Why you must monitor your baby's bowel movements

Encopresis mostly affects up to four per cent of children aged four years, and it is more prevalent in boys. [iStockphoto]

Is your child already potty-trained but still soils himself and is mostly constipated, has hard stool and avoids using the toilet or goes for long periods without bowel movements?

Well, your child could be suffering from encopresis. Also called functional faecal incontinence or soiling, encopresis is the repeated involuntary passing of stool when not on the toilet, hence soiling clothing. Typically it happens when compacted stool collects and fills up in the colon and rectum, causing leaking of liquid stool around the retained stool, hence staining underwear and might be mistaken for diarrhoea.