My 5 year old suddenly is having a problem going poop. He gets embarrassed by it for some reason. He just very recently starting wiping his own butt so i think it might have had something to do with that.
This summer i told him that he really needed to start trying to get it all clean because he was starting kindergarten in august and the teachers won't help wipe his butt. So im thinking I had a hand at it.
Anyway what he does is try to hold it as long as he can. For a month there he had some poop in his underwear from holding it for so long. Finally for the last few weeks that has stopped. But he is still holding it until i notice. I don't know why but I always know when he needs to go. The way he walks or this look he gets on his face. I always now. I just look at him and say " Julian!! Go in there now!!" And he will with no argue.
My question is what can I do to make him go on his own again?? I've been comforting him about it, telling him everyone even pets HAVE TO poop...This has been going on way too long and im getting really frustrated over it. He can hurt himself and even make him sick from it. (I have talked to his pediatrician about it. There are a lot of harmful things that can happen. He could even rupture his intestines!) So this is a serious deal!
What do you think I should try??
There are some really good books for this... one is "It Hurts When I Poop" and the other is "Everyone Poops".
It hurts when I poop is good because it explains that everyone poops and it is like you are taking out your trash. Cute. They probably have them at the library.
You could use the lovely techniques offered in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk, by Faber and Mazlish, to draw out your son's own problem-solving skills.
Once kids are empowered to find their own solutions to all sorts of common problems, they are invested in making them work. I've used this approach almost exclusively with my grandson (almost 5) for a couple of years now, and am always impressed with how clever and responsible he can be once I support him in finding his own wisdom on any problem.
My kids hold to a certain extent , until they literally unable to move as it is so close to coming out , this happens usually when they are busy doing something else. He would have to hold for days and days for it to rupture his intestine so don't worry about that. Just keep reminding him that he needs to go to the bathroom as soon as he feels the need to , he will get past this phase , my son hates to go at school (he's 7 and in second grade) , and will choose to wait until he get's home to go.
I am like him him a little bit but I have a tilted stomach and don't go to the bathroom for 2-3 weeks at a time. I know this might sound a little strange to you, but the Dr. told me to cut a bar of Ivory soap in 1/2 and 1/2 again so to have 4 1/4 bars of Ivory soap or even Johnson's baby soap is milder. After or while you are giving him his bath and he is still relaxed, stick one of the 1/4 bars up his tuchas as far as possible and I guarantee you he will no longer have any trouble at all trying to retain it. It is better than a soap suds enema or if worse come to worse, just make him swallow a teaspoon full of dish soap. But for me and my problem, I have to swallow at least 3 good mouthfulls just to get the job started.
If it is painful for him to poop he will hold it more which will make it more painful to poop. My five year old is on Miralax to keep the Bm s soft so no more painful poops but still will hold for 3-4 sometimes 5 days. So now on metamucil clear and natural which is just extra fiber
