6 1/2 yr old sons pees and poops pants

[momof3sons]

My 6 1/2 year old son goes thru phases where he will constantly pee and or poop his pants.  He does it anywhere.  He is in first grade and I'm very worried one of the other kids is going to see it and make fun of him.  He is a very outgoing child and does well in school.  He does have anger issues now and again.  He still wets the bed every night.  There are times when he will do really well and then all of a sudden it is back to the soiling again.  We have been to the doctor and she said he seems to be perfectly fine.  We attribute it to just being lazy.  His classroom is right across the hall from the bathroom, he can be sitting on the couch watching TV (10 feet from the bathroom) or out playing.  We have tried discipline (which the school counselor said was not the right thing to do), we have tried just ignoring it hoping it will start to bother him and we have tried rewards.  Help?!?!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

If your son has never accomplished toilet training (vs having been completely clean and dry during the day for at least six months and then regressing), be sure to have him evaluated medically. Ig he is OK medically, then approach the daytime enuresis and encopresis with a behavioral plan. Reward him for successful use of the toilet and for remaining clean and dry during the day. Don't worry so much about nocturnal enuresis. More than 5 per cent of children his age are enuretic at night.

[sarakahn]

I am also interested in this.  My son of almost 8 does the same. Its is called encopresis (poo) and enuresis (pee) not sure on the spelling though.  But may I suggest that you read up on this site it did answer some of my questions about the situation. : http://www.aboutencopresis.com/
I hope this helps you out some too.

[momof3sons]

Thank you so much for your insight.  I know each one of us is praying that our child (and ourselves) will get thru this.  Thank you...

[momof3sons]

My son has never gone more than a few weeks without an accident since he has been "trained".  Other than an external exam (which we have had done, along with a urine and stool sample), what other medical evaluations could we have done?  We have started with behavorial again.  The school checks him a few times daily now and we continue checking him at home.  The last 3 days have been much better, but still not 100%.  Thank you.