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9 year old soiling pants

I am at the end of my rope.  My nine year old son poops his pants every day.  This has been going on for over two years now.  We have been to doctors, gastroenterologist, and, counselors.  Nothing has helped!  We have used miralax, stool sofeners, and fiber.  We have made hime set on the toilet several times a day.  We have tryed rewards and punishment.  Nothing has worked.  He has been wearing pullups for over year becasue we can not afford to keep buying underwear.  He pretends nothing is out of the ordindary.  He will not clean himself up until someone smells him and tells him to do so.  Now we are having major issues at school because of this.  His father and I are so frustrated with this and just do not know what else to do.  There has been no trauma or abuse.  We have tryed to just say ok our child poops his pants and that is the way it is and just accept it becasue nothing has worked, but that is not working either.  It is causing our whole family much turmoil.  Please does anyone have any suggestions other than what has been posted.
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Moms- I feel for you all. What a frustrating and difficult situation. As a mother and health counselor, I thought to suggest going to see a naturopath, who could do some allergy testing. Digestive issues are often related to food allergies. There are also homeopathic constitutional remedies, as well as essential oils, and other natural remedies that are gentle yet effective in dealing w problems that western medicine throws their hands up at. I encourage you both to research your area and find the best healer you can.  Best of luck, my heart is with u and your children.
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Hey Suzy, yes I started this post in 2010 and to date we are pretty much in the same boat as we were then.  We have tried so many different things and hate to post and be a discouragment to others because we have not solved the problem but the truth is we haven't.  We are in the process of going to counseling right now but I honestly don't have any hope that this will help.  I have pretty much consigned myself to the fact that he does it and it may never stop and it is just a part of our lives.  It is so difficult sometimes to deal with.  He will be 13 in September and going into 8th grade.  He is going to a christian summer camp for 4 days this summer and I am so scared for him about what is going to happen there without me to prompt him into going to the bathroom or change his soiled clothes, but on the other hand I feel as if maybe he needs his peers to know and say something to him........ I just don't know anymore.  Please feel free to private message me if you want to talk more or on here is fine to lol I feel like you all know my life story.

Amanda
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Avatar universal
Hello All. The lack of success stories is discouraging here, although it is certainy comforting to know that we are not the only family dealing with this issue. My nine year old has been soling his pants off and on since his potty training days and we are also at our wits end with it. Our story is very similar to the group talk here; I have tried everything from miralax to behavior charts to punishment. In desperation, I just purchased an on-line program called "UCanPoopToo" that we will begin today. I will keep you all posted with our progress.

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Avatar universal
hi i have the same problem with my 13 yr old son , have been to so many diffrent dr s tryed just about everything.I get him to wash his own cloths.He tells me it was nt him that soiled his pants.any sugestions on how to deal withthis would be good.I an i north west queensland australia
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I noticed your post from 2010.  Are you still struggling with the problem.  I am definitely in the same situation and would LOVE to talk with you.  Hope to hear from you.  Suzy
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Avatar universal
I first posted here 3 years ago... Yesterday my daughter was 11 and we are 99.9% through this problem. When I look at my post and she was 8 I never ever thought we'd get to this stage.
From my experience and my daughter... I feel a combination of everything was the final solution. A few therapy sessions for me on behaviour issues.. Miralax (movicol) initially (1 year) for her to get her back to going to the toilet though we could never quite get the dosage right so that was also fraught with problems. Now we use liquid senna...
My daughters problem was basically self induced constipation which enlarged her bowel. She had to regularly poo (miralax) to shrink it back and then I have to monitor the situation to make sure she never goes more that 3-4 days without pooing.. If she does I give her the senna and she poos the next day. Initially we were giving senna daily, then every 3-4 days and now I don't think I have given her any for 6 weeks. I just wanted to post to tell you it has been a long journey... (7 years) but I feel we are very very close to the finish line!
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