Looking for thoughts/suggestions on how to keep the whelping box clean, especially over night.

We have 6 week olds, Mom is close to clocking out, definitely isn't cleaning up anymore, puppies are eating around 6:30, 10ish, 3ish and 8ish. We have a 4 x 4 whelping box with a layer of rubber backed carpet, then something absorbent(wool, fleece..) then 2 layers of towels. I've tried other bedding options, this one works best for us.

We seem to do alright during the day, I try to get them out right after eating to poop but it's been so cold lately. But night time is the problem. It really is too cold to go out after that last meal so I wait a while to pick up poops, change laundry etc.

But in the morning there is such a huge mess. I certainly don't mind cleaning up, I just worry that they've been sleeping in it.

I have tried a litter box before, that didn't work well. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas as to how to "section" off the box for poop vs sleeping areas? Or am I feeding too late in the day/evening that they don't have time to get it all out before nightfall? I know that they're too young to go through the night just yet but with the amount of poop that is in there in the morning, it appears as though they may be going more than once?

Anyway, thanks for thoughts and suggestions.

How many puppies do you have? 4 x 4 seems like a small space for 6 week old puppies to have a sectioned off area. I would suggest you make the area bigger and try to then section off a potty area. Is there a way you can remove one side of the whelping box and still have it be stable? If so then I would add some xpen panels and secure them onto the box to enlarge the area. This way you have the whelping box area with 3 sides and xpens on the other sides . I litter pan my puppies starting at 3 weeks of age to stinky paper/equine fresh pellets in a plastic pool..
If you can't attach an area to your current whelping box set up.. then I guess just going with an larger xpen area might be better.

Ok, my first thought here is that you have 6 week old pups in a 4x4 space?? Really?? There space should have been expanded at around 4 weeks of age. You don't say how many pups. Also, is mom locked into that box with them, or is she free to get away from them? Not sure why the litterbox did not work for you. What I do is open up the whelping box at about 4 weeks of age. I put a large expen around it(24 or 30 inch pen is best, as it is easy to reach the pups without opening the gate to a flood of escapees!). Then the whelping box itself becomes the potty. I use pine shavings, but others have had success with woody pellets. Within 48 hours, all pups are 100% potty trained. Then they have their sleep/play area. They have different surfaces to lie on, including bare floor (which is the preferred).They have toys and tunnels and water and mom visits for a minute every now and then. She is NEVER locked in with pups! At 6 weeks of age, you are doing something wrong if the pups still have to sleep in their messes. Pups should never sleep in their messes, at any age. Open up theur world, and you will see how fast they learn to potty away from where they eat, sleep and play.

One more thought----It sounds like your pups are forced to live on multiple layers of padding and materials. Give them a bare floor options, and watch all of them take it. They need the choice.

I'm not sure how much you are willing to change since this works during the daytime for you.

I currently have 10 pups which are 7 weeks old. They spend much of their day in a 9 X 5 foot wide "laundry closet" surrounded by 2 puppy pens with bifold doors open to the rest of the house.

They have a 3X3 foot rabbit tray with horse stall pellets in it where they potty. When not out with us,they play in their area and potty in the box. I change the stall pellets first thing in the morning and right before bedtime. I sprinkle fresh pellets over waste during the day. They do sometimes stand in the tray and poop over the edge which I pick up with napkins and put in a garabage bag which is stored closed on a nearby shelf. I empty garabage frequently. I make the area small to sweep one side and then the other to avoid broom chasers - we do this 2x a day.

I wake up in the morning to a potty box which is easily dumped and maybe 1 or 2 poops to pick up outside of the potty box. Not a big deal and not very smelly at all.

Mine also go outside for feeding times/potty weather permitting 3x/day.

To me, allowing pups to potty on layers of fabric, rugs, etc. teaches them to potty on the carpet and furniture later.

I buy linolem from Lowe's and cover my floor with 2 layers. We have a small room (12x12) and the puppies have the entire thing with an expansion gate across each of the 2 doorways. The whelping box and my sleeping couch are out of there by the time the pups are 3.5 weeks old. We have thick layers of newspapers in one corner and lots of bedding and toys in another area. We changes newspaper first thing in the morning and throughout the day. They go on the paper pretty well right from the start.

I don't think a whelping box is for pups after 3 or 4 weeks old.

At about 3 wks, I convert my 4 X 5 foot pen to a 5 X 10 foot pen I use one end for papers and the other a Kuranda bed and a blanket they take to going on the papers very quickly

also, at 7 weeks - they all start to be crate trained if I have room - 1 pup to a crate, if not 2 pups to a crate amazing how quickly they learn to hold it til AM