5 year old doing poo's in pants

[coffeecupmum]

does anyone have any good tips to help a 5 year old stop doing a poo in his pants? It happens most days and he struggles to get to the loo in time. The other children at school are starting to notice him smelling. We tried sitting him on the loo once a day but this led to him getting cross and upset. Happy to try this again and stick with it if that works. I think sometimes he is too busy playing to go and gets there too late. Thanks in advance.

Take him to your GP to get him checked out for chronic constipation (also known as faecal impaction). If there's a blockage then some poo will get round it giving a misleading impression that his bowels are regular when they aren't. If this is the case your son won't always get the message to go.

Secondly start a chart split into morning, afternoon and evening. Send it to school with him with stickers too and if he gets three stickers in a row he can take a toy into school with him (or have another treat). Talk to your son's teacher or school nurse to get them on board. Although if he does have chronic constipation this second method may not help as much.

Has he always done this or is it something which has started since starting school?

If he has always has done it, then I think you have to see a GP.
If it has started since starting school then he may be just too busy or he might be scared of the toilets (hand dryers?). A reward chart and extra (ideally hourly) reminders from teacher may work.