7 yr old DS holding in poo?

[40isnew50]

My 7 yr old DS has started holding in his poo then just letting it come out in his pants without trying to get to the toilet. I hablve now had to throw out 3 pairs of pants and trousers because of it. Tonight was the last straw as I went in to his room to have bedtime snuggles with him and the smell nearly knocked me out. He was in his bed with his pants and trousers still on and it was everywhere. He just laughs and says "I don't know" when I ask why he does it. Says he must be lazy or something? I have told him if it happens again I am buying him a nappy and have confiscated his favourite toy. Don't know what else to do?

We moved him to a new school 5 months ago due to bulling at his last school and tho he seemed to settle in well at first seems to be getting more unsettled and I wonder if this might be something to do with it? If there is something wrong I want to help but if he is just taking the piss I don't want to pander to him. Any ideas!?

First step would be to take your DS to the GP to see if there are any underlying medical reasons that are causing the soiling. Constipation is a typical cause of soiling and the withholding or toilet avoiding can start if a child has even one unpleasant experience of trying to pass a painful, hard poo. If it is constipation, then the GP should consider a course of laxatives to clear out your sons bowel and then get him on a maintenance dose of a macrogol laxative to help keep his poos soft until he is back in the regular habit of going to the toilet. Also with checking to see if there are any issues with him being able to access the toilets at school. If he is avoiding using them, that could also be a contributory factor to the withholding/soiling cycle. There’s a charity called ERIC that has loads of advice about how to manage toileting issues and they also have a Helpline you can ring. www.eric.org.uk/helpline