Poop Holding Issues
zurro
I was wondering if I could have some suggestions on what to do with our daughter who is almost three. We believe that when she's ready to do things she will do them as evidenced by the fact that she decided when she was ready to get out of diapers to use the potty. It's sad when I hear friends who have their kids in preschool talk about all the issues they face with "potty TRAINING".
Anyway, it's not pee that is an issue but poop. I wouldn't think much of it, but dd is holding for several days at a time (it really amazes me the capacity of a child's body to be able to do that). What occurs then is a merry go round of discomfort, crankiness, swollen stomach, painful poop when it finally happens, etc. We are running out of ideas of ways to make it easier for her. Normally we do epsom salt baths to help her relax. I've tried Natural Calm magnesium which I read about in mothering and someone else suggested as being a miracle thing, we do oils, fruits, etc. Nothing is working lately. She will run around and say "no poopoo no poopoo" when she clearly needs to go and then she sits down and manages to hold it again.
Does anyone have suggestions for what to do? I don't want her to end up with bowel problems...
thanks
Laura z
A Ripple in the Ocean
http://arippleintheocean.typepad.com
Anyway, it's not pee that is an issue but poop. I wouldn't think much of it, but dd is holding for several days at a time (it really amazes me the capacity of a child's body to be able to do that). What occurs then is a merry go round of discomfort, crankiness, swollen stomach, painful poop when it finally happens, etc. We are running out of ideas of ways to make it easier for her. Normally we do epsom salt baths to help her relax. I've tried Natural Calm magnesium which I read about in mothering and someone else suggested as being a miracle thing, we do oils, fruits, etc. Nothing is working lately. She will run around and say "no poopoo no poopoo" when she clearly needs to go and then she sits down and manages to hold it again.
Does anyone have suggestions for what to do? I don't want her to end up with bowel problems...
thanks
Laura z
A Ripple in the Ocean
http://arippleintheocean.typepad.com
Pam Sorooshian
Will she eat stuff that makes it pretty much impossible to hold it?
Seems like you need it to be very very softened, so she stops thinking
of it as being uncomfortable to go.
Gummy bears (or any candy containing sorbitol)? Prunes? Oh - sugar free
jelly bellies - they do the trick for some people (there is something in
them that some people are sensitive to and others are not). Metamucil in
some juice?
I've heard LOTS of people say the problem was solved with Gummy Bears. I
realize you might be one who isn't crazy about sorbitol - but for a week
or two, used to soften her poop, so that she gets back to normal bowel
movements - seems like a good idea to me.
-pam
Seems like you need it to be very very softened, so she stops thinking
of it as being uncomfortable to go.
Gummy bears (or any candy containing sorbitol)? Prunes? Oh - sugar free
jelly bellies - they do the trick for some people (there is something in
them that some people are sensitive to and others are not). Metamucil in
some juice?
I've heard LOTS of people say the problem was solved with Gummy Bears. I
realize you might be one who isn't crazy about sorbitol - but for a week
or two, used to soften her poop, so that she gets back to normal bowel
movements - seems like a good idea to me.
-pam
On 10/31/2009 5:48 AM, zurro wrote:
> Does anyone have suggestions for what to do? I don't want her to end up with bowel problems...
>
Anne Ambrose
Has she pooped on the potty often?
It is possible she is afraid to, or not ready to, poop on the potty. In
my (limited) experience, it seems the peeing and pooping comfortably on
the potty do not necessarily happen at the same time with many
children. Pooping can come many months or even a year after.
An idea is to offer her a diaper to poop in when you sense she is
needing to go, and see how she reacts. It may seem like a step back,
but really it is a kindness if she is not ready and will resolve the
issue for her sooner in the long run!
Anne
zurro wrote:
It is possible she is afraid to, or not ready to, poop on the potty. In
my (limited) experience, it seems the peeing and pooping comfortably on
the potty do not necessarily happen at the same time with many
children. Pooping can come many months or even a year after.
An idea is to offer her a diaper to poop in when you sense she is
needing to go, and see how she reacts. It may seem like a step back,
but really it is a kindness if she is not ready and will resolve the
issue for her sooner in the long run!
Anne
zurro wrote:
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> I was wondering if I could have some suggestions on what to do with
> our daughter who is almost three.
>
zurro
Thanks for the suggestions! We have actually tried the diaper before but for whatever reason at that moment it didn't work. Will keep it in our storehouse of ideas.
Thanks Pam for the suggestion of the gummybears. I didn't know that one although fish oil gummies were suggested yesterday at whole Foods.
We did end up with another suggestion from the person at Whole Foods that seemed to do the trick - aloe vera juice. It finally worked last night and she is a totally different kid today. We're going to continue it for a bit to make pooping of any sort more comfortable.
We are going to try to talk more about poop in our conversations with her and I have heard about a couple of kids stories centered around not just pottying but pooping. We definitely don't want to push her if she's not ready. We really are trying hard to work with her and let her go at her pace and try to make things as easy and flexible as possible but it's also hard when she's in obvious pain :( It's a lesson for us as well in letting go of things we can't always control.
