Seeking Advice About How to Clean Smell from Kids' Bathroom

1- Have them sit down to pee.

2- Put Cherrios in the toilet and have them aim at the cereal.

3- Use a bathroom cleaner around the toilet instead of bleach. It might give you a better smell.

4- Have the person who peed on the floor clean it up. They might have better aim next time so they don't have to clean it.

Good luck!

What has helped with my son is to give him the cleaning wipes and have him clean it up himself. If he doesn't want to clean it up, he either opts to sit down or try harder to have better aim.

Hi H.
Do you have carpet in the bathroom? If you do, the carpet will maintain that smell forever. If you have lino or tile then you should be abe to get some help from a tile or linoleum company. There are products out there to help with this. You may want to try a de-greaser that is called Simple Green. I swear by this product. Good Luck!

Margie O.

At the pet store they have a black light that you use in the dark to see any urine that you may have missed. I would pick one up and check around the bathroom. The light is a little freaky, but it works!

I'm assuming you have tile floors. You may need to re-seal the grout. (You can buy grout sealant at Home Depot, it's not expensive and it's easy to apply.) Usually when tile and grout are installed, the grout is sealed, but over time and with many scrubbings, it might have become porous again and so despite the fact that you clean it, some of the urine is seeping into the tiny holes in the grout. Probably your tile is ceramic, but if it's marble, granite or slate, you will need to re-seal that once or twice a year. Any kind of natural stone needs to be sealed periodically to keep it water resistant. Likewise, if you have wood wainscoting or baseboards, you may want to check and be sure the baseboards still have caulk sealing them to the floor and that the finish hasn't worn off the wood itself. I hope this helps and that you can find the cause of the smell!

For help with aim, I've seen products in catalogs that are flushable targets that are meant to be aimed at in the toilet. You might try something similar by just floating a small piece of toilet paper in the water that they can aim for.
For the smell, I noticed that smell in my bathroom when there wasn't even an obvious miss and I thought I had cleaned everything. Turned out that it was some fine splashing that had gotten on the outside of the nearby covered trashcan. I cleaned that and the smell was gone. So perhaps you can double check that you've wiped the surrounding things near the toilet. Good luck!

I have a friend who has 3 boys -- aim can be a problem, short of paiting a target in the toilet, I'm not sure what you can do. She has used reed diffusers in the boys bathroom to help with the smell. (I am a PartyLite consultant...and we carry ones that last a long time.)

GOod luck
C. H

My kids have this problem too, and I have found that they manage to collect urine BEHIND the toilet (where it's bolted to the floor). And yes, they have to clean it up themselves with wipes once a day. They make the mess because they are careless, they clean it up. My boys are 4 and 6.

My boys were both capable of getting the urine in the toilet by 4 years old. And it sounds like yours are too. To get them to pay attention, float a piece of toilet paper or something flushable in the toilet so the boys will have a "target" to aim for. And if they miss, it is THEIR job to clean it up. (with something non toxic, of course. Lifetreee makes a lovely tea tree and lavendar bathroom cleaner.)
Good Luck
T.

I would continue to use the bleach to disinfect, or maybe even some disenfecting wipes to do the job quickly. I would probably deep clean atleast twice a week. I also like the clean smell. I use the blue pine sol in an spray bottle. I just spray and wipe and the bathroom smells nice and clean

Is it possible you're missing the spots they peed on? Could they have gotten some on the walls near the toilet? Have you cleaned under the rim? Sometimes a clean toilet can stink if you don't clean there. Sometimes if it's unusually stinky I'll just spray everywhere I can with bleach cleaner and then pour a big pot of hot water all over the toilet and surrounding area and mop it up with a zillion towels. That usually finds the offending area.

Another hidden spot as well as the bolt-hinge assembly of the toilet seat lid is around the bolts (possibly under the platic bolt covers) where the toilet is bolted to the floor. I discovered urine residue there and have since removed the bolt covers so this area can be cleaned regularly, this is usually accompanie by a drizzle that runs down the side of the toilet.

I have my boys clean the bathroom...especially the toilet since I don't make that mess and I don't think it matters how old they are or how good they aim, there will always be a little mess. Keep the lysol or clorox wipes in the bathroom and ask the boys to wipe down any time they make a mess. Just make sure they don't flush the wipes!

I think boys and men do not intend to "misfire", but like one mom said, the stream is too hard at the beginning or at the end, it drizzles and drips. A toilet just isn't meant for upright urination. I have two boys and if I ever have my own house, hope to have the small wall urinals put in as it is MUCH cleaner. Our friends had these and at first I thought, eewww, gross! However, they also had carpeted bathrooms and never had any problem with smell or missed aim. Urinals made for a home are SO much cleaner than a toilet! :0)

Good luck!

