Momma and 5 1/2 week old kitten questions...again!

Hi everyone. I am having a little trouble with Oreo and her five babies. The babies are about 5 1/2 weeks old now...and getting to be much more work!! Also please understand that I have three human "babies" - ages 8, 3, and 19 months...

Oreo kept her babies in a closet in the youngest human baby's room for the first few weeks. Then - for unknown reasons (they were in the quietest room of the house, and were left alone) - she moved them to my oldest son's closet. This was less than desireable, but we made do (after we tried to move them back a few times - she kept moving them to the new closet again). I made room for food and water, and they were all cozy and happy.

The first problem was that I thought Oreo would take them to her litterbox and show them how to use it, but no. She just let them go under my son's dresser...So I have that mess to clean up. I didn't realize it was happening until a few days later when it started to smell. Now I can't move the dresser and my husband is never home, so that will have to wait. I got a small litterbox and put it in the closet, and they caught on to that pretty quickly. I don't know for sure that they are all using it, but it seems so. I have to clean it EVERY day or it gets icky...

Lately, the kittens have been coming downstairs at night, after all the human babies are in bed. The come down and get food from here (even though they have some upstairs), and to play, cuddle, whatever. Last night, they all five came downstairs, and Oreo decided to nestle them down behind my couch for the night. Which was fine until my human babies got up this morning. They are leaving the kittens alone as much as possible, but mostly I worry about a kitten getting accidentally trampled.

So now I have a new problem. I can't keep a litterbox down here, because my 19-month-old is curious as can be...I have enough trouble keeping him out of trouble without adding a litterbox to the game. Will the babies remember the litterbox in the closet upstairs? Or do I have to worry about them going all over the place again? They are able to go up and down the steps by themselves, but none of them have gone upstairs all day, although they did eat downstairs this morning.

These guys are adorable and I love them to pieces...my favorite is when they all follow their momma around like little ducklings!! But it is crazy down here with three boys, and I am worried about the kittens and possibly having to clean up *more* messes than I already am...

I really don't have a room that I can devote to the babies - unless I close them and momma up in my youngest son's room...But Oreo likes to be able to get away from them for a "break" and some loving of her own every now and then. She seems to be spending more and more time away from them. A box is out of the question, too...They have figured out how to get in and out of pretty big boxes already.

I'm sorry this is so terribly long - I am just frustrated and concerned...And to make my Saturday even more fun, my 19-month-old has figured out how to get upstairs by himself, but can't get back down!! Hee - hee...Just more fun for me, I suppose!

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have for me!! Have a great day!

When litter training kittens, you need to keep them in a small area. If they have access to a huge house, they will never be able to find the litter pan. How can a 5 week old kitten going upstairs and downstairs know that the only place he should go is in the litterpan upstairs in this bedroom? They are of the age where they should have learned (or at least be learning) litterpan habits. I strongly suggest isolating them in one room (mom can have breaks from her babies within the house) until they are trained. You can use your son's room or a bathroom. Once they are trained, there should be litterpans in every room they have access to at this age.

It's strange to me because my kittens trained themselves because the mom wasn't litter trained, and the kittens knew how to use it right off the bat when I laid the litter down for the first time.