Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think child might struggle to poop in a hole in the woods?

108 replies

wldpwr · 15/09/2026 18:56

If you have a child aged 4, 5 or 6...

... full day of childcare in the woods, only option for number two is 1) notify teacher, 2) teacher digs small hole, 3) child poops in hole, 4) teacher covers hole and helps child clean up.

YABU = my kid could cope with this, no problem

YANBU = this sounds like something my kid might find weird or difficult

Thanks!

OP posts:
Sinuhe · 15/09/2026 20:19

As someone who has done lots of hiking and wild camping, this isn't as alien as it sounds.

Knowing where & how to do a No2 safely in the great outdoors is a basic skill.

Leave no trace!

Original poster
wldpwr · 15/09/2026 20:17

PlaneOverhead · 15/09/2026 20:15

I genuinely think this is a life skill that every child should have, just like being able to wee outside. It's limiting to only be able to conceive of toilets and cuts out lots of fun places to travel and proper camping.

That's an interesting perspective, thank you. I wonder if child needs to work on this skill with me first. I think perhaps being asked to do it for the first time with an adult child doesn't know that well or have an attachment to is the problem.

(Kid is a big fan of weeing outside, no problems there!)

OP posts:
PlaneOverhead · 15/09/2026 20:15

I genuinely think this is a life skill that every child should have, just like being able to wee outside. It's limiting to only be able to conceive of toilets and cuts out lots of fun places to travel and proper camping.

Shoobadadoo · 15/09/2026 20:13

my children would happily do this. It would be an adventure hahaha

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 15/09/2026 20:13

DD wouldn't have been able to do it. Once she was potty trained she couldn't wee not on a loo. It was like a mental block and she couldn't 'let go'. Even a she wee made no difference to emergency roadside wees, she'd be desperate, upset, and completely unable to go. If I'd asked her to do a wild poo we'd probably still be there! 😂

Original poster
wldpwr · 15/09/2026 20:11

This is helpful, thanks everyone!

My kid is unsettled by this request but setting seem to think it's an unusual reaction, hence the question.

OP posts:
CrikeyMajikey · 15/09/2026 20:09

My kids would have loved it.

Original poster
wldpwr · 15/09/2026 20:08

NewGoldFox · 15/09/2026 19:19

Is it a one off day long hike scenario or is it being proposed as a routine solution?

Routine.

OP posts:
Original poster
wldpwr · 15/09/2026 20:08

ilovepixie · 15/09/2026 19:12

How do they wipe? If using toilet paper where do they put it?

Edited

I have no idea!

OP posts:
Original poster
wldpwr · 15/09/2026 20:07

persephoneee · 15/09/2026 19:18

I walked a stage of the Camino de Santiago many years ago and believe me, pooping in the wild was the norm. Sad to say some of the pilgrims just went and left it behind, most though bagged up the stuff and deposited at the next available bin, or dug a hole for it. Me included when caught short. It's not something anyone wants to do, but sometimes has to.

Yes, totally understandable for an adult when travelling.

Also makes sense for families if on all day hikes as some PPs say. I actually think this would be different in our case too as it would be me or my partner asking/supporting rather than teacher.

OP posts:
Original poster
wldpwr · 15/09/2026 20:05

ComtesseDeSpair · 15/09/2026 19:04

I think many children would find it difficult if they’d not been taken camping or hiking before, yes. I think it’s a reasonably common forest school expectation in some countries though, friends’ young children’s forest schools do this - but pupils are expected to have the capability before being allowed to enrol, rather than expecting them to deal with something they’ve never done before.

At that's interesting, child in question has actually been to forest school but there is a composting loo there.

OP posts:
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 15/09/2026 19:44

Llamallamafruitpyjama · 15/09/2026 19:40

We hike often and just poop before we go.

Show quote history

I have never felt like pooing on a long hike, and I also hike often.

Unless you’ve got diarrhoea, it’s rare that you can’t hold it in.

It’s not like wee where come a certain point you simply have to go in order to be able to put one foot in front of the other (unless you’re unwell as I said!)

beaglescurleduplikebagels · 15/09/2026 19:43

Llamallamafruitpyjama · 15/09/2026 19:40

We hike often and just poop before we go.

Show quote history

Not everyone can control their urges that much!

Llamallamafruitpyjama · 15/09/2026 19:40

MarzipanAngel · 15/09/2026 19:24

One of mine pooed in the middle of a park so I’m sure a hole in the woods would have been ok.
I could never, it’s something that puts me off big long hikes tbh.

We hike often and just poop before we go.

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 15/09/2026 19:36

BirdLandedonmyHead · 15/09/2026 19:10

And hiw dies the teacher and child properley wash their hands afterwards?

Hand sanitiser i presume.

OriginalSkang · 15/09/2026 19:34

Yes, if this is a weekly or more often thing there is going to be people digging up old poo and an area of the woods that's full of buried poo

Deadleaves77 · 15/09/2026 19:30

I think they would manage it but it doesnt seem very sanitary long term. Imagine 30 poos buried all over the woods? Is this just a one day thing?

I cant imagine a 6 yo being ecstatic about having to tell their teacher they need a poo and then waiting for them to dig a hole and then burying it. That seems a bit old for tolerating a teacher to help them shit.

MarzipanAngel · 15/09/2026 19:24

One of mine pooed in the middle of a park so I’m sure a hole in the woods would have been ok.
I could never, it’s something that puts me off big long hikes tbh.

NewGoldFox · 15/09/2026 19:19

Is it a one off day long hike scenario or is it being proposed as a routine solution?

persephoneee · 15/09/2026 19:18

I walked a stage of the Camino de Santiago many years ago and believe me, pooping in the wild was the norm. Sad to say some of the pilgrims just went and left it behind, most though bagged up the stuff and deposited at the next available bin, or dug a hole for it. Me included when caught short. It's not something anyone wants to do, but sometimes has to.

ilovepixie · 15/09/2026 19:12

How do they wipe? If using toilet paper where do they put it?

CombatBarbie · 15/09/2026 19:10

School would be easier taking a portable potty tbh. Neither of my Dds would have had an issue with this as many african holidays when out locally, it was a hole in the floor.

persephoneee · 15/09/2026 19:10

I read somewhere that certain men shat in the golf holes as a protest at Trump's visit to his golf courses in Scotland. They could give the kids some lessons on shitting in the wild.

BirdLandedonmyHead · 15/09/2026 19:10

And hiw dies the teacher and child properley wash their hands afterwards?

Favouritefruits · 15/09/2026 19:08

What! No… neither of my boys would do that and I wouldn’t expect them to either. Surely nobody is proposing this?