Is there anything in the restroom that the boys could have used as target practice? Waste basket? A plant? At one time I had to go searching for that same smell, and it wasn't coming from where I expected.
My only other advice is don't let them go into the restroom together (if they are).....it may becoming a game of some sort if they are together.
Good Luck!

Hello H.,

My advice is take 4 plastic bag, and give two of them to each kid then put them to clean the toilet. I know doesn't sound good but you will see the difference in couple days. The first time they will be "OH! COOL!" but maybe on the third and fourth time they will hate it. My grandmom had the same problems with 4 little boys in the house, and what she did to them. They learned the lesson of keep the bathroom clean and have more careful when they go to the bathroon and also my grandmom wasn't the main of the house.

Good luck...

Tell them to sit down or they will have to clean their own mess. It is ok to stand and pee in public places but at home you want them to sit down. Depending on your floor. If you have tile get simply green in the yellow bottle or try baking soda. But you will have to clean the area around the toilet every single day.You can give the boys a clorix wipe and make them clean up after them.
Everyone in my family including my father and my father in-law sit down to do their business. Good luck

To help with aim, try putting a fruit loop or cheerios in the bowl. My son is four also, and I have to constantly remind him to pay attention to what he is doing. His aim is horrible, but when he has a target, he does much better. For the smell, I clean every surface on and around the toilet every other day with 409. I was using bleach, but ruined a couple of pair of pants, and switched to 409 and it seems to work. I pay special attention to the sides of the toilet and around the back, where it is hard to reach. I also wipe down the garbage can which he can hit, plus the wall and the cabinet and floor all around the toilet. It has made a huge difference in the odor in the room. My son is also not the best at remembering to flush but usually closed the lid, so one day I was cleaning all over and couldn't figure out why it still smelled, lifted the lid and realized he forgot to flush. I flushed and the smell went away right away.

I think the urine gets into places that you can't get with cleaner. If you have grout and tile, I would put the toiler cleaner gel (the bleach kind) and let it sit on the grout for a few minutes, then scrub it with a toothbrush. If its vinyl, I have no idea.

Maybe animal urine spray cleaner. Its designed to clean and cover the smell of animal urine.. .maybe it will work for humans..

good luck

Bakeing Soda and vinegar. The bakeing soda eliminates ALL oders! I use it when my boys have had accidents in their beds. I take off the sheets and put ALOT on to cover the wet surface and let it absorb all the "wet", then vacum off hours later and the smell goes with it. Is there a rug there by the toilet? Remove it and wash it.....but remove it all together....the smell doesn't really get out of those and well, it get's stepped on and tracked all over....EWWWW! Try scrubbing the floor around the toilet with the bakeing soda/vinegar combo. It's natural, safe, and cheap! Have them practice their aim as well, couldn't hurt!

Good luck.

Hi H.. To improve the boys' aim, put cheerios in the toilet.

At the pet store you can get Nature's Miracle. It is for all stains and odors and works great for urine, both pet and little boy! I have 3 boys, and my 6 year old hardly ever gets the toilet because he is in too much of a hurry due to waiting too long.
It is a great product! It gets vomit out of car seats... anything!
We have gallons on hand!

I read recently about something they are doing in men's public restrooms in Asia. They have placed a red dot down at the bottom on the back wall of the toilet bowl. They have found that it keeps the toilets much cleaner because it catches the men's attention and they look where they should be aiming. The other thing you can do is open the window for 10 minutes or so after they've been in there and of course if there is no window there will be a fan.
Hope this helps,
B., (Grama of 8)

My suggestion would be to either have them sit down until they are better aimers like my nephew does and he is 6 or if they can't aim correctly, make them clean their own pee. This may help them pay attention more if they know they will have to clean their own bathroom.
My nephew knows no different. My sister taught him to sit until he is of age to watch where the pee is going and not get distracted and pee all over the place.
My little guy is 1 and I will teach him to sit down when we start potty training him. Much cleaner.
As far as cleaning products, try Pine Sol or Mr.Clean. It's is strong and smells better than pee...I also sell Partylite and the Reed diffuser are awesome in bathrooms. No candle or flame. Let me know if you want to try one of our's they are great.
trish

Hi there! Put some cheerios in the potty for them to aim at. Also, Clorox Hard Surface Anywhere Spray for after you wipe up is amazing! I swear by it. You can also put some reed air freshners for an over all smell good scent. :)

Hi H.,
My all time remedy for nasty smells is sage. Not the cooking sage but the kind you find bundled and wrapped by native americans. You can find it at new age type stores. I have had cats who have done the peeing thing and sage always works.
I have used it to take really nasty BO smells out of my expensive circus costumes that cannot be washed or dry cleaned. You light the sage stick, let it flame up a second or two, then blow it out. Prop it over a bowl of sand and close the bathroom door (dissable the smoke alarm first.) The bathroom will fill up with smoke, of course. Let the stick burn for a little while - about ten minutes. They will usually go out by themselves, but if it doesn't, up end it in the sand. In about an hour, open the bathroom window and let the smoke out. I guarantee it won't smell like urine! It should last for at least a week. The other option is to make a tincture with sage and then spray that around the base of the toilet and the floor. I hope this helps.

