withholding poo with significant soiling 6X a day help

[thelanoir]

My 4.4 son was not quick to potty train having no desire to stop what he is doing to go to the potty/loo. Finally we sorted wees out and usually they are not a problem but poos are getting worse and worse.

I think he is withholding but is not like the classic witholders who can keep it in for days...instead he does 6 or more little teeny (But smelly) poos a day.

He will not tell us when they are coming but if we are nearby, it is obvious because of his posture and we drag him to the loo and sometimes get a little in but usually there is some in his pants. If we miss it, there is usually a small amount in his pants.

He never seems to do a full size poo except occasionally of he is wearing a nappy at night.
We have tried

Prune juice
Rewards
Treats
Regular loo sitting and blowing bubbles

Have read Anthony cohn.

Any advice greatfully received .
.

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Hi,
I was just about to post pretty much exactly the same thing. My daughter has always had trouble going for poo's. It started when she was around 18 months old, every time she needed to go she would hold it in and in the process become panicked and clammy.

She is now 3 years old and we are still having the same problem. She hold's it in when she needs to go and we get tiny little bits in her knickers more like a stain. She will not tell us she needs to go the only way we know is when she hides behind doors/sofa or by the way she's standing, when this happens we drag her to the toilet and encourage her to go on there.

We have tried all sorts of laxatives, been to the doctors and I keep her diet controlled so not to cause her to be 'bunged up'. I have booked a doctors appointment this week to rule out anything medical but we are almost sure its physiological, but then again sometimes it's as though she doesn't even know she has dirtied her knickers.

I honestly thought she would have grown out of it by now.

As above any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Joining this thread for handholding My DS is 4 and 2 months, and has been soiling for around 6 months. We took him to the GP who diagnosed constipation and put him on Movicol. His faeces are now nice and soft but he still soils; rather than it all coming out in one go, it seems to ooze out over a few hours. It really stinks too, so I can sympathise thelanoir!

We're waiting for a referral to the paediatrician but it's taking ages. Matters came to a sort of crisis yesterday when DS's nursery excluded him under their 3-strikes diarrhoea policy (despite there being no evidence whatsoever of diarrhoea when I got him home - just the usual oozing). He told me that he didn't want to go to nursery any more - when I asked why, he said that the teachers didn't want him there because he poos in his pants. Broke my heart.

Bump

My DS1 has had similar problems, although he was a little older (and at school). I would have a look at the ERIC website here. The medical problem is called encopresis and it can take a long time to resolve, but we have got there. Our GP wasn't particularly helpful initially, but the HVs have access to specialist services in this condition, and between them and the GP we have got it sorted.

The thing to remember is that it is not your child's fault and you have to try to deal with the mess calmly etc - it's really hard because it really wears you down constantly cleaning up.

fishandjam You need to tell the nursery that your child has encopresis and that they will need to be part of the solution rather than making your child feel ashamed of something that isn't his fault. I have actually found school pretty supportive - it's much more common than you might imagine - DS's school said "he's not the first and certainly won't be the last" - I just provided plenty of extra pants, bags, wipes etc.

I hope this helps.