Bathroom Issues

Is she otherwise fully potty trained? I know that my son (3.5) would pee, but not poop, on the toilet when he was first trained. He would go in a diaper, or (yuck) in his underpants, but he wouldn't always go on the toilet. It took some time, but now he is doing everything on the toilet. Would it maybe help to have her in a diaper for a little bit in the evening, to get her to go in that, and then once she has become regular again, try doing it on the toilet again?

Just some ideas, I don't know how helpful they will be.

My daughter was having harder movements (though not holding in - just would say "it's not working" or would seem to have to work hard and then it would look like a rabbit just used the potty.) We got some of the baby apple-prune juice. She now calls it "poop juice" which has helped. She loves being allowed to have the little bottles to drink out of since she sees us drink from water bottle or such sometimes. And the 4 ounce size works for a serving for her. At first I let her have a couple a day and once things seemed to loosen up a bit, we usually only have 1 per day. I prefer it to meds though we never got to point of asking doc about it since the juice seemed to be a good solution.

Hey,
My son Gavin has the same problem. It's do to a lack of high fiber foods in his diet, that he needs to break down the dairy and protein he intakes. In the grocery store in either the vegetable isle or health food isle there are organic juices. The one you want is either called green goodness or superfood. It's green and the consistency of a smoothy. It's made from broccoli, spinach, seaweed, apples, and some other stuff. It sounds yuck, but it actually tastes really good. It's all natural, and doesn't have added sugar. Sugar constipates so, watch her intake. Also, stay away from products containing enriched flour, or white flour. I get my bread in the bakery section either whole grain or rye. The don't contain white flour and aren't as processed. I used to be a chef so I know a lot about food. Don't hesitate to ask more questions.
J.

Try some foods naturally higher in fiber. Kashi cereals and bars are a great source of fiber and helped me through my pregnancy. I think there's an all bran cereal with yogurt covered raisins that might be more appealing to a toddler.

The only thing that worked for my daughter was a prescription Miralax. I would ask for the prescription and if they won't give you one ask for a referral to gastroenterologist. My daughter started off like that and it ended up being a serious problem. I also started off with Kondremul and mineral oil and adding fiber and they just do not work right. The little bit in her pants is not her going a little bit. It actually happens when she is very constipated and it is an acidic discharge coming out from being constipated. This can cause severe almost like diaper rash on your daughter. Miralax worked wonders! My child actually was on Miralax for about 2 years and now is perfectly fine!

Hi L.,
We had this problem with my son for almost a full year. He had trouble with constipation, so he also got to the point of holding it in. We tried everything before a prescription stool softener was used. It was the only thing that helped. He couldn't hold it in. Of course that made messes and lots of partial poops, but at least he was going. We just had to keep giving it to him until he got over his mental issue with going poop. Even after we got past the hard BM's and the constipation, he still had the fear of going, the fear that it might hurt again. It can take awhile. I thought he would never get over it and that I would always have to monitor how often he went or if he was going at all. It was very frustrating. Our Ped advised against the laxatives and the enemas. He said they are too hard on the system. We tried them, but I did agree that the stool softener worked much better and didn't make his BM's too soft like a laxative can do. Anyway....hope that helps a little. If you have any other questions about it, just let me know. Like I said, I dealt with it for almost a year. Good luck.

Hi, my son suddenly started being seriously constipated and I took him to a pediatric gastroenterologist, as the ped was no help whatsoever. my son had nu underlyig probs and is now on a prescription laxative, but there could be something seriously wrong--ask your ped to recommend a pediatric gastroenterologist and get your daughter there post-haste.

good luck.

I have a 3 year old who was doing this when i was potty training her. She would pee on the potty with no problem, but bowel movements were a problem. I think once they get started with the holding, it is a hard thing to break.

Lots of pears, peaches, plums soften them up. Apple juice is good too. Bananas will bind her up. Give the peaches with the syrup in them. The kinds in the cups or cans. the syrup makes things go smoother too. Once it starts hurting her, she will want to hold it cause she is scared. With my girl, it did not matter what i did or tried to reward her with, she would not go. Now she is better with it. Sometimes, if you know she has to go, and she is really constipated, some vaseline around that area helps to get things out better too. Sorry if i am grossing you out, but it works when they really, really need to go but it is stuck. I hate constipation. Remember "P" fruits. Peaches, pears, plums.

That is all i can say. I really hope this stops for you soon.

M.

The only suggestion I have is having her drink something other than apple juice, possibly prune juice. I just know that apple juice is one of the things of the BRAT diet when a child has diarrhea, so that may have a negative effect on what you're trying to do. Good luck!

I know a lot of kids are scared to poop in the potty. They're fine peeing in it but for whatever reason pooping in a potty is a scary thing. Maybe this is what's happening to her and she's just holding in it because of that. I would ask her how she feels about the potty. If it's something negative, I would make it a fun experience. My husband's son (from a previous marriage) had this funny music tape they played whenever it was time to go. Then he started to enjoy it and go on his own.

Hello we had this problem with my niece and still do now and then. Her ped prescribed the Kondremul too and also told us to use child sized enemas if she hadn't gone for more then 3 days. She no longer needs the Kondremul, but at 7 she still occasionally needs an enema to help her go.The reason my niece had problems is because she said it hurt to go to the bathroom and so she held it in until she got backed up, maybe that is your daughter's problem.when my niece goes to the bathroom it is like an adult going, so you can imagine her reluctance to go!