Potty trained child starts pooping in pants on regular basis

[mummstheword]

My daughter will be 3 1/2 next month, she has been fully potty trained for over 6 months.  The last few weeks she has randomly been popping in her pants, and now is becoming an everyday occurrence.  I can't seem to trigger what has caused the change?  Now I've resorted to continually asking her if she has to go, and of course she says no, then 10 minutes later is telling me she pooped her pants.  And of course now I am starting to totally lose it on her because I am frustrated.  Any suggestions?  

[Choochie2007]

A related discussion, Toilet trained but peeing & pooping in pants was started.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Most of the time when this occurs it is due to impacted bowels, so this should be checked medically. If this is the case, the doctor will start her on a regimen that will take care of the problem. Be sure to have this checked, even if you think there is no chance this is the case. If she checks out OK from a medical point of view, continue your program of having her sit on the potty on a schedule, and reward her for each time she uses the potty successfully. In other words, return to the sort of system you would use if she were being trained initially. I can tell from the tone of your note that you alreday know it is not useful to 'lose it' with her. I undertand your frustration, but it's imprtant that you manage your emotions and maintain your equanimity. She'll get back on track. Now, I say all this with the assumption that life at home is stable, with no unusual crises, losses, transitions, etc. Is this true?

[mom22difrntkds]

Hello mumms!  My son does this to.  He is 4 and has been potty trained for a year in September.  I have learned his "schedule" and have an idea as to when he normally will go.  When it is about that time, I take his pants and undies completely off.  He will not go on the floor, he will either come running to me or go into the bathroom himself.  

Just an idea that I used for my daughter.  We struggled to get her #2 trained.  #1 training was pretty easy for her, but she just didn't want to go #2 on the toilet.  What finally broke the habit is when I inconvenienced her.  At this age, there are no accidents, they are on-purposes ( I think I saw this on Dr. Phil)  I made her go into the bathroom and take her pants down and clean herself and her underwear up.  I then took her into her room and had her put the clean ones on, then I made her stay there for 30 minutes.  (trust me this was harder on me than her, she was always such a good kid)  She came out and told me she won't go in her pants anymore.  Which she did not.  

The plan I used for my daughter would never work for my son.  He is behind in fine motor skills and physically can not get his thumbs into his waistband to pull down his underpants much less wipe himself or know what to do to clean his underwear.  So all children are different.  Good Luck!