Eating Feces/Feces in Mouth???

My son is almost 5 years old; a little over a year ago we (my wife and I) caught him putting feces in his mouth, not everyday, but enough that we were worried/concerned about it. His reasoning was either he didn't want to have to go to the bathroom, his poop was hurting him or we didn't feed him enough. It went in cycles as to him doing this and us catching him; we asked the school psychologist to get involved and they met/observed him and told us there was nothing out of the ordinary and it would stop with time. Today we just caught him again with feces in his mouth watching TV; his reasoning was he didn't want to go to the bathroom. He acts like it's no big deal and doesn't seem to understand that it's not healthy, safe or acceptable. HELP! Open to any suggestions.

[mammo]

You need to take your son to a child psychiatrist or psychologist for evaluation.  At 5 this is not normal and it's best to get him checked out.

[RockRose]

This is called coprophagia.   Basically,  eating poop.  

In other mammals besides humans it's a sign of nutritional defiency,  and in puppy mill puppies it's a sign of being left in a cage too long with feces and nothing else to play with or eat.

Worriedparents,  this is very unusual that he is eating this rather than hiding it if he's having accidents.  Usually children will hide their underwear,  or leave the feces in their pants.  Eating it is very unusual.

Have you taken him in for a complete nutritional check up and blood work?  It may be that he has a deficit.  

[ERhae]

I would love to hear if you have an update or found a solution to this?
My 5 yr old daughter is doing the same behavior..but is also very aggressive & acts out quite a bit.  We are waiting for her mental health referral as of now..but it is really disturbing to me , because as with your son..she does not seem to take in how harmful/wrong this is.

[samog]

my son is nearly six and has been eating feces for the last three years, just after been diagnosed with autism, i know sounds bad, but your gut is telling you there is something wrong, at the moment cant stop him and know one knows how, specialist saying its a sensory problem, how do i put this but his intelligence is extremely good, so he is well aware of what he is doing but cant seem to stop. I too am looking for help, oh have had blood tests done and he is not lacking in any nutrients, i had wondered the same?