4 Year Old Suddenly Pooping in Underwear, What Can I Do

I was going to say, if it's poop - it's often a medical reason - nothing serious, usually a form of constipation. Have you mentioned it to his pediatrician?

The thing is, it might have started out as a minor problem but by giving it all sorts of attention, you may unwillingly have freaked him out. Some kids have a set back (often constipation) then react to being scolded by holding it in. It's actually not that uncommon. If you yelled at him ... you may just want to drop it for a while. But definitely get him seen if it continues and you think there may be a problem. You don't mention what his BMs are like.

Don't yell at him. Don't take away his underwear. You are going to create more of a problem than you already have!

Talk to the pediatrician. He needs to be checked for a medical issue. You also need a plan that doesn't involve what you've done before. Trying to guilt a 4 year old into going to the toilet doesn't work either.

You say nothing has changed for him. How do you know? You don't.

Toileting and eating are the only things that children can actually control in their little lives - everyone else in their little world tells them what to do. That's why it's so easy for kids to regress in their toileting when something is bothering them.

Stop making assumptions. Get your child to the doctor, and don't talk about it in front of the child when you go. You need to have the discussion before he comes in the room.

I have a friend who's child has this issue. Check out the following link ..or google "encopresis".

http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/encopresis.html

I was going to say exactly what Diane D said. Constipation is a huge problem in kids today. I would say to give him a stool softener and then put him on a very high fiber diet for a few days and he'll probably poop like never before and then be okay "with maintenance" meaning making sure that he eats high fiber foods every day. There are MANY things that kids like that are high in fiber. My GD ate granola bars, sandwiches made on whole wheat bread with lettuce, apples, salads, wheat thin crackers, carrots, broccoli, green beans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, etc. The list goes on and on. Check it out - I'm sure there are a ton of things that he will eat that will really benefit him.

Could he be constipated? My friend's son pooped in his pants quite a bit because he was constipated and since the stool was hard it hurt to go. What was coming out was whatever leaked out around the hard stool.

Have you talked about this with his doctor? He might need a laxative to get things moving and then a diet rich with fruits, veggies, and fiber moving forward so this won't happen again.

This age has so many new challenges.

Kids in Pre-K and Kindergarten bring a change of clothes for a reason. They have accidents. It's so common right now. He will have accidents with pee and poo during the next year. It's growth, development, brain windows opening for new information and old windows shutting down until new wiring is made, and more.

Once he gets into that Latency Stage he's going to have regression like stuff but it's not actually a big deal. It just happens. I have a LOT of years in child care and can honestly say that this is across the board, kids get to age 4 and 5 and even up to age 6 and they have a bout of accidents. Don't stress out, it will pass.

Another vote for looking into encopresis. Our son had that off and on for years.

Make him clean up the mess himself. He has to wash out his underwear and clean up the floor etc. if he doesn't use the potty.
As he is cleaning up remind him he could be playing right now but he has to clean up the mess. Don't yell or nag just in a conversational voice and only say it once.

Have you talked to the doctor about it? There could be a physical issue. I worked with a boy many years ago who was severely constipated. It got to the point where there was nerve damage in his rectum and he physically couldn't tell that he had to go. He had daily accidents. If he is really stopped up, it might be surprising him and he might not have control over it.