my 6 year old regularly soiling his underwear.....

[EasyTanya]

My otherwise well adjusted and happy 6 year old regularly comes home from school with poo in his pants, or has, as he calls them "accidents" at home. this has been going on for 2 years, on and off. he can go a few weeks with hardly an accident, and other weeks nearly every day. I have failed to find a pattern. anybody have any experience of this? getting to end of my tether with washing pants, but more importantly I wonder if this is the symptom of some problem, physical or psychological.....

My DS has the same problem - he has constipation problems. We watch his diet (fibre, fluids) and if his tum seems a bit tight ask if he's been that day. Do you think that constipation could be the cause? I'd start with your GP.

We had this too and have problems with constipation.
We were advised to encourage him to drink plenty and send him to the toilet about 20 mins after meals as this was the most likely time for him to do anything.
We also were prescribed senna for him to take regularly.

My neighbour/friend also has the same problems with 7 year old son, & has has him treated by a craniopath(think thats the right word!) his bodys alignment was out of sync & he has to get treatment every few months as when he takes a growth spurt it knocks the alignment out again, this appears to be causing pain in the bowel area and causes him these problems, his dad also had the same problems when he was younger

DS2 used to do this until he was about 5. You say he regularly comes home from school with poo in his pants - does it only happen on school days then, or would it happen at the weekend/in holidays too?

I think for some children it's school toikets that cause a problem - they can be dirty, lacking in privacy and make a child anxious and upset (both my children actively avoided pooing at school). Could this have anything to do with it?

Tanya have look at my thread A Constipated child can appear to have diarhoeaa/lots of skiddy pants - because the lump of poo, lurking near the bottom, causes the poo backing up behind to flow around the blockage. DS never felt the poo leaking out.

Speak to your doctor about encopresis and get it sorted.

Good luck

thank you so much for your help and encouragement. we have been to the doctor, who referred him to a pediatrician. she said that he is not constipated - felt his tummy which had no hardness. she just recommended a start chart, and was confident it would go away. well we are now on day 3 of the chart, and no starts so far..... i tried charts in the past. I am also trying a therapist. he went for the first time yesterday, and seem to enjoy it. so will see if that helps.....

i read about encopresis, after your suggestions, but it just seems to be a name..... i could not find anything of value. am i missing something?

not just at school, in fact it probably happens most just after. i found an old thread, and people were suggesting trying a regular toilet time.... might try that too.

thanks again!