Is there likely to be a medical reason for a 5yr old pooing himself on a regular basis?

[purpleturtle]

Ds1 is just 5 and poos himself a lot. Not every day, but fairly frequently. I have always put it down to some underlying anxiety, as it usually gets worse if dh is away for any reason.

On other occasions, even though he hasn't actually pooed, he can smell really horrible. Like a kind of nasty musky smell in his clothes.

Do you think it's worth taking him to a doctor? Or is it so normal I shouldn't be worrying about it?

Ds has (and still has) this problem for the last 2 years he is now 7.5.

He just ignores the messages to "go" 'cos he is too interestred in wahtever it is he is doing. he will then deny that he need to go even though we can smell it (he has the world's stinkiest poos).

We've tried everytihng - star charts, birbery, punishment and have actaull y found that keeping it low key seems to work the best (which to be fair was our first apporach).

We've also talke do to the GP (and to friends who are Gps) and they say that it is unlikely to be medical and is more behavioural.

What I have found has helped is getting some Wet Wipes/Kandoos expecially for ds, so if he is smelly, I can encourage him to go tothe toilet himslef and clean up (I often need to help him too). It also helps when he denies being smelly and I tell him that means that there must just be a skid mark and he needs to celan himslef better.

The fact that he does have the aforementioned world's smelliest poos means that even skid marks can stink to high heaven!

I'm not alone then.

I've wondered whether we've been too low key, and that's why he's not got the message. As far as I can tell, school have done the same, although today they have fetched me in to sort him out. (Whole other issue there for me)

Often it's the fact that he lies about it that annoys me more than the accident in the first place.

We keep wipes for the dcs anyway, so I do send him to start the cleaning up process himself.

And btw, your ds does not have the world's smelliest poos.

Our poblem started in school and then spread home (it also coincided with a time when I was havng an ealry misacarriage, so ds might have picked up on some of the tension).

The school were great about it and would put him into fresh clothes, with his dirty clothes in a pastic bag. We got into the habit of keeping spare pants and trousers in his school bag. We've now sorted the school problem but we are still intermittently getting the problem at home. But at least it is now intermittent - it used to be once or twice daily!

it's the denying that really get us too. We have/had real shouting matches with him when he insists he hasn't "done a mistake" when we can smell it FGS!

Up until today school have been great for us too. I do feel a bit bad that they have to sort him out so often, but in any conversation I've had about it they have assured me it's not a problem.

However, this afternoon the secretary summoned me to school to sort him out. Ds2 was asleep in his cot so I had to ask a neighbour to sit in the house while I went. I don't so much mind the apparent change in policy as the fact that I wasn't told about it in advance. Anyway, parents' evening tomorrow so we'll have to get to the bottom of that then I think.

And remember - "this too will pass"

he was late to train (over 3), so I had hoped that we wouldn't have these problems. I don't rember him having particualry smelly poos when he was in nappies - which is why the strength of his current output is so shocking.

oooh oooh this is my specialist subject.

My DS2 (6.5) was like this. Occasionally soiled himself totally. More usually just horrific skids and thoroughly smelly. Sometimes he would get a bad stomach ache from holding it in.

For the past month I have allowed enough time in the morning for him to go for a poo before school. As soon as he's finished his breakfast I tell him to get a book and sit on the loo. The first week or so he would sit there happily reading for quite a long time and would do a HUGE poo. Now he's only there for a few minutes and does more normal poos - I guess because he's cleared the backlog and has built up the habit of going.

He's so much happier and more comfortable, and smells much better too

Constipation and overflow problems? If they get constipated enough the bowel gets 'blocked, more liquid poo, seeps past the blockage and out.

Not nice when this happens and they can't control it.

Has he been constipated?

Friend has a son with something like this, although very severely. Try googling encopresis and see if the symptoms fit. Good luck!

In ds' case it was rarely constipation. The poos in pants were/are normal - just sheer laziness/being engrossed in what he was doing. At least he will now occasionally admit that he had felt the urge and had igonored it.

The school helped deal with it by giving him sepcial time to go to the loo and just generally being supportive. Even now, whenver he asks to go to the loo, he is given permnission!

The depute head has commented that she sometimes gets a wee bit of a suspician when she is doign reading with him. We told her that if it is just a whiff, then it is only a skid mark. If he "had done a mistake" she would know for sure!

Im sorry prettybird but i am pmsl the way you have put it about your ds and his smell

My ds is almost 6 and is profoundly deaf and he has beem pooing himself with great regularity for about a year now. Bless his teachers they are fantastic about changing him and he is only rarely having accidents now. But wow he really stinks. I have 6 kids and none of them have ever smelt like him. But he doesnt seem to be able to smell it.

Prettybird..what does your ds say when he inists he hasn't 'done a mistake' and then you go with him to the bathroom and the proof is there?

Dropdeadfred - that's why there is much resistance to him going. Occasionaly we have to man handle him to the loo - and then he is in tears when, as you put it, "the proff is there".

We are now more low key about it and when he insists he hasn't done a mistake, tell him that we don't care - he must have a mad skid mark and that he must go and clean himself. if it's bad, he'll then come and call one of us to help him - and we don't make a big thin about it.

We keep on telling him that he deosn't get into trouble for the "mistakes" - but that we do get upset obout the lying/denying it.

We have also gone through a period of him hiding hs dirty pants. I now kow ehre to look for them! Although tobe fair, he has stopped doing that too - althugh I did have a coupel of incidents him in tears admitting that he had hidden some and getting them for me.

Sugarpear - we can now laugh about it, but at times we have been tearing our hair out! Ds also seems to genuinely not be able to smell it himslef - so seems genuinely suprised that we know every time!

Hmmm..it seems you have tried everything..it must be frustrating.
I think I would have just made him get undressed when he got home and just walk around in shorts (so you could check easily)...but your way sounds far more sympathetic.

he actually does war shorts a lot at home - he is football made and comes home ands changes into one of his football strips (we get them cheap on holiday in greece).

FWIW
My DS1 had this. We then took dairy and wheat out of all our diets ( because DS2 had to remove it and i didn't want him to go cold turkey on his own). The problem stopped almost imediately.
The ONLY subsequent accident was when he had pizza ay a party when he was about 7.
We found as he got older we could relax the diet thing and he is fine.Eats everything now - no problem.
But for whatever reason that was what did it.

Have been to the GP this afternoon for myself and mentioned this to her. She does seem to think it's probably behavioural. Chatting with ds1 this afternoon I hope I've uncovered that part of the problem is that he can't wipe himself at school because there are no wipes. He hasn't graduated from wipes to toilet roll at home yet, so I don't know why I've been expecting him to do that at school. Together we have agreed that if I provide a pack of wipes for his PE bag he will try not to have accidents at school.

Doesn't account for the accidents at home, but he's usually been better at school anyway.