3 kittens that lick each others bottoms

these kittens are less than or about 4 weeks old, all eyes open. i have had them for 2 weeks. I dont have a problem that they lick eacho others bottoms since they were taken from their mom prematurely and she wouldnt take them back. the mom is a stray cat. The problem is that they lick and suck at eachothers buttholes and poop on eachother in the process and leak poop all over their boxes. i can clean their box and within the hour its pissy and poopy again. it was cute at first but the breaking point for me was today when i saw my kitten with wet poop juice all over his face

what should i do? is this just a phase?

You need to separate these babies or you could have some real health issues. Take a cardboard box and be sure it is big enough that all babies can have a certain section. Using other cardboard flaps, make dividers- poke holes in the dividing "walls" so they can smell each other still. Go to the store and get a couple of small stuffed dog toys (walmart is the cheapest) give each kitten a toy and be sure you provide them with heat. A pet heating pad buried under a towel is ideal.

Suckling is a dangerous thing for kittens and kittens who weren't able to get to mom's milk bar will suckle each other for comfort. It sounds sad to separate them, but you must.

www.kitten-rescue.com is my website and I go into this issue there-

Best of luck!