Potty Training
and Encopresis

Other Articles in Robyn's Nest Potty Training Series:
Getting Started
Common Problems
Is My Child Ready?
The Best Time to Potty Train
Bedwetting
Encopresis

Only a physician can make this diagnosis. Soiling or encopresis is when a child passes bowel movements into his underwear. Many children who are soiling small amounts several times a day are severely constipated or blocked up (impacted). The soiling occurs when a piece of a large mass of hard stool in the rectum breaks loose at unexpected times. This is especially likely to happen when your child is running or jumping. The soiling is not deliberate. The impaction is usually too wide to pass spontaneously, and the child can't control the leakage until the blockage is removed.

There are many reasons why children become constipated like high milk diets, genetic differences, avoiding bowel movements because they cause pain, or occasionally, holding back BM's as a way of resisting toilet training. The possibility of physical causes requires a complete examination by your child's physician.

Never give a child oral laxatives, enema's or any over the counter medications without first checking with your pediatrician.

Other Articles in Robyn's Nest Potty Training Series:
Getting Started
Common Problems
Is My Child Ready?
The Best Time to Potty Train
Bedwetting
Encopresis

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Potty Training - Encopresis