My 4.5 year old has just started pooping his pants! HELP!

gr8fulaa

I really do not know what to do for this. We have never punished potty accidents, but can they really be called 'accidents' after you've been potty trained for so long? He has been having multiple accidents a day, and crying when we try to get him to sit on the potty for nearly 2 weeks. He is actively avoiding the bathroom and gets very upset when we even talk about going. We are going through some adjustments as a family right now (namely, Mommy is 9 months pregnant) but I really thought we were handling that well. I have been trying to get him back to sleeping on his own independently (a whole 'nother story lol, hormonal mommy let her 4 year old into bed with her, and if i let him stay he'll be waking with a newborn every 3 hours....) but  I have been doing that slowly and gradually...

Anyways, if this is regression, what can I do? Wait it out? Bring him back into my bed? If it's a reaction to fear related to a new brother, I am even more clueless, b/c it's certainly only going to get worse once brother is born...

What do I do in the meantime? Pull-ups? I could try to reintroduce the rewards system we've been done with forever...Kid development books talk about handling potty training with a 2 year old, not a 4.5 year old, so I'm not sure if any of that stuff applies.

 Any advice?

AZ123

You may not like this answer but when my 3 year old did this when I was 9mo pregnant, we made him dump out the poop from the underwear to the toilet, rinse it and put it in the laundry. He did that twice and then stopped pooping his pants. 

RoxBride

I agree with Auntie - I'd check with the doctor to see if he's having a hard time pooping and is scared for medical reasons. If that all seems okay, then I would make no big deal about it, but he has to clean himself, get the poop in the toilet, and start his own load of laundry.

If he's doing it for attention, then make it such a hassle it just isn't worth it to him.

FriskyPanda

-auntie-:

AZ123:

You may not like this answer but when my 3 year old did this when I was 9mo pregnant, we made him dump out the poop from the underwear to the toilet, rinse it and put it in the laundry. He did that twice and then stopped pooping his pants. 

This was how I trained my son. But he had total control of his bowels and could go whenever I was in the shower.

This sounds different, sudden onset, several times a day after avoiding the potty sounds like a child with encopresis. I'd take him to the doctor just to be sure.

I agree with auntie.  Trying to control an uncontrollably world (can you tell my kids in therapy )