Kinder pooping pants

[Gampopa]

Hi All: I am attending a SST meeting tomorrow for a Kindergartener who is pooping his pants. The info I have so far: he does it both at school and home, he's been to a doctor who says he has a bit of constipation, he will be asked if he needs to use the bathroom and will say no but then a few moments later will have poopy pants, teacher has tried to schedule him to use the bathroom but doesn't help, he's the youngest at home and is a very sweet boy well behaved, can tell that he has to go but doesn't give himself enough time to get to the bathroom. I was thinking that maybe there were some food allergies but doctor says no. Anyone have any other ideas suggestions?

Thanks

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

There is a condition called encopresis. My kids both suffer from it; so did 2 of my nephews. My oldest started when my mother was murdered. He has been potty trained, but at 5-6 we had some horrible things happen. It is a way "controlling" life. He had other issues as well: ZERO good bacteria in his stool, he was not absorbing fat at all. took him gastroenterologist at UNC-Chapel Hill and another specialist who did a fellowship at Johns Hopkins.

Once they start with holding the feces, the nerve endings get desensitized to the feeling of needing to go. They get constipated and usually, the accidents are loose stool that go around what is basically an impaction. My son lived on Miralax and a very strict toileting schedule for 2 years. He is almost 12 and is almost 100% over it. There are the occasional slips. He also has some autistic traits and does get "caught up" in what he is doing.

It is way more common than people think.

[Nurse_Rae, BSN, RN]

As a mom, I have been dealing with this issue. My youngest, who is now 5 1/2 y/o will hold his BM, until he goes in his underpants. He will then go to the bathroom and dump it into the toilet. I have even made him clean his own underpants, as well. I spoke to his doctor about it, and she suggested fiber for constipation (as simple as it sounds). He takes fiber gummies twice a day, and has not had trouble since! I would never expect his school to figure it out. He has only had one accident at school, though. Hope this helps! I know it can be frustrating for all involved.

[NevadaFighter, BSN, RN]

Possibly encopresis? We were just talking about this condition in my Peds class.

I'm pretty sure that my cousin used to have this when he was little. He was always scared to have a BM because he thought it would hurt, so he would end up pooping himself.

[cav5]

I had a few children with this at my school. I believe the advice is sound-referral to the school counselor or psychologist is good but[COLOR=#003366]mmc51264 is also right on the money-I had a great doctor a few years back that really discussed this issue with me and the children really do lose the urge or sensation to go to the bathroom-in that case you do have to retrain them to go even though they don't feel like it-that is why the waiting on the toilet works. The doctor said it takes at least 6 months to a year to do this. the retraining and the miralax were the treatments he suggested along with the counseling.

It is more common than one might think-holding a child's education back for something like this isn't in the best interest of the child as it can take some time to get this sorted.