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Dr Catherine
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Girl
4-7 years

He toilet trained in the day at 4.6months and had issues with compaction in the bowel from holding on around that time. That was solved at that time. He recently has been holding on again I think because his undies indicate that. He hates being interrupted to go to the toilet. He wet his pats the first time for a long time while we were out the other day. He is also a deep sleeper and moves around a lot.

Your son may be experiencing Encopresis which simply refers to uncontrolled soiling in children who are four years of age or older. For a diagnosis to be made soiling must occur at least once a month over at least a three month period, and can be voluntary or involuntary. Encopresis or soiling problems occur in 2-8% of children and is often associated with constipation or diarrhea but can result from underlying emotional causes or stress. Encopresis can also contribute to bedwetting so it is important that you have this treated first. My advice is to take your son to his GP for a full medical assessment, this will help you in deciding how best to approach and support his bedwetting. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding; I have been unwell and unable to answer questions during this time. Regards, Dr Cathrine