Pooping in pants and sleep Apnea in 9 year old boy

by Carrie
(Seattle)

My son just turned 9. He poops in his pants at least 4-5 times a week, sometimes more. He says he can't feel it or smell it.




He also has sleep apnea, and goes long periods not breathing until he finally starts thrashing around in the bed to sort of make himself take a big deep breath. Then about a minute later he does that again.

I asked his school in 1st grade, and again last year to have him evaluated, but they just ignore me. I asked the doctor about SI disorder, and he pretty much just ignored me.

I feel pretty sure he is Hyposensitive, is the pooping and sleep apnea also common symptoms of that condition? Has anyone else had this problem, and is there anything to do about it? Thank you



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starstarstarstarstar 		Sleep Apnea and Pooping in Pants solution
by: Anonymous

I think you should consider changing The Boy's diet. My doctor knew a patient with a poor diet and he has sleep apnea as for the pooping I think it will go away if you get rid of the sleep apnea
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starstarstarstarstar 		Sleep apnea
by: Anonymous

Danyelle,

My son has sleep apnea. He is 5 and poops and wets himself often in his sleep. We have tried everything and nothing seems to work.

Our doctor dismissed us with my concerns about sleep apnea because of looking at his tonsils as well. He said they were not enlarged enough. I said I wanted to see a specialist and I got a referral to an ENT and was given an at home sleeps study.

When the sleep study results came back he did in fact have sleep apnea and is scheduled for tonsil/adenoid surgery in a few weeks. We are hoping the bed wetting and nighttime accidents stop after he is able to sleep soundly.

Trust your gut and see a specialist if you feel you’r doctor is missing something.
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starstarstarstarstar 		SPD & sleep issues
by: Anonymous

I forgot to add that my 7 year old never had a large tonsils but 22 ear infections.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Spd and sleep issues
by: Anonymous

My 7 year old has sensory processing disorder. He is oversensitive. He had tonsils and adenoids removed when he was little.

My five-year-old just had his tonsils and adenoids removed. We never got him tested for sleep apnea but he was worse than our seven-year-old was. He never sleeps well at all.

I would say when he was about four he started pooping in his diaper at night. It was hardly at all though. Now he was doing it maybe once a month. Recently it's been happening more and more.

Even after surgery he still isn't sleeping. If my five-year-old has sensory processing disorder as well, he's very under sensitive. I was going to bring up him being evaluated as well.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Older kids pooping pants
by: Anonymous

This may come as a surprise to some parents out there. But there are kids out there that enjoy the feeling of it. I know this because I was one of them.

I stumbled on this when I was 8 years old. I had an accident and actually enjoyed how it felt and would continue to do it. I would say the same excuses to my mother that I was too busy playing and didn't notice and all the other excuses your children have given you.

I'm perfectly healthy with no learning disabilities or anything like that. I'm not saying that is all children but I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one. Ask your child if they enjoy the feeling of it or perhaps try a little exercise by saying you don't mind if they do it so long as they only do it at home in there bedroom. This could be an indication that they are doing it out of enjoyment.

If this is the case I wouldn't get to upset about it. There are a lot worse things out there that your child could be doing. Hurting someone or themselves. At least what there doing is not illegal and not hurting anyone or themselves.
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starstarstarstarstar 		7 year old sleep apnea & pooping pants
by: Anonymous

My son is 7 and has had pooping in his pants problems for years. He also has sleep apnea.

There are quite a few sites that say sleep apnea can lead to a child having self care issues. He also says he can't feel or smell it. I took him to the Dr and he agrees that he needs his tonsils and adnoids removed. Its the first step, and if that doesn't work we'll try something else.

his doctor does agree that it could be connected. It also may take months for him to get out of his current behaviors.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Solution
by: Anonymous

I had the same problem with my 5 year old. I did some research and found out it was constipation. The dr put him on Myralax.

After 3 days he started pooping on the potty and has not had a problem since. I couldn't believe it. We spent three years trying to figure out why he wouldn't poop on the potty, and it was just constipation. He has to stay on a small dose of Myralax every day but is totally fine now.
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starstarstarstarstar 		simple cure finally found!
by: Carrie

unbelievable, it took over one year to find any doctor who actually knows what's going on. The poor child has been constipated for probably 2 years, and this leads to encopresis, or loss of bowel control. We have just now been referred to Mary Bridge Children's hospital which has a specialist who does nothing but treat this fairly common problem in young boys. They X-rayed his abdomen which was completely full of compacted stool.

She started by having him drink an 10 oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate that you can buy at Walgreens. It causes a total colon clean out, and let me tell you, it works! The poor boy pooped out unbelievable amounts of watery diarrhea over a 2 day period! I can't believe he had that much in him. Now he has to take 17 grams of Miralax for the next 6-12 MONTHS every day! But within a week he was out of pull up's and back in underwear. I can't imagine how many children have suffered for years, needlessly with this condition.

She did say that some kids have to go in to the hospital for a more thorough "cleanse" for really stubborn cases.

Please check out this website:
http://www.multicare.org/marybridge/constipation-encopresis-clinic
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starstarstarstarstar 		Pooping in pants at 6 years old
by: Danyelle

Hi,

Last year when my son was in Kindergarten he pooped on himself in his sleep and was totally unaware of it just slept for however long it was on him and never woke up.I am now starting to think that he may possibly have Sleep Apnea. He only pooped on himself that one time but I thought that it was really strange.

I know that they are supposed to wet themselves often with this disorder,my son has never done the wetting himself though.I was really alarmed by it.Your post is the first that I've seen of anyone saying that their child pooped on themself that has Sleep Apnea. Now,I am starting to really feel convinced.

My doctor just keeps dismissing my concerns about my son but I truly feel he has Sleep Apnea and some Sensory Disorder.He said that because his tonsils were not enlarged that he felt that he probably didn't have Sleep Apnea.I told him that he sleeps really wild,thrashes about sometimes,and sleeps in very awkward positions sometimes even sitting up...he said that he's probably just a restless sleeper...I know in my heart that something is wrong.

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