My Son Won't Poop!

Hello...

Don't use laxatives, only if the pediatrician recommends them. Otherwise he will need to use them for life. Give him more water. My daughter is the same age with the same problem. Mini wheats cereal work great for her. Good luck!

My daughter has similar problems. The doctor suggested miralax but I wanted to try something natural first. I give her about 1 tbsp flaxseed (from Trader Joe's) mixed in applesauce. She likes the taste, although some kids may not. Anyway, it's totally fixed the problem. She also had mild eczema for a while and the flaxseed fixed that too!

I would contact your doctor before you give him any laxatives. My daughter has had severe bowel problems since she was about 15 months old(she's now four). She has split herself and scarred from trying to poop. Her doctor put her on a perscription type laxative to help. Her problem I think was what she was and wasn't eating. Too much milk, crackers, etc and not enough fruit & veggies. She's a very picky eater. Is he potty trained then and just not pooping. It wasn't very clear. My daughter potty trained very early, but would have poop accidents occasionally because it hurt her to poop, so she would literally hold it so long that she would have an accident. If he doesn't drink juice I would try and give him juice and water, like a 70/30 mix. I also used to put prune juice in her milk, that was the only way she would drink it. If it continues I would definitely take him to the doctor because it can cause serious problems for their bowels and intestines. My daughter now poops pretty regular after "re-training" the bowels(that's what the doctor calls it, but she still doesn't have a bowel movement every day. Try the prune juice and oush more fluids and back off of the milk a bit and see ifit makes a difference otherwise I would take him in. If it hurt him once pretty bad when he pooped he could be afraid to go. Also, if he's not on % or non-fat milk I would think about switching. All milk has the same calcium whether it's whole or non-fat. The difference is the fat content, so if he's drinking higher fat that could also be making a diffeence.

Not having a BM is no fun for anyone. I would try more water and maybe some prunes to get the stool soft naturaly. The body relys on the laxatives if they are given too often. But water would be my first and easiest choice. If he won't take straight water, add it to what ever he drinks. Hope this helps a little. Good Luck.

I would guess that daily bm's are normal for children, as they are for adults. Wouldn't help to check with the ped, though. I also wanted to suggest prune and/or pear juice, if you can get him to drink it. I do know that kids who are constipated are generally harder to potty train since they connect pooping with pain. But I'm not sure if that's the reason he's not pooping to begin with. Good luck to you and your son!

Whoa! Laxatives? My son is very healthy and eats a well-balanced diet and still sometimes doesn't go for many days in a row. To top it off, he was breastfed and sometimes didn't go for a week and a half. While this is unusal, the pediatrician said not all kids are the same...If he's not straining or having any other problems associated with not pooping every day or every other day...there is no need to worry. I did have him checked a couple different times, just to be safe. Now, he tends to go about every 3-4 days and that is "normal" for him.

I would certainly check with his pediatrician before using laxatives. Growing children have high requirements for all their nutrients and laxatives just flush them away. Plus, laxatives (natural or not) make it more difficult for the body to learn to naturally respond to the need to evacuate.

If you must give him something without referring to your doc, then I would use try some of the natural food remedies other moms have responded with.

I say, when in doubt ask the doc!! The only reason I say this is because my youngest was never 'normal' with potty stuff. As a toddler, she would have sometimes 12 bm's a day and then get very constipated. She also had kidney issues and her antibiotics (we thought) were to blame. We had her tested for wheat allergies,etc and all was negative.
At the age of 3 she went and saw a ped. gi doctor and we learned that. Basically, she has nerve damage in her rectum from withholding too long and as a result what may seem normal to another child, is in fact bowel impaction for her. She is on miralax daily with which is a great laxative and easy to measure, depending on what she needs.
Best of luck, H.

