Bizarre Behavior from 4 Year Old

Truthfully, when mine did that and I had had enough, I spanked him for being defiant and disobedient. It only took one or two spankings for him to get it under control. BTW, there were no issues other than him not wanting to go or being lazy. He just didn't want to stop and go. And he was to big at 4 1/2 to be acting that way. He even pooped on the front porch one time he had waited to long, because he knew if he dirtied his pants he would get in trouble with a spanking. As long as there is no problem other than them taking care of business, I guess you have to decide what you are willing to put up with. And how you want to handle any problems. I think at some point as a parent we have to say enough and have consequences that are very uncomfortable for them to stop the offending behavior. Anyway, that worked for us.
Good luck,
L.

My son tries to hold in BM's sometimes. We have been through two episodes of this in the last year. I really have no idea why it has happened unless his stool was a bit hard and it was painful. I know it is frustrating. Both episodes lasted several weeks for us and the first time we used Myralax for a week or so to help him go easier. I just try to be patient and he does end up getting through it, but he won't tell me why he does this. Good luck!

My son didn't exactly do this. He just had a bad habit of holding it too long. We found out that him holding it too long actually was resulting in his night time accidents. We were told by our doctor that holding it does not make the bladder stronger, but has the opposite affect. Our doctor told us to start making him go every two hours--whether he has to or not. You might try explaining this to him and giving him an incentive to go every two hours with a reward for sticking to the schedule.

Get a bag of cheap treats from the dollar store. (or use quarters in a mason jar)... for each boy, every day without an incident - or an accident - they get a treat (or a quarter in their jar). Why each boy, when only the 4 year old is having a problem? To avoid the other one developing one for the attention.

Oh - and I make my 5 year old clean his underwear when we have a problem.

S.

At Wal Mart or Target you can get "underware covers" They are basically plastic rinse-able underware. When they get wet at all they are so uncomfortable the child can't stand it, and will learn to go to the potty every time.