will make some kind of impact on her. Now that she is 16 months it's happening less and less... but still ICK.

#1, stick your finger in your belly buttonand then smell it, sometimes it stinks too, it happens! #2, all kids poop in the tub, it too will pass. Try the potty first before his baths, and if he does poop, take him out and clean him off, and then drain out the tub and bleach it out. A little bit yucky, but everyones children that I know have done it atleast once, if not more. Good luck, and enjoy these days :)

My little guy has a smelly belly button also. More so than most people, and yes, it smells yeasty. I did two things, first I started feeding him more yogurt. The pro-biotics help to counter the yeast. And second I took him out of onesies and let him wear t-shirts. Now he constantly has his finger in his belly, but it doesn't smell and isn't pink anymore.
I've found that it's a whole lot easier to clean the poop from the tub as the water is draining.
-Good luck!

It may be a good time to start potty training. My daughter every night starting around 14 months would poop in the tub. We changed our routine. We read potty books at bedtime and started putting her on the potty while the bath water was running. We had a fully trained little girl before age 2. Look at this as an opportunity. They feel relaxed after a big dinner and like most men they eat then poop. Good luck.

Hi T..... I hate to tell you this, but - your belly button smells too! It might be a question for your Dr., but if you thing about where the belly button connects....

I say just clean it as you would his ears and be done with it. No "big dig" - that is very uncomfortable! Try it on yourself to get an idea.

If you want to keep that area drier, simply cut that piece of the diaper out in a little triangle....

Otherwise, my suggestion was also going to be to remove him from the tub immediately. And - 2 words (as with any communication at this age, never more than 2 words yet. He won't understand. But he'll understand 1 or 2.)

No pooping.

He poops, you say "no pooping" - not angry, just say it. "uh-oh" is fine too... But without judgement: "Uh-oh!" pause... "no pooping" And out he comes.

See what happens!

Hi T.,

I am a grandmother now, but my oldest son had the same problem when he was a toddler. I actually put Arm and Hammer Baking Soda in the bath water and it remedied the problem. I only had to do it once and no more odor after that. We all have minor odor in that area, because its not a place the water and soap have easy access to, so I would suggest after that, use a cotton swab and keep clean with perhaps vitamin E oil. I would only use Baby oil only if it DOES NOT have Q-15 or Quaternium-15 in it as that is a formaldehyde releaser, which is a preservative and we all know what else its used for.

My daughter also pooped in the tub when she was 2. But it only happened once (so far, she's only 2 1/2 now). I immediately took her out and told her we don't poop in the tub. I put her back in but only to rinse her off. After that bath time was quick, I made sure she didn't linger in there and always asked her if she needed to go potty before getting in. Thankfully she got the message that if she was going to poop in the tub we weren't going to play and have any fun. It was a tough few nights after the first incident since I kept looking for 'floaters'!! But it seems to have worked.

Good luck!

So funny...my daughter was doing the same thing in the tub. She only did it about 4 times....we immediately took her out of the tub (which she didn't like) and I finished cleaning her in her room-so in doing that, I think she got the message. We also got a small strainer (with small holes) and kept it in the bathroom with some plastic food-shopping bags (I think the strainer 99 cents are Target). Once she realized every time she does that, we take her out, she stopped. Good luck!

T-tree oil--but thin it a lot with another oil like almond so maybe four ounces of almond and a couple of drops of t-tree oil. nice oil mfor the scalp and skin in general when you mix it up like this!

Everbody's belly button smells a little! I would suggest getting Zeasorb anti fungal powder (I get a bumpy red rash under my breasts which is a yeast infection due to large breast and sweating...only bad in summer). It works great for sweating and smell! You don't need an RX for it but it is usually over by the Pharmacy sometimes you have to ask them for it. I agree cut a little area of the diaper out near the belly button so it can dry better. If it is still a concern I would check with his pedi.
I also agree with not making a big deal about him pooping in the tub. Just say "uh oh or oh no" or a simple we don't poop in the tub and end it. My niece used to do the same thing he will eventually stop and unlike us they cannot control it when they are not potty trained or 100% trained. Don't fret this too shall pass. Oh FYI great name we are naming our soon to be born son Liam as well!!

LOL, "Like most men they eat then poop" how true!

I don't know about the belly but as I understand it the warm water relaxes his body to release the waste. It's just one of those things.

Good luck
H.

I'm not sure what to say about the tub,except maybe you can put him on the potty before bath time as the water is running for the tub and say"this is where we poop not in tub",as for the belly button thing when you take off his diaper and it smells then there is probably an infection, if you have to get close to it to smell the foul odor than it probably isn't but one sure sign of infection is a smell that can be smelled as soon as the diaper is off or even beforehand,your pediatrician will just rub some silver nitrate all over it to get rid of the infection. good luck

Hi T.,
You could try peroxide on the belly button if you haven't already. And for tje poop in the tub get a little fish net at walmart or youtr local pet shop. Works great, this is what we use in the birthing tubs.
Hope it helps.
Jen