Hi. I am going to make a few suggestions as I went through this with my son when he was 2 and 3. I ended up at Phx Children's Hospital so, hopefully I can spare you that. When children are afraid for whatever reason of pooping, they hold it in. The result of that is that the intestines become stretched from all of the poop backing up. When they finally do poop, it is so big that it hurts and tears their rectum which makes them scared to poop again and the cycle continues. The GI doctor that I saw at PCH put my son on Phillips Milk of Magnesia (it causes less cramping and discomfort than the other brands because it makes the poop retain water). She did a full clean out of his GI system. This required 4-5 days of being near a potty. I actually just put a diaper on him even though he was partially potty trained. He took 4 tsp in the am and 4 tsp in the pm. It is extremely large doses to get his system moving. It causes the bowls to be so loose that he can't hold on to them. he has to go. For the first couple of days it will look like muddy water. After the 4-5 day it will be a little more clear. Once the poop looked like water (had NO color to it at all) then we went down to 1 tsp a day. he had to stay on that dose for a month and a half. He does much better now but still has issues sometimes. He will still hold it in if I let him. I make him go and sit on the potty for at least 30 min everyday. If he goes before the 30 min is up then everything is good. If not, I wait a bit and make him try again. According to the GI, kids should poop everyday and it should be a smooth, not bumpy bowl movement that is not more than an inch or so in diameter.

I know that this is very detailed but, I am just trying to save you from what I went through and my son went through. Doctors are very expensive and it is also very uncomfortable for your child. If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Thanks,
J.

well my son goes about every day sometimes every other day and he is 3 so I don't think this is normal and you should take him to the doctor. If he really is not wanting to use the potty he may be holding it. My friends son will only go in his diaper and they tries taking them away and he just held it. I would try to let him rome naked and I not a naked roam type person but it helped with my son. My son is 3 and we are still working on the potty thing. He got sidetracked when he was sick so I know how you feel!! GOOD LUCK>

I have a step-son that is now 7 years old and has the same problem. I think it started when his mother would put him in a diaper to poop, but dad wouldnt. He got to the point he would hold it in for days & days until his tummy was so hard & he screamed with pain and his butt started to blead when he finally would go. We tried rubbing his back while he sat on the toilet, he just refused to go! We tried all the oils in juice but he could feel the oil on his lips and refuse to drink it. That is when I started putting citrucel in his orange juice in the morning and that seemed to help.

Good luck to you, I know this is hard to deal with!!!

J.

I have had unfortunately way too much experience with this subject. My daughter has had problems since birth & still does if her diet and other items aren't in check.

Try Nutri-Grain waffles (these are great for them), White Grape Juice (other juices don't work as well) and anything with lots of fiber in it! Oatmeal, etc. This will make him poop. If you can try not to give him TOO much milk. My daughter was born with a condition in her intestines and we have to be really careful but - FIBER is most important for them. Good luck. OH I forgot to also say My daughter has never had formula just breastmilk (AND STILL had poop problems) Was breastfed till 2! Amazing.. She has a good immune system but can't poop... (sad)

K.

hi, my son only poopies evry 3-4 days I really don't worry about it, I am the same. We use apple juice it seems to work for him plus he doesn't like anything else, also you may want to try glycerin suppository(?spelling?) raisins too. goodluck

I watch children at my house and a lot of them have poopy issues either too soft 4 times a day, or none for a week. One little girl has been on laxatives for over a year prescribed by doctor I was so concerned at first and really encouraged the mom to find another dr, she didn't but I did get her to lower the amount finaaly I stopped washing out her clothes before sending them home, she would have water blowouts about 4-5 times a day. which means she was getting no nutrition from the food she was eating it was coming right back out. things are better now, just make sure his body doesn't get dependent on it.

I stopped breastfeeding my daughter at approx. 3 months of age and she instantly started suffering from constipation. We were advised to give her dark Karo Syrup by both my mother and our pediatrician. It has worked wonders ever since! We tried to cut back once we started her on fruits and vegetables but the constipation came back. We typically add 1 tsp. to every 3 oz. of formula. Ask your pediatrician if it�s ok to add it to your 2 year olds juice or milk.

I make fruit smoothies... apple juice, bananas, frozen fruit and 2 tbl spoons of oil, whatever kind. The smoothie is good and you can't taste the oil, but the oil will "loosen things up" without giving him anything unnatural