5 year old pooing himself on purpose

[JennetHumfrye]

DS has been potty trained for 3 years and apart from the occasional accident he has been fine with going to the toilet.

Recently he has started pooing himself whether it be at home or at school, where he sometimes goes through the day with poo in his pants. He isn't unhappy, loves school and is a very healthy little boy. For some unknown reason he has just decided that he doesn't want to go to the toilet and would rather pop himself. He takes himself off for a wee no problem.

I just don't know how to navigate this. I have tried praising him when he does decide to use the toilet. I have tried bargaining with him and explaining to him why it's not nice to have poo stuck to your bottom and clothes. Nothing seems to help. I can wait it out and accept that it may be a phase and hope he snaps out of it, but is that the right thing to do.

I am tiring of having to clean up the aftermath and really want this to pass. Has anyone ever experienced this with their child and is there anything I can try to help get him back on the toilet?

Have you heard of encopresis? We used to be referred children from the paediatricians once the medical contributory factors had been addressed.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/soiling-child-pooing-their-pants/

His not doing it on purpose, kids don’t think like adults. His struggling with something, physically or mentally, he needs help and support with it, something is wrong. Be a little understanding.

@OhMygodddd

His not doing it on purpose, kids don’t think like adults. His struggling with something, physically or mentally, he needs help and support with it, something is wrong. Be a little understanding.

Not once have I made him feel bad about soiling himself. I haven't shouted or told him I think he's doing it on purpose. I have just posted my feelings about it on here asking for advice. I have gotten some really useful advice and I can now see that he is suffering with constipation and isn't doing it on purpose. I will take on board what everyone has said and try to help him. I feel sad that I thought he was doing it because he didn't want to interrupt his playing. I am understanding and would never remake him feel bad, but I'm also a very stressed and worried parent!

[quote WTF475878237NC]Have you heard of encopresis? We used to be referred children from the paediatricians once the medical contributory factors had been addressed.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/soiling-child-pooing-their-pants/[/quote]
Thank you. I found this link earlier and it makes perfect sense. I've planned some extra fibre rich snacks and will make an appointment with the GP on Monday.

My son is having the exact same problems. Will poo himself quite frequently he even has accidents at school. He can even go more than 2 weeks without passing anything at all! Even when I check him before I go to bed sometimes I end up showering him. He was prescribed lactulose and then laxido by the doctor. He eats all the right food always drinking water. This has been going on for months now. Finally the doctor said he has encopresis so some of the time he doesn't even know he's doing it. It can be so frustrating for us as parents not to get angry with them as we are the ones having to change them constantly, change bedding or showering them and I can totally sympathize with you. Sometimes your just like is this ever going to end! It is mentally and physically draining. It is a long hard process. Finally we are now waiting on an appointment with a specialist. Feel free to message anytime

Just thought I would pop on and update as I know there were some posters that are in a similar fix.
I don't know if there was an element of constipation involved, but I do think it was more behavioural. On the day I posted this I created a reward chart and included 'going for a poo on the toilet' amongst other tasks. This has seemed to have done the trick and we haven't had an accident since. My son loves filling in his reward chart and claiming a little treat at the end of the week.

Thank you to everyone that offered their advice. Thankfully it seems like it was a phase but at least I know have more knowledge about ERIC so if I should ever need it, I can get more information.