Help - Constipation and Potty training for DS (speech and comm probs)

[spacegirl]

Still trying to work out where to post so this is duplicated on behaviour?

My DS2 is 3.5 months and nursery is looming. He has speech and communication issues (maybe ASD).

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of potty training a child that has been constipated on and off more or less since he has been born. He needs prompting but is doing pretty well with wee's most days limited accidents. Some days hoffic and other days refuses to wear pants.

However, I just can't get him to poo in a potty, does in pants if I refuse the nappy pleas or saves it for the night. It exacerbates his constipation.

Nursery want him to wear pull ups but that kind of undoes my hard hard work. Not sure whether to leave it until later or .....???? anyone any ideas?

[spacegirl]

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[sphil]

Hi Spacegirl

Don't know if this will be any comfort to you, but my older son (now 6) was like this at 3 and 4. He hasn't got ASD but does have mild traits of dyspraxia and Aspergers. He wouldn't poo in a potty or toilet until he was 4 and even then it was a huge issue - he was frightened because of the constipation. He used to save it up until the night as well and occasionally had accidents in his pants. I was very worried about school (he started at 4.3) but it started to get better from the moment he went. We gave him prune juice to help and told him it would give him 'soft poos', we did a star chart and he got a small reward every time he did a poo in the loo. It took absolutely ages but we're now at the stage where he does a poo most nights in the loo quite willingly and never has accidents. However, we still have to sit with him, read a story etc. He's never (to my knowledge) been by himself or at school. It's so tuch better than in was though, and I can definitely see a day when he won't need one of us in there with him (please God!)

This may not help you at all - I don't know how severe your son's language issues are. I know it wouldn't work at all with my younger son, aged 4, who is towards the severe end of the autistic spectrum and who isn't potty trained at all yet. So apologies if I've rabbited on for nothing...

[spacegirl]

Sphil, Thank goodness there might be a day when it happens. Hope is a good thing! He refuses lactulose and it turns into a spitting meltdown. I haven't tried prune juice for a few years but could see if it works. Incentives haven't worked so far.

He is unclear but increasing words and copied random phrases all the time. His understanding is very basic. However, he can make it clear that he wants a nappy on!What did your DS do in nursery pants/ pull ups? He is going to MS nursery with extra support.

My DS's are two years apart too (have a DD too who is two years below them. Boys eh?

We are early stages of dx. Cheers for your response.

[sphil]

He was trained for wees by the time he went to nursery (at 3.3) and we never had a problem with poo there because he always did them at night. He only ever had accidents at home in the evenings. So we risked pants and got away with it!

[maribe]

Hi Spacegirl,

Does your son have a Speech & Language Therapist? There are various approaches to adapting work on potty training that could be taken, depending on his particular communication difficulties. If there are sensory issues with pants etc maybe an Occupational Therapist could give some input?

If these professionals aren't already involved try a direct self-referral to S&LT or go via your GP or paediatrician. The nursery may have an S&LT. If so, best to try to make conatct now.

Good Luck!

[magso]

Hi spacegirl, my Ds with language delay and history of constipation had a similar problem. Like Sphil he usually went at night , so I used to put a pull up on! well before bed and change - tipping the contents proudly in the loo infront of him to show where it belonged. Oddly he preferred the loo and its comfy child seat to the potty. He liked sitting on it whilst I ran his bath, first clothed (nappied) then undressed. He got a chocolate drop if suceeded! ( at first he had to be rewarded for sitting and 2 for sucess dont tell the dentist!) Eventually we progressed to reading a story with him on the on the loo ( I still do this!)
I read (but did not suceed)about sitting child on the pot in a nappy then loose nappy then lining the pot with a nappy to gradually accustom child to loss of security.
On the subject of lactulose, i found putting it into his juice (devided through the day - he did not like it in milk or water) worked. I hear that a nice flavoured infant movicol (new)is available now so it might be worth asking the gp. It took a while but we got there eventually!
We didnt put DS in pull ups at am nursery as only wetting accidents occured there and they could cope! School was a bit harder but eventually peer pressure helped!!

[spacegirl]

Thanks for your replies. I was looking through the list and then I thought that looks a familiar topic! It is still an issue for us. Nursery wanted him to swap to pants and he is mainly doing ok there. Not quite as good the rest of the day but doing well with wees can cope with changes of clothes.

He mainly poos at night but hard to tell when as can be every few days, not so great when in pants. He gets more constipated wearing pants then when he was in nappies.

At moment he goes to SALT every couple of months. We have a SALT appointment next week so I will ask her. We haven't really talked about it. His speech has really come on in the last month (I can understand him even if others can't always. She is using Makaton to try and help him to understand big and small etc. She said we need to work on his understanding. As an aside do you know if they can work on how to understand sorry?

We are also going to a constipation clinic next week so I will ask for some more advice and some laxitives. Have been referred to OT but up to a 6 month wait.

Magso it is encouraging that eventually it all sorts out. Did you find laxitives helped your son go every day and predict when he was going to go.

[mamadadawahwah]

Could be your child has what is called gut dysbiosis. Are his poos really smelly when they finally arrive? Has he any food in his poos? Are they yellow or dark?

Constipation: There is a great product on the market called oxypowder. Get it on ebay pretty cheap. Totally natural. Magnesium and vitamin c, heck of a lot better than movicol which is basically sugar water, which makes the gut worse.

Try it slowly with 3 caps then work up until you have large watery poos. You keep giving capsules up to 7, until child makes a formed poo. Instructions on the bottle.

we use it and its the only thing that got our child into regular bm habits after years of constipation, basically from birth.

If you go on to some other sites about constipation and gut problems and ASD's you will see that gut problems are very common.

Ask your doctor where constipation comes from. For every symptom, there is a cause. Maybe get your child an abdominal xray to see if he is compacted.

Constipation is very harmful, in that if the poo stays in the body, the body reabsorbs all the toxins Its a vicious circle.