This is a constant problem with my three boys. In addition to using cleaning wipes frequently, we also use Urine Gone Stain and Odor Remover. (I think we got it at Home Depot.)
http://www.mysimon.com/9015-10992_8-32114402.html

As someone else mentioned, Nature's Miracle works well, too, but it doesn't come with the black light.

The black light is a little scary when you first use it. It also doesn't work on white throw rugs.

I would second what some people have said about checking the walls near the toilet. I was having the same problem with smells in the bathrooom, and found that my son was missing even more badly than I knew. I cleaned up the wall, had a talk with him, and it's been much better. Good luck.

having something in the toilet to help with the boys' aim sounds like a good idea, i also agree with the addition of a step stool if you don't already have one. the one thing i can't believe no one's mentioned yet is OUST spray!! since you are a mother i'm going to assume that you already know how to clean your own bathroom but OUST removes the bacteria that are still hanging around in the air even after you clean all the surfaces and those bacteria can cause odors. i use a combo of OUST and FEBREEZE to remove the smell of garbage from my car and it works even if the garbage sat in the trunk for a few days (yes i know i'm lazy) but the point is the products work well to remove odors from fabric (FEBREEZE) and the air (OUST) good luck to ya

At whole foods you can find a product called 'stain and order remover' it is really good and it's made from enzymes - our dog has accidents I use it and it works great.

R.

I use the wipes all the time. Every time I go into the bath room I do the wipe down....

Have you tried vinegar? I use it to clean up cat urine and it works great.

Boy have I gone through this one! My 5 year almost 6 year old still needs "reminders" at times to get a clean shot, but things improved greatly when I tried these things:
1. Seal the base of your toilet, make sure the urine can't go under the base to where you can't clean. If it is currently unsealed, spray a ton of bleach spray under there and stick Q-tips in until they come out clean. Then run (don't walk) to Lowe's or Ace and ask about sealing the base and do it the second you get home.
2. While at Lowe's or Ace, buy a toilet seat that can be taken off easily for cleaning so if the urine gets in the attachment mechinism to the toilet it isn't a major deal. These lids also come with a slow control lowering mechanism that controls "slamming down of the lid."
3. Make the kids clean the mess. Once the base is sealed, the kids can be given a bucket of warm soapy water and a cloth and be expected to "clean up" the mess. They will most likely be very grossed out by this and not want to do it again. This helps in the memory part of the hitting the target skills. Of course you will probably still have to clean more after they are done but their part should be gross for them anyway.
Good luck!
K.

I have the same problem!!!!!
I don't like to use chemicals so I use a combo of vinegar, lemon and water. Then twice a week I clean with baking soda and vinegar together, it bubbles up a bit and seems to do the trick.

Let me know if you get some other better suggestions!!!!!
Good Luck,
V.

Do yourself a favor and ask them to please sit down!

My son, who is almost five, has pretty good aim but I have observed that sometimes the stream will start to come out a little stronger and he ends up "overshooting". Then I find little boy pee pee IN THE HINGES OF THE TOILET LID. This has to be sprayed with a lot of cleaner to get it flushed out. Then I go behind with a q-tip and finally a toothpick covered with a baby wipe. Then I spray with a little bleach.

Check under the bowl and all around, especially behind the toilet and in the tiny space between the toilet and the floor. Go around it with a toothpick covered in a tissue or baby wipe. Also pay close attention, if you have a two piece toilet, to where the tank joins the bowl. Very unpleasant, but necessary.

Finally, try Febreeze or some other odor neutralizer- not just an air freshener. They're probably all toxic, and we're all trying to be more "green" but the smell of little boy pee pee is something I can't live with any more than you can. Good luck! I've heard they do finally grow up eventually!

Hi H....

I have all girls, but my friends with boys used Fruit Loops and Cheerios in the toilet to help the boys aim. She kept an open container on the top of the toilet tank and told them to toss five of them in and sink them. They learned to aim a bit better and had fun!

I use Clorox Cleanup spray around the base of my toilets. I would wait until the kids are in bed for the night, spray a bit, and then make sure you wipe it up before they get up, since it is a bleach product and you wouldn't want them to come in contact with it.

Once you feel they're old enough to understand the danger of chemicals on your skin, you could even keep a rubber glove and some Clorox cleanup wipes in the bathroom where they can reach it - and tell them to glove up and grab a wipe when they miss. That may cure them of missing the bowl!

Hope that helps!

M.

How about trying amonia water - for me, that is what always has gotten rid of that smell!!! However, I do agree with the other moms to check on the items around the toilet... I have two boys, so I totally know.

R.