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3.5 year old pooing himself all the time

5 replies

Clueless21 · 20/08/2023 17:23

I have 3.5 year old boy / girl twins. DD was fully toilet trained before 3, although she's not yet dry through the night. DS took longer, but is now very reliable with wees and is dry through the night pretty much. He tells us when he needs to go can hold his wee whilst we're on the tube or whatever and need to wait to get above ground. But he STILL craps in his pants twice a day.

I'm getting really stressed about it, which I know is contra ALL the advice, but the situation doesn't seem to be changing at all. He can't or won't tell us he needs to go, although he'll tell us pretty much immediately it's happened. Sometimes I manage to catch him mid poo if I watch him like a hawk. as he usually goes about an hour after he wakes up and when he's been racing about. But like I say, mostly he just poos himself as he goes about his day. If I ask him why he didn't tell me, he tells me to stop talking. So he's obviously embarrassed or at least knows it's not right.

I worry because he's moving from nursery to pre-school in September and he's supposed to be able to use the loo independently by then. (Nursery haven't been insanely helpful has to be said - keeping him in nappies since he kept messing his trousers. I do understand why though). I'm also worried no one will want to be his friend if he smells of poo!

Partner is more patient, but is also away a lot so not dealing with the crappy pants as much. I don't know what to do to to. All the tricks I used with DD have failed (both rewards and consequences). Any advice? Please?

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Lockdownmummy · 20/08/2023 17:38

Following for any advice and you have my total empathy!

3y4m here and exactly the same but also periods is holding it in until bedtime as he's not dry at night yet so still has a nappy for bed.

AreWeNearlyHairnet · 20/08/2023 17:41

Are they maybe constipated? My son started having soiling accidents at 4.5 years old and he didn't feel them coming at all. Took him to the doctor and she diagnosed him with constipation. He had a course of laxatives (horrible!) but since then he's been perfect.

TropicalTrama · 20/08/2023 17:45

I was going to say constipation too. Even if it’s not, I’d want to see the GP to rule it out before I assumed it was behavioural as there would obviously be very different approaches to tackling it.

jannier · 20/08/2023 18:30

Have a read of the Eric website they have useful tips on pooh withholding.
Are his stools soft? If it's uncomfortable to go it makes them more likely to hold pooh in.

Clueless21 · 21/08/2023 10:07

hey - thanks so much for all the comments! i don't think he's constipated as his poos are pretty big and soft, and he survives pretty much entirely on fruit. but he doesn't seem to know they're coming, or at least, he definitely doesn't say anything, so maybe! i'll look at the eric website too - how have i not seen this before?? thanks team x

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