Six year old child's toilet phobia

[jtn]

My six-year-old grandson has suddenly developed a toilet phobia. He will not use the toilet for bowel movements anymore. He has been doing it in his pants for the last three days. My daughter had to get him from school today because the teacher called and said that he had an accident. We think his fear started when the toilet overflowed. He begs his mom not to flush it or please wait until he leaves the room. We've tried talking to him and reasoning with him to no avail. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[Stormsky]

I heard this before with young children... the bigger an issue you make, may make it worse and last longer... did he say what hes afraid of? a visit to gp may be the way to go

[JoJoR]

My son has exactly the same problem.. caused by the same thing. It started when he was about 5 and he has held on to his bowel movements, had accidents in pants etc day after day, week after week. The only thing I can say is that they do grow of of it. It's a very hard thing to deal with because its so unpleasant and because they will get teased at school as they get older but I can only recommend that you discuss this with his teachers and make them promise to help get him cleaned up. The school nurse told me about a game you can play.... its a competition to get poo in the loo... Don't let the poo win cos it wants to be in your pants.. My son is 11 now and he's come out the other side.. He still worrys about blocking the toilet but he can rationalise his thoughts more now he's older. I Hope this has helped...