We have a five-year-old (almost six) who cannot seem to make it to the potty for poop before soiling his underwear. His bottom and underwear get dirty almost every day. We have tried positive incentives (treats, toys, sticker charts, money) for clean poops with no impact. We don't make a big deal about it, but he now washes out his own underwear and cleans himself up (again, with no impact). He doesn't show signs before pooping, so we have trouble sending him to the pottery in time. He has a big poop in the toilet about once a day or once every other day, but again, these are almost always preceded by letting a bit out into his underwear. There are often 2 or 3 times during a day when something small will come out before he makes it to the toilet, but then when he sits down on the pot to push, nothing else comes out. He eats a decent amount of fiber (whole wheat, fruit with skin, veggies, fibrous cereal), but we're going to try adding a fiber supplement, and even a laxative for kids for the first week or so. He doesn't seem to have severe constipation because his tummy never hurts and he doesn't complain about painful bowel movements. He says he doesn't like taking time out of play to poop, and that he can't tell when the poop is about to come out.
Does anyone have experience with this issue? I would love any comments or suggestions. Thanks!
Google "encopresis." If that's what it is, he needs help and cannot control it. It's very common in kids his age. Talk to the pediatrician.
Hi there,
My daughter just turned 5 on Monday and we have had the same problem for over a year and a half now. We thought at first it was a behavioral issue and did the same as you, rewarded for good poops etc...
We never thought our daughter was constipated because she has a large sized bowel movement everyday, however, she did have one episode of severe abdominal pain that led us to the doctor for an x-ray and we did learn that she is chronically constipated. It turns out, our pediatrician informed us that about 60% of kiddos are chronically constipated without symptoms. We started her on a Miralax program and we have not had any problems with soiling since. In fact, when she does have soiled underwear problems, we increase the Miralax and it takes care of it. Our pediatrician said that she cant feel when the 'accident' is happening and has no control of it either. She never has painful bowel movements, and another surprising thing our pediatrician said is that kiddos should not have huge bowel movements. Our daughter was having LARGE bowel movements daily before we started the Miralax, I almost did not believe the doc when she told me that our daughter was constipated. I hope this helps, talk to your pediatrician too, I bet he/she has seen this before.
Good Luck :)
What is the poop like? Is it soft and mushy? If so, then he may have some constipation issues with his digestive track and what you are seeing is the soft watery stuff that is able to make its way out past all of the other matter. And, if that's the case, then the diarrhea that you are seeing may be the reason why he is not making it to the bathroom on time. If this sounds about right to you, you'll probably want to give him some mylecon mixed with juice for a few days to flush out his digestive track (you should probably check with your pediatrician before doing this) and maybe adding some omega 3 or flax seed oil to his diet. With flax seed oil, I just mix a little bit in with my son's honey mustard dip. My understanding is that it helps keep the intestines healthy and move things along.
Hope this helps.
my son does this too -- just too busy to heed the warnings until it's too late. i figured out when he normally goes, in our case after lunch. so after lunch i send him in there to try. he can take a book or magazine to read while he waits. sometimes i tell him it's time, he claims he doesn't feel it. ok, so he gets to wait and usually about 30 seconds later he says it's time to do; i guess he wants to say when he's ready not let me tell him.
I would take him to the Dr to make sure he doesn't have something medical going on first before you do a laxative. Expecially if he is saying he can't tell when its about to happen. Keep track of his BM's to see if there is a pattern, the Dr will ask you about this
My son was doing this when he was 5 (now he is 6) and he would admit it was just because he did not want to stop what he was doing to use the bathroom. He would pee or sometimes poop in his pants at school daily! At first I was all sensitive about it and trying to figure out if he had some kind of issue. Once I found out it was simply bc he couldn't be bothered to stop playing I had a serious talk with him about how this is NOT acceptable and that there were going to be consequences for when he purposely did this. His teacher agreed to begin reminding him multiple times a day as well. He shaped up pretty fast once he realized it was going to get him in trouble.
Good advice below.
If you think it is neither constipation, encopresis or diarrhea, one think you may try (that is usually also recommended for encopresis) is to have him sit on the potty either immediately or 10-20 minutes after each meal. Just ask him to seat there for a few minutes, reading a book for example with no pressure to poop or anything. Just after eating, our body has a natural urge to poop (that as adult most of us ignore or fail to recognize). After a few days, you may see the first poop of these sessions and after a little while it will just be an habit for you/school and him that he poops at 8am (or 1 pm or 7 pm...)
All the best.
Even if he doesn't have a sore tummy or complain about painful bowel movements, what you describe sounds like constipation. Add lots more fiber. If you know around the time he goes, then try to pick a time each day and put him on the toilet. Give him a glass of water to drink while he sits there. A lot of people have sworn by the water, they say it helps make is looser.
The stains on the underwear and the failure to poop are signs of withholding, which is like constipation in children. We have been battleing this for years. I would talk to your pediatrician.
I agree with Denise. Do you notice any bloating in his midsection on days he does not go? He may not actually have feeling in the lower section of his bowel that would trigger the "gotta go" response he would need to get to the bathroom on time. He may not feel it until it builds up higher in the bowel and then it's too late. I'd definitely have him see a pediatric gastroenterologist (if his regular ped concurs) to be sure, esp. before you give him any laxatives! I'm sure he feels terrible that he doesn't have the control he needs to get to the potty on time. Good luck!
Updated
I agree with Denise. Do you notice any bloating in his midsection on days he does not go? He may not actually have feeling in the lower section of his bowel that would trigger the "gotta go" response he would need to get to the bathroom on time. He may not feel it until it builds up higher in the bowel and then it's too late. I'd definitely have him see a pediatric gastroenterologist (if his regular ped concurs) to be sure, esp. before you give him any laxatives! I'm sure he feels terrible that he doesn't have the control he needs to get to the potty on time. Good luck!
