Hi Mamas. My son turns 4 today and for about the last week or so, he has decided to do his duty in his underwear. He has been trained with #1(pee-pee) since before he was 3 and trained since last June or July with #2 (poo). We moved last month and he did go in his pants for just a couple of days after the move. I totally understand that and he rebounded completely and went back to going in the potty. Now, he runs from me whenever he has to go #2 and will say that he does not have to go (although he then proceeds to go in his pants). I am becoming increasingly more frustrated with each time he does this!
Do you mamas think that he might still be adjusting to the move (even though he did go back on he potty for a few weeks)? I can't seem to figure this one out or how to help get him back on track.
Any advice?
Lots of kids regress, for various reasons. I suggest you put him back in diapers or pull-ups for a while, unless you enjoy cleaning up the mess all the time.
He may have had a difficult, painfully large stool and now her REALLY does NOT want to go #2 and is fighting it. We went to a pediatric GI and he says it happens a LOT about this age. IF his stools are big and hard increase his fiber and water we finally had to use metamucil free and clear because all the fiber rich foods we were giving him wasnt enough. Tell him this will make his stools easier and not painful.
If thats not the problem then could be a reaction to the move or other change, try to talk to him
My four year old son is doing the same thing, with seemingly no explanation as to why. My pediatrician said it's normal. He also said it's perfectly acceptable to have the 4yr old help wash the soiled undies ea time he messes. With supervision of course, but helps teach cause and effect. He said it's usually not helpful to scream and get mad, but to just establish deterrents (like washing them) and stck with them. So far it has worked for us. We also make him wear his underjams/pull ups if he does it twice in a day, which he does NOT like! :) He still has occasional messes, but are smaller and less frequent. Still annoying but better than before! And like the Dr told me, eventually this will end. I won't be chastising him when he's 7 yrs old for this. Good luck! :)
He could still be adjusting to the big changes in his home environment, or any other baffling or upsetting occurrences in his little life recently. Kids often regress as a way to establish some sort of control. Does he like his new room? Can you make it feel more familiar or homey for him? Is your schedule similar to what he was used to? Has he lost any favorite friends because the move?
But there could be something physical going on – there's not enough detail in your request to know for sure. As Sandy L. suggests, a difficult bowel movement could have made him afraid to repeat the experience. If this is the case, keeping him well-hydrated and adding fiber like extra fruit or Metamucil, or a stool softener like Miralax to his daily routine could be helpful in normalizing his stools again. The book It Hurts When I Poop could help him come to terms with discomfort.
And there's also the possibility that your little guy is dealing with encopresis if the stools he does pass seem loose or unusually frequent for him. In this condition, which starts with constipation, a large, hardened stool has built up in the colon, stretching and numbing the sensations, and he can't tell he has to go. But fresh, soft stool squeezes past and causes soiling. The child doesn't know in advance that that's about to happen, so he really can't help it. Occasionally this condition also puts pressure on the bladder, causing surprise wetting. If this describes your son's situation, get him to the doctor for advice and management as soon as possible. Encopresis can be hard to normalize.
If you're pretty sure your son is just being resistant for the purpose of dealing with upheaval, I would suggest you have a calm, supportive talk with him. Tell him you are confident that he'll go back to using the potty as soon as he's ready, and until then, he can wear diapers again. And then leave it up to him. This has worked well, and fairly quickly (a month or less) with a couple of young families I've known.
Make him clean up his own mess a time or two and see if he changes his tune.
