HELP! With my 5 year old.

cynnnabun · December 2010

My DD has NEVER had potty issues. She was totally potty trained before the age of 3 and never had problems with it. She pee'd her pants a handful of times while learning, but that was it.

This week, she has pooped her pants 6 TIMES! POOP! I do not understand. When I ask her, she says she didn't even know she went until after it was there?

What can I do to help her? Is there some kind of medical issue that could be going on that could cause this? She's not sick. No fever, no loose bowels, nothing.

Please give me some suggestions here.

shouldbworkin · December 2010

Could she be constipated? Is she filling her pants or pooping pellets? If pellets, then I think she's probably constipated and maybe things she just has to toot. If that's the case, I would give her lots of water and try benefiber. GL! I know how frustrating this can be!

Joenali · December 2010

Try this link on encopresis. https://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/encopresis.html

neverblushed · December 2010

I think there could be 2 possible causes for this:

1. Physical -- you need to rule out any physical cause (constipation, diarrhea) before you assume you need to work on behavior.

2. Emotional/Behavioral -- it's not unheard of for kids this age to have potty regressions. It's kind of like, by the time they're 5, they're so good at dealing with the potty thing that they relax and let down their guard. They tell themselves, "Yeah, I know I have to go, but I can hold it a little longer. I don't want to stop playing/watching tv/etc." The other possibility is that she's avoiding going to the bathroom for some reason related to the bathroom. Once, my DD made herself totally constipated because her teacher scolded people for taking too long in the bathroom. My DD, being a good little rule-follower got all upset and refused to poop at school because she was worried she'd get "in trouble" if she took too long.

Whoo · December 2010

My 5 year old peed in her pants three times in August before K. started. She has never had potty issues and only had one accident when potty training at 3. For her, it was emotional. I think she was nervous about school starting and also saw how concerned and surprised I was the first time it happened so she "let" it happen two more times to try it out. I tried really hard not to make a big deal about it around her even though I was very stressed about it. I also tried to let her experience what a pain it was. So, when it happened on the play ground I made us leave asap and didn't take her back for a while. I made her help me clean her clothes and take a bath. She was really not her self in a lot of ways, she was very nervous about school starting, she withdrew a little bit from the neighborhood kids etc. When school started and she realized she liked it, things went back to normal.

JillShari · December 2010

Let me add to what everyone else said.....it could also be that you are pregnant. Potty things can regress as they are not the baby anymore and they are afraid of what their position in the family will be so they regress. It is not uncommon and may actually increase when the baby comes. I would try to make it not a big deal and treat her with "big girl" things and reassure her about the fact that you will love her and etc. And help discuss what big sisters do and what they do with mommy. It is a HARD transition and one that I think gets harder when they are this old and a new one comes along.

HELP! With my 5 year old.

Re: HELP! With my 5 year old.

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