Continued from Dee, Child's Age 11 - 7/30/02

... I know that this site is mostly about bedwetting or urination problems and I checked through a couple pages of posts to see if anyone had children with a similar problem, but I didn't see any. My son is 11 now, when he was about 7 we had a problem with him wiping his butt and he would leave streaks in his underwear. I explained how he should wipe, I made sure he changed them when he didn't, and I eventually ended up punishing him when it continued. It wasn't long after that and it stopped. Sometime, before or after he turned 10 I noticed it happening again. I assumed he had gotten lazy and figured punishment would be the answer. Then I noticed that he was hiding his dirty underwear in his closet and it was no longer just streaks, he was actually pooping in them, not everytime, but sometimes. I've talked with him about it, I've kept a check on him to make sure he cleans up, I've tried punishing him in different ways (groundings, restrictions, paddling),recently I've tried talking to him to find out if he has trouble holding it or if he is afraid of wiping for some reason, It's not working. I don't know what to do now. I've made him wash his own underwear, I've explained that it is unsanitary and that cleaning up after is necessary. This is a major concern, because he doesn't seem to want to clean up, he will change his pants, but not wash beforehand. He doesn't seem to care that it causes him to smell bad either. I am completely lost and I don't know where to go from here, besides discussing it with his doctor, which I'm not really comfortable with. I will if he can help, but I don't know. If any of you know where I can get information on why he may be doing this or how to deal with it, please reply. He has his friends over alot nowadays and he goes to their homes as well, and I have even heard his friends comment and say "something stinks" or whatever, so I have taken him aside and told him to clean up and change, so that he won't be embarrased, he just doesn't seem embarrased, it's more like he tries to ignore it, or pretend nothing is wrong. I would appreciate any help here, I personally wet to bed till I was 13, but this seems totally different and he has never wet to bed, or even peed his pants since he was potty trained.