Laura z
A Ripple in the Ocean
http://arippleintheocean.typepad.com
Thanks Pam for the suggestion of the gummybears. I didn't know that one although fish oil gummies were suggested yesterday at whole Foods.
We did end up with another suggestion from the person at Whole Foods that seemed to do the trick - aloe vera juice. It finally worked last night and she is a totally different kid today. We're going to continue it for a bit to make pooping of any sort more comfortable.
We are going to try to talk more about poop in our conversations with her and I have heard about a couple of kids stories centered around not just pottying but pooping. We definitely don't want to push her if she's not ready. We really are trying hard to work with her and let her go at her pace and try to make things as easy and flexible as possible but it's also hard when she's in obvious pain :( It's a lesson for us as well in letting go of things we can't always control.
Laura z
A Ripple in the Ocean
http://arippleintheocean.typepad.com
--- In [email protected], "zurro" <zurrolaur@...> wrote:
>
> I was wondering if I could have some suggestions on what to do with our daughter who is almost three. We believe that when she's ready to do things she will do them as evidenced by the fact that she decided when she was ready to get out of diapers to use the potty. It's sad when I hear friends who have their kids in preschool talk about all the issues they face with "potty TRAINING".
>
> Anyway, it's not pee that is an issue but poop. I wouldn't think much of it, but dd is holding for several days at a time (it really amazes me the capacity of a child's body to be able to do that). What occurs then is a merry go round of discomfort, crankiness, swollen stomach, painful poop when it finally happens, etc. We are running out of ideas of ways to make it easier for her. Normally we do epsom salt baths to help her relax. I've tried Natural Calm magnesium which I read about in mothering and someone else suggested as being a miracle thing, we do oils, fruits, etc. Nothing is working lately. She will run around and say "no poopoo no poopoo" when she clearly needs to go and then she sits down and manages to hold it again.
>
> Does anyone have suggestions for what to do? I don't want her to end up with bowel problems...
>
> thanks
> Laura z
>
> A Ripple in the Ocean
> http://arippleintheocean.typepad.com
>
Laureen
Heya
On Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 5:48 AM, zurro <zurrolaur@...> wrote:
> Anyway, it's not pee that is an issue but poop. I wouldn't think much of
> it, but dd is holding for several days at a time (it really amazes me the
> capacity of a child's body to be able to do that). What occurs then is a
> merry go round of discomfort, crankiness, swollen stomach, painful poop when
> it finally happens, etc. We are running out of ideas of ways to make it
> easier for her. Normally we do epsom salt baths to help her relax. I've
> tried Natural Calm magnesium which I read about in mothering and someone
> else suggested as being a miracle thing, we do oils, fruits, etc. Nothing is
> working lately. She will run around and say "no poopoo no poopoo" when she
> clearly needs to go and then she sits down and manages to hold it again.
I'm totally familiar with this. I've done Elimination Communication with all
three of my kids, and been a moderator on that list, so basically spent
about 6 years listening to parents and potty talk. =)
For my oldest, he wasn't able to explain to me what the problem was; if he
was afraid/nervous about the toilet, if actually pooping was painful... I
never did find out what the cause of the problem was. So it's kind of just a
matter of trying everything until it works. And frankly, I'm not convinced
that it isn't just something they outgrow as their organs change size and
shape and get different muscle development around them.
There are a couple different potentials going on here. You don't say how old
she is, but IME, a bunch of kids go through a stage where sitting to potty
is uncomfortable, and they'd far rather stand, so you could enable that by
letting her go on an easily cleanable surface (like in the bathtub), helping
her to stand/squat on the toilet seat rather than sitting, or getting her a
little potty (like the Baby Bjorn one), and letting her stand/squat over
that.
Sometimes privacy is an issue. You might think about letting her hide out,
or providing her with curtains or whatever. A lot of moms I know discovered
that the holding stopped once they ran curtains around a little potty.
Sometimes it's dietary. Check fiber, check hydration. IME, lots of parents
have discovered that the constipating nature of dairy products is a
showstopper, and it's worth it to eliminate them for a while. I've heard the
gummy bear thing, I've also had spectacular luck with dried fruit,
especially things like dried cherries, apricots, and prunes.
The bath thing is wise, although it hits a point once the child is old
enough that they know that pooping in a bath isn't great, where it doesn't
work any more.
The #1 most important thing, though (and it's so cool to say this on this
list, where I don't need to back it up!) is to stay relaxed and groovy, and
not put too much emotional baggage on it. It's a thing to work through, as
partners. A lot of parents really freak out about potty issues, but really,
it's just a stage like any other.
--
~~L!
s/v Excellent Adventure
http://www.theexcellentadventure.com/
We are so programmed by other people’s programming which is programming by
other people’s programming that we are on autopilot and we ourselves can’t
see through our own stuff. ~~ Nwenna Kai
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
marian_visser
We had this issue with ds - he had a lot of dietary issues and it was causing constipation. Unfotunatey, once they're constipated, it hurts to go and then they start holding, which makes it worse. In addition to the fish oils, fibre etc. I found that a really good probiotic made a huge difference.