Linking Diet to Early Morning No2's!!!!

[plugster1975]

I wonder whether someone might be able to offer me some advice or put me in touch with an organisation who might be able to help me?

My six year son (year 1) has recently (4-6 weeks ago) begun waking up a 0500 ish to go to the toilet (no.2’s!!!). Once he wakes up he doesn’t go back to sleep. Before, he would wake at 0600-0615 and go to toilet (no2’s again) by 0700.

In the first few weeks he would go back to bed for a few minutes then come into our bed until we generally wake up as a family at 0600. In the last two weeks, with some gentle persuasion, he goes back to bed and stays there until Mr Sunshine comes out (we use a Gro-clock). Once he’s woken up and gone to the toilet he’s told he must try to go back to sleep in his bed (which he hasn’t yet), or sit up and read a book with his night-light (which he doesn’t). He generally lays in bed and turns his light-show on and gets up at 0545 (Mr Sunshine time).

My son and daughter (3 1/2) share a bedroom and sleep in bunk-beds. Their bedtime routine is:

1825, all go upstairs to get undressed and run a bath (NO MORE TV/RADIO/TABLET ETC).
1835, both in bath.
1845, both out of bath.
1850, dried and in pyjamas, milk, story time, reading (son)/phonics (daughter).
1900, dad reads a story.
1905, in bed with a light show, door left ajar.
1915-1920, both asleep.

My son has a good diet, but tends to eat far more fruit than he does vegetables, which generally makes him a little loose. Weetabix has the same effect on him. In a typical day he’d eat one Weetabix, two banana’s, grapes, a pear or apple and strawberries. We’ve recently moved his fruit content from morning, afternoon and evening to just morning and afternoon. We assume quite loose because he eats so much fruit.

Are we right to connect his diet to the change in toilet habit, and if so is there anything we can do with his diet to help change the time he wakes for no2’s? It’s not effecting his school work yet but are conscious it could do soon.

We've experimented by going to bed a little later or earlier for a week ata time but nothing's working.

I hope somebody can help me.

Is this something to do with the clocks changing a few weeks ago and maybe his body clock is out, if he was regular before.

It might be, however we're conscious that if he continues to lose 0.5 - 1hrs sleep each night it might begin to effect his school work.

Apart from visiting our GP do you know of anybody who might help us?

I think this will be a phase that will pass.

I would start by keeping track of his poos through the day. They often happen 20mins or so after a meal or big drink. Note down mealtimes and poo times for several days. That might give you an insight. I think you're right that all that fruit might make it difficult for him to go long without pooing, but tying it in to times of day is going to be trial and error I think. Transit time varies quite a lot from one person to the next. The obvious thing to do would be to cut his fruit intake - only you can decide if the trade-off is worth it. It might be worth experimenting with removing bananas as they can have a particular effect on bowels. But it might be that removing fruit in just the morning or afternoon does the trick.

My guess would be that he is not pooing after his evening meal, or that the bedtime milk stimulates his bowel but he's asleep when it kicks in, and then can't keep it in all night. If that's the case you could bring milk earlier or stop it, and/or work on encouraging a bedtime poo, making sure he has his feet well supported and he sits for long enough. But it sounds like it's basically not a pooing problem, it's a getting back to sleep problem. A toilet trained child going to the loo in the night shouldn't be a problem, what's missing is the habit of going back to sleep after. DD regularly goes to the loo 3 or 4 times in the night but she knows she needs to rest in the dark if it's before 7am. She's 9 though, we've had a few more years to bend her to our will :)