I need to know I'm not alone.

I've been dealing with a....unique situation, and I just need to know if anyone else has had to deal with this.My son will be 5 next month, and has taken to pooping on the floor. About a month ago, we found the pile (yes, pile) that he had been hiding, along with a towel he used to wipe himself with. He said it hurt, but that's because he holds it until he's about to explode. :-(We told him he wasn't allowed to do that, that he has to poop in the toilet, and all went back to normal. Until yesterday. I found him trying to hide his poop and sock (which he used to wipe himself with). I made an appointment with his pediatrician for this morning.Turns out, he is holding it so long that it gets hard and hurts coming out. Plus, it backs him up, which leads to more hurting. \sigh He has ignored his body's signals for needing to go potty for so long, he doesn't know when he should go, vs when he needs to go. He was hiding it because he knew it was bad, and was scared of my reaction.So now, his Ped. is recommending miralax twice per day to get things softer and moving, and sitting him on the toilet for 5 minutes every hour to reassociate him with his body signals.Is there anyone who has gone through this? Or anything like this? I feel so alone, and my family is keeps saying it's all my fault since none of them has ever had anything remotely similar happen with their kids. They say how bad it is because he's got a problem, and then say I need to punish him. We did punish him the first time. We took away his birthday party. They want me to "beat him" and "blister his ass". :-( I'm all for a well needed spanking, but that won't fix this! Even my childfree family members are telling me these. It's making me feel worthless and helpless. I'm trying to fix this. I just need to know if there is even one person out there who can relate with this. Please? via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2oA8K0G