Hi,
My daughter who will be 4 in July, is all of sudden will not poop on the toilet. She holds it for days and complains that her tummy hurts. And when she does go it's very painful for her because it's so hard and big. I would very much appreciate some advices on what to do.
Thanks
My daughter had similar issues. The doctor said the problem is that it is self-perpetuating; if she is holding it in, her rectum gets stretched, and then she naturally goes longer between bowel movements. My doctor prescribed a laxative; there are several over-the counter ones, or you can ask your doctor. Of course, then you need to watch carefully, but it may make it easier for her, until you can get her back into an easier routine.
Hi, lots of fruit (grapes are my fave) will keep her on that potty whether she wants to or not.. and maybe you could read her a book during potty times.. I made up a stinky song for my daughter who is about to be 3... The song is now a family favorite... and I think that helps. Good Luck
I went through this with my daughter and talked to friends and our pediatrician. We began giving her miraLAX mixed with juice. It's relatively new and very mild. First we gave it to her every 2 days but that didn't work so then every day for a while and she began pooping regularly because she couldn't hold it anymore. When it seemed she was becoming comfortable pooping on her own again we weaned her off (every 2 days, then every 3 days, etc...).
The other thing that seemed to bring my daughter some comfort is we talked about how everyone poops. She loves animals so we went through lists of animals and how they all poop too.
Finally, she likes privacy when she poops so we leave her alone and she lets us know when she is done. We use wet wipes to clean her up because she likes them better than TP.
I recently went through the same thing with my 3 year old daughter. I ended up having to give her Fletcher's children's laxative once in the morning and once at night. She couldn't help but have to go after a few doses. The first couple of times it still hurt and she even had a little blood. She would cry and scream and I just sat there with her assuring her it was okay, but that it had to be done. Eventually the poop wasn't as hard and big anymore because of the laxative and when she finally went without pain - the fear dissipated. It took about a week or maybe two, but she's fine now. Hope that helps.
Prune juice is good...and DanActive drinks everyday. Nothing replaces fruit and veggies keeping things soft for easy pooping! If you eat sugar put some fiber into them, or have her eat oatmeal. Always encourage her to drink water!!!
Never laxatives, they strips the intestine of health bacteria you need to be there.
I hope this idea helps. When I was potty training my oldest around 2 1/2 he was very scared to poop in the potty, I'm not sure why, he just was not comfortable with it. So we bought pullups, and anytime he needed to go, he would run and get a pullup on, go in the pullup, then we'd change him and he'd put his underware back on. Eventually, he grew out of it, and just started going on the potty. I'm not sure how long we did this as he is now almost 9, but it worked well.
My daughter is/was, too. She started at 2 1/2.
I have a child care in my home and I watched an 8 year old who was getting care from an internal doctor specialist because of the problem... the mom said she noticed the problem when she was an infant, but didn't realize it wouldn't go away. The 8yr old got cramps, headaches, and missed a lot of school. She seemed to be "sad" all the time - even when she was happy.
I have taken my daughter to the pediatrician and they had my daughter take a laxative to keep the stools soft, or almost runny so she can forget the fearful pain and then bring the colon back to normal. It wasn't very easy to address everything else in life; like going to day camp (have to be potty trained, which she was, except the poop was hard to control so she wore a pull up, which she would use instead of the bathroom... get the drift?
I found a way to include some prune juice in her diet (kept trying all sorts of high fiber foods but she usually didn't eat them a second time), and modified her laxative to 1/6th the amount recommended. The combination stopped her from holding back, but her muscles can't move it through her colon because they need to get stronger now. So pooping still gets a pull-up because it takes 2-5 hours to come out, and sometimes its a little bit (and smelly) at a time (like, every 20-40 minutes, so it seems I'm changing her 2-5x in a two hour span...) and we're waiting to find out if there is more, for another 2 hours! The laxative has changed things so much that my daughter doesn't always know if she needs to poop soon- so we can switch from underpants back to pull-up...She's almost four, now, and the pull-up irritates her skin and is getting too small... so walking is not very rewarding... she likes to sit a lot- except if she's wearing underpants, then she runs and her smile comes back...
I'm going to look for a specialist and hope the doctor has good advice, because the pediatricians (multiple doctors in the one office) aren't helping me avoid these "traps" the medicines put my daughter in: e.g. now that the stools are soft, the muscles can't work well. I got to where the muscles got stronger, and the stools started getting hard and big again... In fact I'll use mommasource to hear some recommendations.
We went through this, too. It hurts because they hold it in, and they hold it in because it hurts. It's a vicious cycle. I took my 3 year old to a pediatric gastroenterologist who told me to get a shoe box, decorate it and fill it with little goodies and keep it in the bathroom as the "Poopie Prize Box". Every time she pooped, we clapped and danced and she got a treat from the poopie box. Benefiber works wonders and dissolves into their juice/milk and has no taste...just once per day will fix it. DO NOT use laxatives as they will become physically dependent on them.
Hi S.,
Do you take her to watch you "Poop"? D.
Oh I know how terrible this can be. My son has rentention issues as well. THe doctor recommended Miralax. Its non habit forming and the ingredients are not invasive. However it keeps his stool soft. Also, he is on a HIGH fiber diet. (this means only whole grains, lots of nuts, only high fiber fruits, and beans) This is an example of his foods for a day:
Morning - oatmeal
snack - apple or berries
Lunch - buckwheat noodles with seasame seeds and seasame oil, edamame, broccoli and berries
snack - whole wheat rice cakes, dried peas
snack # 3 - almonds or cashews
dinner - lentils, whole wheat cous cous, stewed tomatoes, carrotts or brocolli, and some more fruit
We also put 1 spoonful of fiber (this can be bought at any pharmacy or at safeway) in his bottle.
We absolutely avoid white rice, bananas, apple saus or toast (all known constipators) and give him lots of water
Good luck!
Go to www.vitacost.com and look for a product from Nature's Way in the children's section called, "Primadophilus". Read the reviews and you'll be impressed. It's aimed at ages 2-12. It's available in 2 flavors, orange and cherry. The cost is good and the kids will love it. Should solve your potty problems. Good luck!
it probably hurt her one or two times and now she's fearful of it hurting. put a tablespoon of mineral oil in her juice. it has no nutritional value but it is not absorbed in the body. it will make her poopies come out smoothly and she'll be fine after a couple of times. also, get the "potty power" dvd, it works magic. m&m candies are a great reward to poop!!
