Help, okay a little history first. My oldest son(he will be 7 the end of this month) Has never truely been "pooped trained" When he was about 4 and 1/2 The Dr. told me that he had retentive encorprisis (spelling?) I put him on a strick diet and scheduled his potty sits and most of the day he could make it with no accidents. Last year he went to kindergarten, he never had an accident at school, but I woke him early every morning so that he had plenty of time to eat and sit on the potty. Most days he would go before he left for school. The mornings that he did not go I would make sure as soon as we got home he sat and tried again. As soon as summer came and I have not been schduleing my son to go, he goes in his pants most everyday sometimes 2-3 times. I already had him to his Dr. and he gave us orders of how to "flush his system" because he was backed up. He is now on a stool sofner everyday and like I said most of the time he is still going in his pants. What can I do. I've tried to set timers, he gets frusterated when I tell him to go in and try. I've asked him if he can feel it, he says yes but he just can't get to the potty in time. The thing I don't undestand is that when he poops in his pants he walks around with it in there until we smell him and make him go change! HELP! I don't know what else to do!
Has he seen a specialist at Children's Hospital? I have heard from other moms that what you're doing so far is the best way to handle it.
Unfortunatly I am right there with you. My son (one of my triplets) just turned 7 and is still pooping in his pants. When my triplets were 3 yrs old they were potty trained. Day/night the whole package. It lasted 4 months with Logan and then just stopped. He doesnt tell us when he is poopy, denies it when we question him, hides the poopy underware in his room. He was still wearing pull ups to bed until last week when he forgot to put one on and was dry in the morning. I have a new pack hidden in my room but he doesn't want them. He has only had 2 accidents in over a week (at night), but he is still pooping his pants during the day. I am at a loss. He is also the smartest of my triplets. He tests a yr older than he is and can do 3rd grade math in his head.
I also have a seven year old who still poops his pants. We were never told a dx like you were with your son, so I'm not sure if it is the same thing that my son is dealing with. We think my son just has an issue with over focusing on things he likes to do and not really wanting to take the time to go to the bathroom and have a BM. He holds his stool so long that it builds up and eventually has a BM that makes an adult say "wow that is a huge turd" pardon my discription, LOL.
We have had him on Miralax once daily to help soften his stool and help with the pain of going. But I think it is just a viscious cycle with my son.
I'm not sure what you can do since we are dealing with a similar thing. I would love to hear other responces to!
Good luck M.
check out this site... http://www.encopresis.org/forums/ -- there is a ton of information and help and other mom's going through the same thing or MORE. My son is only 5 and we are going through some of the same things. We are homeschooling so he doesn't have to deal with it at school and the school doesn't have to deal with it.
It is not the childs fault (most of the time) they can feel it when it starts out of the bottom BUT they don't feel the warning that they need to go since the poop is backed up in there "all the time". Anyway, check out the site and you will feel better.
GOD bless.
M.,
Have you taken him to a child psychologist yet? He might have issues with pooping that you haven't uncovered yet and a professional would be able to help him learn about and deal with the issues in a positive way.
Good luck.
-C..
I don't really have any advise regarding this but I have a 9 yr old with Down syndrome that has the same type of thing. Accidents and not being able to tell when she needs to go, plus problems with getting backed up. We try natural foods to keep things moving and tey the schedule thing too. i wish you and your family all the best and sounds like you have gotten some great ideas ...Prayers and God Bless K.
Hello I have a daughter with severe Encopresis Many families have been helped with the Clean Kid Manual. http://www.soilingsolutions.com/ If you purchase the manual you can join a groups for parents with a lot of encouragement and help. I hope you look into it.
B. in MI
You are not alone! My oldest son had issues with this through Kindergarten. I really had no idea what his problem was, I had never heard of encopresis before. Then I found an explanation online and was so relieved that it could be fixed! My doctor told us that when children "withhold" the feces can form a big ball and that makes the colon loose and less sensitive. We were instructed to give him an enema (didnt hurt him one bit) and see if that fixed the situation. Thankfully, it did. He has not had a problem since. I know that this is beyond frustrating for you (and him too, I'm sure). I hope you find something that works. Good luck!
Explain the cruelty of kids. At his age, kids are noticing and finding things out about others to ultimately tease, humiliate, put down, etc. If he doesn't want kids to know about this problem, he has to do his part....he has to UNDERSTAND that he has to do his part and learn to schedule himself to the toilet and to NOT walk around with it until he's told to change. If anything will activate the mean comments from kids that's it. And if anything should possibly work with getting through to your son, that would be it. Explain you can't run around after him all the time as he gets older. For one it's a dead giveaway to other kids that would start the comments coming. For another thing, he has to learn responsibility.
Hope he outgrows this tho. Good luck
Hi M.,
As you can tell by some of the replies you are definitely NOT ALONE!!! I have 2 AI kids that have encopresis. My oldest is 15 now and just within the last 2 years he's been able to stop the accidents. Keep the stool as soft as possible so he can't hold it. If he has an accident make him sit on the toilet until he goes or he will keep having accidents all day long. If need be check him evey half hour or so until you figure out when it's happening. If he doesn't like to be checked then he needs to find his way to the bathroom himself. Most likely he can't feel it (as with most encopresis sufferers) and you need to get a scheduled time down pat for him to go sit. Most likely after a good meal. Just keep at it. Things wil work out in their good time but don't let him go days on end without pooping. It will streach out the colon and create even more problems. Lots of fiber, water and exercise will keep him going, too. I hope for your sake you can get it under control soon.
S.
I have a 14 year old with the same issue. He was finally diagnosed about 2 years ago. For years we had the doctor telling us he was just being stubborn. Finally we moved adn got a different dr who immediately sent him to a colo-rectal specialist. We we told to put him on Swiss Kriss. It is a herbal laxative that will make him stay regular, but not cause long term issues. (I was afraid it could make his body dependant on a laxative to work) It has been wonderful for him. He still occasionaly has accidents and is still loathe to admit it.
The specialist told us that his nerves in the large intestine and colon are not functioning, therefore he cannot physically tell when he needs to go. They are saying it is common for a child like him to outgrow this by the end of puberty.
With the Swiss Kriss and diet management of more whole grains and vegetables and increased water intake, he has been managing this quite well.
My best advice is to talk to him openly about it and make sure he knows there will not be a negative consequence when he has an accident. The scheduling of a "potty time" is an excellent idea. We use just after dinner in the evening to make sure he has enough time just in case it takes a while. Feel free to emil me if you want to discuss this more or if you just want to talk. I felt like the only parent going thru this...so even reading your post has made me feel a bit better. ____@____.com
