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child regressed back to pooping in pants

Jennifer - posted on 02/03/2012 ( 3 moms have responded )

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Help!!!!!! can anyone give me some good suggestions? my son who is 5 has started pooping in his pants. up until November he was fully trained and then out of no where he all of a sudden started pooping in his pants. i have tried threatening o put him back in diapers or pullups, stickers on the calendar, even when he does actually go on the toilet i make a really big deal out of it telling him how good he did and he still goes in his pants. i have another baby on the way due in may and i really want him to be going on the toilet again by that time plus all his underwear are slowly getting ruined. can someone out there give me any ideas as to how to cope with this or get him back on track?

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Neva - posted on 02/04/2012

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In order to get him back on track, you have to think like a 5 year old. It is possible that he had been holding back on his urge to go potty because he was too busy, didn't want to go at that time or whatever. He might then have had a hard stool which hurt. He would then associate going to the bathroom with hurting, so he would start holding back everytime he had the urge, causing constipation. Sometimes when a child is really constipated, there is more liquid stool around the hard stool that seeps out, causing an accident. When he is punished for his accident, in his mind, as a 5 year old, going to the bathroom then becomes a very stressful event because if he doesn't do it just right he'll get scolded, so he holds back even more. Then when he does have an accident, he doesn't want to tell anyone for fear of disappointing you. What I would do is pick a weekend when he doesn't have school and give him 17gms of ethylene glycol laxative( Miralax) in 8 oz of juice each day so that he really cleans out. Then establish a bathroom routine that takes advantage of the normal body rhythms. Bowels usually try to move shortly after eating, so about 10 minutes after meals (especially breakfast) have him sit on the potty and go. Continue with the Miralax until he is having a soft stool daily. If he develops diarrhea after the 1st 3 days or so, then cut back to every other day, until he has an established pattern of going potty without accidents and without pain. If there is an accident, never scold, threaten to put in diapers, etc. Just say ok, lets get you cleaned up. Have him put his underwear in the wash and continue the bathroom training routine.

Kristy - posted on 02/04/2012

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When he started doing this, did anything change in his life or was it when you told him about the new baby? Talk to him and see if you can get him to open up as it may be somehting that is bothering him that has made this happen. Did he start school, or find out he was going to start at this time, did he change daycare, did the family unit change? anything at all can make a child regress so lots of talking to see if you can work out what the problem is will help. Maybe he needs reassurance once you knwo what the problem is. Also if it is not a change inlife or anything maybe a trip to the doctor to rule out any medical problems will help too. Good luck.

Jennifer - posted on 02/03/2012

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forgot to mention that when he tells us he has gone he is very embarrassed, and sometimes he has been sitting in it for a short period of time, so it's almost like he doesn't care and it doesn't bother him, he has eczema so it's starting to break him out in small rashes.

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