Number 2's

[Mrsh3103]

Morning everyone. Need some more advice please

[Mrsh3103]

Sent before I'd finished lol.

My ds is 5 and is having major problems with number 2's every day he will mess his pants. He goes & hides & tries to stop himself from needing to go which results in messed pants!!!
This has been going on for about a year now. I am really fed up now we've tried everything, rewards, punishments, ignoring it, making him sit on the toilet etc but nothing works. Any advice???

[munch149]

Sounds like he's scared to go or at least go on toilet. Maybe go back to making him sit on the toilet every so often to have a try.

Is he constipated at all sometimes the pain of going is what causes the fear of going. Have seen this in a mindee.

[shortstuff]

Ds was the same. As yuck as it is I let him join me in the loo so he could see it is normal. Also we made a game of reading a story while he would sit and try x In addition he got heavily praised everytime he tried.

This encouraged him to try in the right place and to accept everyone does it

[Amandak28]

My DD is 4 and only poohs in a nappy. She has a fear of going on the toilet when it comes to them.
She sufferes from sever constipation as a result of a dairy intollerence. And has laxitives powders to take. But this has been going for quite some time but really became an issue when potty training.

I would go to the doctors as thats where im going as im at a looses end as like you i have tried everything! Even telling her the tiolet like eating pooh lol!

Good luck and hope you get some advise. Xx

[Mrsh3103]

I already regularly take him with me I say J I'm going to the loo. Come & have a chat with me. He'll happily sit on the floor & have a chat.

I've put a heap of books on the shelf near the toilet & have even started sending him in there with his iPod or Nintendo ds.

He is constipated but the dr won't give him laxatives any more. He had them for a while but he still tried holding it in & made himself quite poorly. Dr said he'll get there eventually.
When he does eventually go it is so big it often blocks the toilet for a few days.

[shortstuff]

Poor thing he must feel awful. Have you tried feeding him lots of grapes and raisins? They normally make you go in a more natural way?

It sounds as though he just needs patience and tons of praise when he does have success.

[skatie]

It's awful to watch these little people struggle with constipation. My ds struggled for years with constipation, not waiting to go for a poo because it would hurt. Sitting on the toilet for HOURS ( can't tell you how many hours I've spent in public toilets). Eventually when he did go they were massive (holy cow! How did you manage to push that one out). Not wanting to eat because he hadn't been to the toilet for days. It's just horrid!

We've seen many doctors about it but one day When I was at the end of my tether with worry, I saw a brilliant doctor who reassured me it was more common than we realise and suggested trying to 'reset' his digestive system. This meant taking 2 laxatives for two weeks to flush his system out and slowly 'weaning' him off the laxatives. He is on the senna one every other day now and he can go to the loo in 10 minutes without being scared it will hurt. Occasionally we give him too much and he gets an upset tummy but that's happened twice and it's worth it for him to be much better in himself, he eats better too.

Might be worth a try doing a natural laxative? Good luck!

[kellib]

My son is exactly the same, says he doesn't need when it's clear he does, won't eat cos he's all blocked up etc and when he does go they are so massive it ends up blocking toilet. I've spent many hours sat in toilets with him until he does a poo!

However after saying all that in the last few weeks he's been so much better, actually going when he knows he needs etc. not sure why the sudden change, if its anything to do with him not being at school or not, he has been driving a LOT more fruit juice than usual or it might just be that he's getting older (he turned 8 last month) and something has just clicked with him.

[hectors house]

Often when children suffer with constipation they do have daily accidents of soiling which is "looser" poo that gets round the larger blockage.

If you don't get anywhere with doctors maybe try a private allergy test - my son in law has major consitipation problems (IBS), I suggested he see my homeopath who does Vega allergy testing, she told him he was intolerant to potatoes and he now seems much better. I also had a mindee who couldn't eat much potato without being very constipated, I used to give him a little bit mixed with lots of mashed parsnip.

Sounds like you need to treat the cause first rather than the symptoms - hope you turn a corner soon - especially before school starts again.

[Mrsh3103]

Thanks everyone

Just knowing that there are all of you who have the same problems is reassuring. I was really starting to worry about it.
He gets really upset & angry if its discussed in front of him so I might have to make a trip to the dr without him & see if there's anything else he can suggest. He hardly eats anything (probably because there's no room).
Snack this morning he had grapes, snack this afternoon he's had a box of grapes. I'm trying not to let him eat too much stodgy food like pasta etc hoping that might help.
So frustrating. Especially when you can tell by the look on his face he needs to go.

[adedwards68]

My son who's 7 has only just started going regularly every other day. He would go 2 weeks without going and then they would be so painful and like someone else block the toilet. We dried the laxative route, lots of fruit and veg but they didn't make any difference. TBH I don't know what is was that made he go more often, nothing changed but at least now we don't have hours spent on the toilet. Hope you get it sorted soon xx

Sent from my iPhone using Childminding Forum

[fionamal]

My daughter was exactly the same, shes now 10 and has "outgrown" it. She saw a specialist at Bupa who told us she would outgrow it. Its all about fear although hers started at 6 months old due to milk intollernce. She was taking Movicol in her water twice a day which helped to control it but this was over 2 years and then eventually grew to know herself when she needed more fruit juice.

Keep away from Bananas as they can make you constipated apparently and an occasional cup of coffee also helps.

It does get better

[Amandak28]

Evening!

Just had to share, my wonderful and clever daughter has started doing number 2's on the loo! Im so proud of her! And shes so proud of her self!

We have a woody reward chart and she get a star for every time she goes and then when its full she gets woody! And ten we start a new one for buzz!

She absolutely loves toy story so shes over the moon shes going to get them if her 'great job' at pooing on the loo continues! And i have total faith!

Im giving movical powders daily to keep her loose and comfortable and so far its working!

So so proud shes overcoming her fear :-) xxx

[mpullen17387]

Omg thank you so much for posting this thread.. We have this issue with my 4 year old.. Not constipated, just hates going. In the end he has to go and is soo big, I praise him for going big time, but then it starts again. Have to let him get on with it as he has just started recognising when he really can't stop it and has to go xxx

[smurfette]

Does your Ds eat crackers? My dd had lots of problems and was with a specialist and all the above are great suggestions ..
We find with her exercise is great (particularly swimming and trampolining!) but we found she had crackers most days and when she cut them
Out she was much better ..
Must have Been the salt

[charlottenash]

I've read a few replies haven't seen prune juice yet? When my son had this issue the doc told us to mix prune juice with orange juice so it doesn't taste so foul. Within a day he'd cleared out and we tried again with the 'poohing on the loo' routine and it worked because he wasn't all clogged up