Is my 5 1/2 year ols ds 'normal' in the toilet department?

[frazzledfairy]

He very rarely has 'full' accidents but has wet/damp pants and slight soiling nearly every day. Some days are worse than others, today have changed his pants 5 times since he came home from school. Being wet or dirty doesn't seem to bother him.

He has never been very reliable at keeping pants clean, i assumed he would grow out of accidents but they actually seem to be getting worse!

I am 6 months pregnant too and knackered and just want clean pants! It doesn't seem to be a problem at school but I worry that he may get bullied or embarrassed if other kids become aware of it.

He has never wet the bed at night and has been out of nappies day and night since he was 2.

I try to stay calm but am starting to reach the end of my tether, help!

There are so many threads like this in this section. I am having the same problems with my 5 year old ds. Big circle of wee in his pants every day, sometimes we need 2/3 pairs. And I ahte to say it but he's just started it with the poo's too.

And yes it drives me beserk. I know he knows when to go to the loo it's just like he can't be bothered.

I've tried ignoring it, screaming at him, taking away treats......nothing has worked.

So sorry, not much help, but you know you're not alone

Do you think it is normal then northerner? I did go to the docs and ask and gp referred ds to a constipation clinic. He doesn't really seem to be constipated to me. Not had appointment yet but am having to keep a chart of accidents which has made me realise just how often it happens iyswim.

My dd was soiling several times a day and after being referred we found out that she had been constipated, that bowel movements hurt her so she held on, that the blockage was now quite high in her bowel and had distorted it. The soiling was a combination of the soft stuff moving around the blockage and her getting to a point where she couldn't hold on to it any longer, so it would leak out. We were surprised about the constipation and thought it was more like constant diahrroea.
She has now been on medication for over 18months and is improving.

My dd is 4 and will be 5 in November. She has been wetting herself on many occasions over the past couple of months. I think she pooed just the once. I think this happened around about this time with dd1 as well.
I put it down to the fact that dd gets herself so involved with what she is playing with/doing that she doesn't think to get to the toilet quick enough.
At the moment I am just trying to be on the ball myself and remembering to ask her to go to the toilet as set intervals.

Tis a bit of a gruesome subject! If he is constipated, wouldn't the bits of poo be soft, ds's are normally 'dried up'? He doesn't seem to be in pain when he goes to the loo, but can go 2 or 3 days without going.

Could it be linked to the wee accidents?

What a lovely subject!!

It does sound like constipation to me frazzledfairy. My DS1 was like this for months when he was younger, turned out it was constipation and once he started taking lactulose and got the constipation sorted out, he stopped soiling. Do still have to remind him to go every morning before school though!

Don't know if this would help but, we had a similar problem with our DS at a similar age, but mainly in school. We kind of thought it might be behavioural/environmental, but couldn't be sure.

I was pretty convinced DS simply needed a bit of "self discipline/awareness" or to be "organised". Spoke to couple of GPs, both agreed that it sounded "non-physical" i.e. everything was working. Someone asked/suggested a regular routine. Not "is he regular" as in does he go, but putting him into a regular routine i.e. pre leaving for school, at morning playtime, at lunchtime etc,etc..

Tried it, teachers were great too, they even made it easier for DS to go by reminding him and taking him and after several false starts (mainly down to us forgetting to start him off on his routine or to remind him of it) it worked.

At first we weren't convinced 'cos he IS regular, but were pleasantly surprised - seems little boys need to be organised more than we know (or indeed for us little boys, more than we like!)

The regular times for "going" routine is what we have to do aswell for dd. It's part of conditioning her to go at certain times so that she is less likely to become constipated again through holding.
We were told the best times for her to go and sit on the loo were after meals as the digestive process gets a nudge. We were told that she should do this whether anything came or not as in time it would form a habit and she would "go". It does seem to work as long as she keeps taking the Movicol. Some things can set us back such as her getting chickenpox or even this hot weather.