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View Full Version : medical, poop, potty question. Read at your own risk!



stella
08-04-2004, 11:06 PM
I am so glad I have a place to ask questions like these. I know taht it should be the toddler potty training board, but there is far more traffic here. So here goes...

My 3 year old boy has been VERY hesitant about pooping in the potty. This causes me great anxiety whenever he is in underwear (all day) and away from home. Tonight, after promising to buy him "Shrek" at Target tomorrow, he did poop in the potty. (Yes, it is a rare enough event that I want the reward to really make an impression!)

But it obviously hurts him and he bleeds whenever he poops. Red blood. A lot of it. Is it because he is holding the poop for so long (several days at a time)and then straining to pass it? It just seems like it is a lot more difficult and painful than it should be.

Do I need to call his doctor? Thanks for any input! And thank you for your tolerance in reading this question that only a group of parents is really willing to discuss!

ktdid74
08-04-2004, 11:29 PM
Hi Claire-
Boy, we just went through a full year of this. I would say call your ped because of the blood, but it could be fissure's from straining. My DS would hold it in for days and then finally explode. Long story short, we did mineral oil, then finally Milk of Mag (this was after diet changes, etc)to get him regular and break the cycle of with-holding. It was so hard for us but once we got him pooping on a regular basis things got much better.
Call your ped first though- they would want to know about the blood and make sure nothing else is going on. Good luck--

lmintzer
08-05-2004, 12:48 AM
We're right there with you! We're seeing a peds GI next week for severe constipation and holding. Jack is also a 3 year old who won't go in the potty (even though he's very aware of what it's for). Our problem is that he holds his stool and goes only a tiny bit 8-12 times/day! Yep, all those diapers. Plus, he winds up getting a red bottom and gets anticipatory anxiety about diaper changes. I can usually talk him through that and/or distract him, but it's horrible to see him in so much pain.

What we've tried so far: cutting down dairy, mineral oil, Senecot (sp? a stimulant laxative), a sticker chart. Nothing has helped!

If we get any brilliant advice from the doctor at our visit, I'll post here.

In the meantime, definitely call your doc if you are seeing that much blood.

Poor little guy--I'm so sorry!

jubilee
08-05-2004, 01:05 AM
I just wanted to chime in and say you're a GOOD mommy for being concerned. I'd take him to the doc. My DH would kill me if he knew I was going to tell the world, but he also has a problem with this. He never went to the doctor as a child to have it figured out. Now as an adult, the doctors say he's never going to get over it. He can go a looooonnngggg time between bowel movements and it's all because of longterm childhood anxiety. I don't want to scare you, and sure hope I didn't! But it is important, and you're great for wanting to get it checked out.

himom
08-05-2004, 08:38 AM
DS gets constipated quite a bit. For a while he had poops that were so hard for him that he bled, and now he's afraid of it and does everything he can to hold it in. Our ped says the longer it's held in, the harder it is to pass because as it stays in the bowel it loses liquid and gets larger and harder.

We're finding that it's necessary to keep him on "natural laxatives" at all times to make sure he has soft, regular poops. So, it's a steady diet of raisins, papaya, raisin bran, and/or apple juice etc. (usually for breakfast, the rest of the day it's normal food). We finally have him to the point where he's not afraid anymore. Yay! But if we leave out the special diet, even for just a day or so, it's back to being constipated.

Maybe you should hold off on potty pooping for a little while until you can get him to not be afraid of pooping at all. Then try again? DS isn't potty trained yet so I have no experience on that front! I'd call your ped either way.

HTH!

Jodi
Momma to Josh

sntm
08-05-2004, 10:37 AM
I would, because early intervention can prevent it from becoming a real problem. It becomes a vicious cycle -- painful poop -> afraid to poop -> holds it in -> constipated -> more painful poop...

And, not to plug my own institution, but I know some pediatric gastroenterologists that developed a website called www.ucanpooptoo.com (don't laugh!) They work on kids who have become scared by painful poops and develop a sort of emotionally-motivated constipation. I am not involved in the research at all (other than browsing the site once since the name amused me!) so I don't know what ages are targeted, but it sounds like a neat idea.
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shannon
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PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
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