FC soiling - how did you try to help them.

[Bluedolphin1971]

Hi there,

I have 2 FC's and the youngest of them have been soiling his underwear. I have spoken to him about this (he is 9) and think I have managed to convince him to come to me when he has had a little accident.

Can anyone give me any advice as to what they did to help them? He has told me this did happen at home, so it would seem to be an ongoing problem.

I don't think he has been cleaning himself properly when I have been putting him in the shower after his little accidents, as there is always poo on the towel.

Any advice to help him would be appreciated.

It is worth asking if there is a continence nurse in your area. It could be chronic constipation where the overflow causes soiling, and also a loss of sensation in the bowels and sphincter. The poo can also be soft but very sticky with chronic constipation, which makes it hard to wipe clean!

Hi there,

Thank you so much for replying, I really appreciate it. Have just found out his old brother has also soiled his underwear.

Will speak to SSW to see if I can take him to the doctor about this. I've only had them a couple of days so I'm not sure of all the "procedure".

It might be a bit of apprehension because of the unsettle meant they have had, because it is happening a couple of times a day with the younger one.

I think if they have only been with you a couple of days, I wouldn't make too much of a big deal about it. Just hot wash or buy new pants in bulk. They will already be very stressed and disorientated, you can come back to this issue later. As you say, it sounds like an ongoing problem which doesn't normally have a quick fix. Just try to help them maintain their dignity.
Continence service will be able to support you and get to the bottom of the problem.
My DD had this problem, just try not to make it a big deal. Stuff washes!!

Hi there

Agree with previous posters ref continence nurse and not making a big deal out of it. We had this with our younger foster child who at 4 had basically never been taught how to clean properly and used soiling as an emotional release. It was in the beginning the one thing that he could control in his chaotic world. It took time and patience but we got there in the end. Hope things settle, it's early days.x

our FC was never allowed to wipe his own bottom, so had to teach himself - 3 blocked toilets later.....Its worth checking how they wipe - have they been taught to only use a limited amount of paper, for example? Or were they previously using those wet wipe kandoo things. I think you need to establish what the issue is, rather than assume a medical problem just yet.

Have a look at www.eric.org.uk - they are a specialist organisation dealing with soiling and incontinence issues in children.

Organising a trip to docs is not assuming it is a medical problem. If it's a medical problem,the sooner you get treatment the better, and I don't think a 9 yr old having more than 1 accident in a day will be wasting doctor's time.

Good luck.

Plus you can start monitoring how much water they drink, as the docs will want to know this. If they have been holding poo in for whatever reason it can cause onstipation in a child with a fibre rich diet.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I thought things were getting a bit better, however, the last few days, he has reverted to soiling again, but, I've noticed this happens when he is on the DS. I have limited him to the amount of time he can have on the DS from what he had at home, but to me it just seems to be a pattern. It happened earlier on today, he was in my sons rooms with the DS and he was sitting on my sons bed. he had been on the DS for about 30 minutes when my Son came to tell me he could smell poo in his room.

I took FC aside and asked him if he needed the toilet, but he wouldn't take his attention away fr the DS, and just said no. I then went up to him, came down to his level and said to him I think he needed the toilet, but of course he had already had the little accident.

I don't know what to do. I did have an appointment with FC's own doctor to see about this ( SS told me it was okay to go to the doctor), however, the doctor wouldn't examine him, said there was a procedure to follow and FC would need to be seen by a paediatrician! That was a week ago, and I'm still waiting on SS sorting it out.

every time he goes onto the DS I always ask him if he needs to go to the toilet and he always says no.

The other reason I think it might be because he is concentrating on the DS so much is because when the weather was nice he was outside playing all the time, and I remember him running in, going to the toilet and showing me he had done a poo. He was so proud bless him.

can anyone give me an ideas as to what I should do?

many thanks.