My son (5-yrs-old) has the terrible habit of peeing every time he gets into the bath. How do we eliminate this behavior? He has been doing it for a while so it will be a uphill climb to unlearn/replace the behavior. We have tried having him sit on the toilet before bath, but he won’t always eliminate. And even if he does go in the toilet before the bath, he will STILL eek out a little pee when he first gets into the bathtub.
Answer:
Aren't little boys the best?!? There are a few options to choose from here:
1. Put a small toilet training potty in the tub before you fill the tub with water and let him pee in there before his bath. This way he is still getting what he wants, but in a more appropriate way since he's peeing in the potty, but not exactly the tub.
2. Add a reinforcer to the mix and tell him he earns X for going peepee in the potty before his bath. Make sure it is something he really likes and maybe he ONLY earns it for going to the bathroom before bath time. This way if he pees on the potty he's less likely to pee in the tub even though you mentioned he still tries to eek out a little pee. He can also earn something for not peeing in the tub when he gets in!
3. This one is less fun, but probably the most effective. If you think he would understand, I would tell him that if he goes peepee in the bathtub that "Bath time is all done." If bath time is really fun for him this could be motivating. He will probably test this new rule and pee in the tub the first time still. I would drain the water in front of him and say, "No peepee in the bathtub. Bath time is all done." and take him out of the tub. Ideally start this on a day that he is not in dire need of a bath! This might result in a tantrum, but usually after a day or two, if bath time is really fun for him he will stop peeing in the tub.
We always like our interventions to be reinforcement based (#2) vs. punishment based (#3), but if reinforcement fails we usually resort to punishment. So definitely try #2 first for a week or so. If that does not work, send me a follow up comment and we can try #3! Good luck! 🙂
Aren’t little boys the best?!? There are a few options to choose from here:
1. Put a small toilet training potty in the tub before you fill the tub with water and let him pee in there before his bath. This way he is still getting what he wants, but in a more appropriate way since he’s peeing in the potty, but not exactly the tub.
2. Add a reinforcer to the mix and tell him he earns X for going peepee in the potty before his bath. Make sure it is something he really likes and maybe he ONLY earns it for going to the bathroom before bath time. This way if he pees on the potty he’s less likely to pee in the tub even though you mentioned he still tries to eek out a little pee. He can also earn something for not peeing in the tub when he gets in!
3. This one is less fun, but probably the most effective. If you think he would understand, I would tell him that if he goes peepee in the bathtub that “Bath time is all done.” If bath time is really fun for him this could be motivating. He will probably test this new rule and pee in the tub the first time still. I would drain the water in front of him and say, “No peepee in the bathtub. Bath time is all done.” and take him out of the tub. Ideally start this on a day that he is not in dire need of a bath! This might result in a tantrum, but usually after a day or two, if bath time is really fun for him he will stop peeing in the tub.
We always like our interventions to be reinforcement based (#2) vs. punishment based (#3), but if reinforcement fails we usually resort to punishment. So definitely try #2 first for a week or so. If that does not work, send me a follow up comment and we can try #3! Good luck! 🙂