I need advice about my six year old pooping his pants?

Question

I have six yearold who poops his underwear. It went on for a while, but we have to stop it! We got on him about it, we wouldnt let him in the bathroom without letting us no, we put him in diapers when he had an accident, we helped teach him how to wipe his bottom. We did it for two weeks straight and it stop! We did it by taking away games and toys... he has admitted to us he was playin with toys once and thats why he didnt go to the bathroom. For about a month he was doing so great but he relapsed... I dont know what to do... We have him in a diaper right now and I have to go back to the same routine. He is such a well behaved boy and very kind and sweet. Im scared for him to go to school and still have his problem. I have three months to end it for all time. I need advice and I would appreciate it. Im just confused he loved us saying your such a good and big boy for using the potty. Why doesn't he just use the bathroom cuz he knows how to what can i do???

Answer 1

I do not think belittling him will do anything.  Is it possible he has a problem with constipation?  Or does he always, "hold it" because he doesn't want to go?  Maybe the act of using the toilet scares him because sometimes it hurts.  So he trys not to by holding it and in turn has accidents.  I can actually remember being scared of going because it might hurt and I would hold it...  for days... and then it really would hurt.  Anyway, my mother was worried and brought me to the doctor after I went 8 days without going.  I ended up with an enima, at 4 years old. (it was tramatic enough to remember) They explained it would only hurt WHEN I held it.  If I didn't, it wouldn't.  I didn't want another trip to the doctor so I changed my behavior...  Find out why, then take him to a doctor.

Answer 2

Him playing with toys and being distracted can sometimes make an accident happen, kids do that sometimes. But at 6 you'd think he would not want to do that. My first thought was is he scared of something in the bathroom? A lot of kids are scared of things involving the toilet. Talk to him and tell him he has to be a big boy and ask him to share with you any fears he may have with the potty/bathroom. Be patient and try to look at this from his level to figure it out. Good Luck.

Answer 3

sounds like he is doing it for attention...do you have any other kids?  Putting him back in a diaper is the wrong thing to do...you're pretty much giving him permission to p**p/pee on himself!  He shouldn't have to tell you hey i'm going to the bathroom, he should be allowed to go whenever; because it may be to too late.  

or I just found this site about Encopresis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encopresis

never knew something existed but hey go see a doc and find out!

Answer 4

We went through the same thing when our son was 7.  Out of the blue he just started pooping on himself.  Being in Human Services, I automatically went to a psychological reason, but found none.  I thought about medical reasons, but he never went on himself at school or at friends' houses.  It was always at home.  Finally, we got it out of him.  His excuse was that he was busy watching TV and/or playing and just didn't want to stop long enough to go to the bathroom.  I was furious to say the least.  My husband and I made him clean himself and his clothes by himself every time it happened.  We also made him take bathroom breaks every 2 hours while at home.  After cleaning his own p**p for a couple of days, he broke the filthy habit and has had no relapse since.  Every child is different though.

If your son is only doing this at home then I highly doubt there is a medical reason.  Sometimes kids just get lazy and try to see how much they can get away with.  Hang in there.  It's all part of parenting.

Answer 5

You don't put him in diapers!  You make HIM clean up his own messes!

Answer 6

I am having the same problem! My son has a drs appointment on june 8th ,so i have no answers yet! Is your son actually pooping his pants or is there just a little on his underwear? My son is holding his becuz,i guess,it hurt one time and now hes scared to go.But from what I have read,if theres any loose stuff,it seeps around whats being held in and gets all over his underwear.I think its called Encropsys??This also causes the scphinter to become weak so that the kids dont feel that they have to p**p.My son has to start school in the fall also,and im freaking out!Maybe we can help each other find a solution,becuz im lost on what to do with him!

Answer 7

i dont advise "just take 'em to the doctor" too often, but in this case i think you should- it could be a psychological issue, or even a physical one.. but you need professional advice on this one

Answer 8

My son had a similar problem.  The problem with not pooping is that his colon will stretch out and the receptors therefore won't recognize that he has to go.  We are currently working on it and what has helped us is a few things.  1) He takes Miralax in his drink at lunch.  Our dr. told us to do it, and Miralax is NOT a laxative, but a stool softener.  It makes it easy for him to get the p**p out.  2) He has a couple books that he loves but he only gets to see them when he's on the potty.  3)  He has a set pooping time right after dinner, where I set the timer for 10-15 minutes and he goes right in and sits for the alloted amt of time.  When we first started the routine he got a star for every time he did the routine with no problems and then at the end of the week he got something he chose (a special dessert, or time with us or something like that).  Now we don't do the stars at all because he's so into the routine he reminds us he has to do it if we forget!  He may not p**p everyday (and our dr. assured us pooping every day is not medically necessary) but he still does the sitting.  We've had no more problems with pooping in his underwear in a quite a while and no more problems of him saying it hurt to go p**p!

Answer 9

try telling him your becoming a big boy and no girl or other little boy poops in their pants ..so try and go when you need to go me and daddy will help you too ..we will go with you don't be afraid to tell us you have to go its OK everyone does it ..