71/2 yr. old messes his pants almost every day..Help!?

Question

My son has BM in his pants almost every day. It's not alot but any is too much as far as I am concerned. He takes a Rx laxative every other day. He sits on the toliet every morning & night (only because I make him). Sometimes he has sucess but usually..nothing. This has been going on for 3yrs now. I have tried punishment, bribes, EVERYTHING! Please help!!!!

Answer 1

I'd suggest talking to both his pediatrician and a child psychologist.  There may be a behavioral component along with the physical problem of constipation and the laxative.  Good luck!

One more thing... I'd make him clean up after himself.  When he messes himself, he needs to rinse out his underwear and pants and put them in the laundry.  He also needs to take a shower and clean himself up.

Answer 2

This is not something your child is doing on purpose. More parents have this problem then will ever be admitted.

  First take him to his Doctor, and ask to have his stomach x-ray-ed. I would guess that your Doctor will say he is very constipated. His colon is probably stretched out. This happen because at some point he either had a hard stool he had to pass, or he felt a negative feeling about his stool.

  I can only speak from my experience my son had an impact of old f***s that built up, it could not pass so the new f***s oozes around the compact, and because the colon is stretched out they can not feel that they are passing anything into their under ware.

  We stay on a mild laxative in a small dosage that is monitored by his doctor. This is important because the colon has to reduce itself back to a normal size.

  After everything is done then try a reward system.

Answer 3

poor kiddo,

Have you considered he's constipated?

Answer 4

My little brother is 7 and a half too, and he's been weird about BMs since he was a toddler. My mom cuts a vegetable laxative in half and gives it too him in the morning. He used to just hold it in no matter what we did for a long time, and then when he went, it hurt (cause it was large for his little body). Because it hurt, he became like, scared to go so it was a terrible cycle. With the natural laxative, and us kind of...trying not to call attention to it anymore, he's gotten much better. He doesn't go as often as a normal kid, but he goes enough and has less anxiety over the whole deal.

Try less attention to it, keep on some sort of laxative, maybe try a new kind or a natural one. Make sure he's not in pain, it only makes it worse. Most important is just, don't make it a huge deal, its a natural process, so he should feel at ease about it. (Only warning is, don't ignore it too much, try to nonchalantly keep track of how often he goes, if it gets to be way too long, bring him to a doctor he'll be uncomfortable and even more upset.)

Answer 5

Have you talked with the pediatrician?  I doubt that this is a behavioural issue, so it doesn't surprise me that punishments and bribes don't work.  You've probably covered this already, but you might want to check his diet.  Drink plenty of fluids, eat more fiber, etc.  Poor kid sounds constipated.

Answer 6

Well for one if he is on a laxative,that can cause even what we think is gas to have a little stool in it as well. And if it is a little I would quit the punishment and making an issue out of it. Usually BM are a behavioral issue and it sounds like he is very stressed about the whole BM process. And quit making him sit on the toilet like that. Give him a chance to learn to go on his own, or when his body needs to. 7 1/2 is still pretty young and the more pressure that is put on him about it the worse it will get. Back off for a while and maybe back off the RX. My daughter was on one as well and it caused a lot of stomach aches etc. and she did a lot better once I took her off of it. We use Benefiber instead, it has no cramping at all. And i use it only twice a week. If he has been doing this for 3 years and is punished for it have you ever thought it is something he cannot control?

Answer 7

I can't imagine he enjoys doing it and with you punishing him and making him sit on the toilet it is not helping him.

Answer 8

Hello, he takes a laxative.  He obviously has troubles controling his bowels, of course nothing works you are treating a PHYSICAL problem as a BEHAVIORAL problem.  Poor child who knows what harm you've done to his self esteem.  Obviously the thought to consult his doctor has not crossed your mind.  Sheesh

Answer 9

My 71/2 year old does the same thing. He only has a bowel movement like once a week, other than that, it's just a little mess in his underwear. He has quit doing it so much now, but he tries his hardest not to have to go in school, I think that has something to do with it.