why does my 10 year old son still poop in pants

[fefe261]

I JUST DONT GET IT ! MY SON HAS BEEN POOPING IN HIS PANTS SINCE 5YEARS OF AGE.WE FINALLY TOOK HIM TO A STOMACH PEDATRIC DOCTOR AND HE DID TESTING AND EVERYTHING TURNED OUT TO BE NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM. WE HAVE TRIED REWARDS AND RESTRICTIONS AND BACK TO THE SAME OLD THING HE STILL POOPS IN PANTS, THE THING THAT GETS ME THE MOST IS WHEN HE GOES IN HIS UNDERWARE THE SMELL AND THE FEELING DOES NOT SEEM TO BOTHER HIM ONE BIT. HOW LONG WILL THIS GO ON? THE NUMBERS OF UNDERWARE THAT HAVE BEEN THROWN AWAY JUST TO BUY MORE TO BE THROWN AWAY AS WELL. IT WAS METIONED TO BE THAT THEIR COULD BE EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS WHEN OLDER CHILDREN STILL SOIL IN THEIR PANTS. WHAT EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS COULD THAT BE? PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME FIGURE THIS OUT!


This discussion is related to My 8 year old pees the bed and poops his pants constantly!  Help!.

[brideoftheking]

The problem is called encopresis and is physical in nature because of constipation. It usually starts with holding it (whatever reason they do this for). The constipated mass causes pressure on the nerves so they can not feel their need to go and the bowel content will leak pass the mass. I recommend a program called "soiling solutions". It was an answer to my prayers after years of struggling with this. A bowel flora supplement like "Flora Bear" also helps. Love your child. They really can not feel it when they need to go. Humiliating them will only add to their problems  - they need your help and support. You can overcome this together! My son is ten and after years of struggling with different suggestions our problems are now over. Praise be to GOD!

[3guys2]

My son too has encopresis. I just discovered that it's an actual disorder yesterday. I'd thought he just got wound up in his playing and didn't want to take time to go to the bathroom. He's almost 8 and often passes part of his stool. The thing is he is not constipated. He regularly goes to the bathroom. Plus it tends to happen only when he's active. When we're at home he rarely has accidents. I always got mad at him saying it's impossible not to feel poo coming out and a dirty bottom. He always said he couldn't feel it. Often I hear that this disorder is due to stress or abuse. My son is a really calm and social boy. What can we do about the problem though?

He is also a bed wetter. Two problems in 1! He's never been dry at night since I potty trained him as a toddler. We are now working on this problem too. We read Alicia Eaton's book, Dry in 7 days. So far we haven't been dry in the 7 days that I took the pull ups off him. I ordered a bedwetting alarm and we'll try this too. He has never shown that the problem really bothers him. But he has asked his little brother how he stopped wetting the bed and he is also very motivated to try to stop.
Does anyone have suggestions?
Thanks

[Sandman2]

      You mentioned Miralax - so is he constipated?  Is that why it takes so long for him?
       By the way, I doubt that you have had the time to go through all 140 or so posts here - but some of them are very helpful!  Unfortunately, I can't remember all of the ones, but these are good.   Two good ones from Sept 11 and 14, 2012. Also,  Dec 22, 2012, May 21, 2012

[Atramesil]

Elementary.  I had thought about the bathroom situation, but he does it at home on the weekends and during summer break.,  I have done the charts the rewards the miralax and so far the only thing that has worked is requiring that I go sit in the bathroom with him until he goes (he lies about going, and hides the evidence like everyone else's kids do).  Trust me after three years of sitting in the bathroom with him I wish there was some miracle solution here, but so far I have not found it.  And if I slack up on going in with him at all, he goes right back to having accidents at school.  It is just frustrating!!  And I have two other kids, a job a yard and house to maintain and a side business, something or someone inevitably gets neglected which is frustrating as well.  At least thru this forum I now know that I am not the only parent dealing with this issue.  I also recently found out that a male cousin on my estranged husband's side of the family did this for a number of years as well.

[Sandman2]

     Is he in middle or elementary school?  Sometimes, the bathroom situation for kids at school is just not that good and they try to hold it till they get home.
   Also, several posters above mentioned having gluten in the diet was the problem and when that was removed - it stopped.

[Atramesil]

Hi I'd like to add my name to the long list of frustrated parents here.  I have a lovely highly intelligent 11 year old boy who.. well you've no doubt read my story more then once here.  The school nurse keeps insisting we go to  specialist, tho my family doctor seems to feel he will out grow it.  The phychiatrist we went to seems to think he will out grow it.  I thought he had outgrown it since he went for nearly nine months without an incident only to start up again.  Sigh, very frustrating, and scary since the school nurse seems to feel that I am ignoring it.  I have spent more nights than I want to think about sitting in the toilet with him waiting for him to poop so there will be no leakage the next day at school.  I have two other kids without this problem.