Fear of Bowel Movements

We went through that with my son (now 15). Get a handle on it quick, because it becomes a huge ordeal. They think it's going to hurt, so they resist, but then it just builds up, until they can't hold it and then it hurts all over again. We had my son in the emergency room on a couple of occasions. What finally worked for us was to give him a stool softener (check w/your pharmacy) with a few slices of apple every night. You have to be diligent. We tried enemas of every kind, and the only thing that worked was the stool softener.

J.,
After working in childcare several years I have been told by many pediatricians to give a tablespoon to 2 tablespoons of DARK Karo syrup in each dring until a soft BM occurs often and to drink lots of apple juice the juice is a very natural bowel loosener however applesauce does quite the opposite I do not know why but I am just lost as to the fact I just know thats the choices we often times heard from parents and pediatricians alike.

Good luck J.,
S.

I'm not quite sure how to reassure her, so I would suggest getting to the root of the constipation problem. I know being lactose intolerant can cause constipation or the runs. I'm not lactose intolerant but cheese stops me up, which is problematic for me because I love cheese. If you know what is causing her constiaption (obviously) try to cut back on it. Or you can do what I do and try to counteract the, uh, stoppage. Apple juice is great for that! Also beans, it doesn't matter what kind. I would also suggest to use some sort of a wet wipe to use on her bottom, especially if she has to wipe more than once. Sorry for the too-much-information, but since my child is only 5 weeks old, I can only speak from my own experience.

Dear J.:
My second son had this problem at your daughter's age. His pediatrician suggested giving him a tablespoon (yes, a tablespoon, which seemed like an awful lot to me and still does) of Milk of Magnesia, it made his poop liquid. We also tried suppositories, which were of course unpleasant for him and me. I think we ended up trying the Milk of Mag chewables, which from what I remember, he took O.K. His doctor suggested giving him a dose of MOM every night, that it would just soften his stools, and wasn't habit-forming like regular laxatives. Of course, this was 17 years ago, so this advice isn't up to date, but it sounds like the problem of stool-holding is age-old.
Good Luck,
J. H.

This happened to my son and I didn't catch it in time...it got bad! I would talk to your doctor about it. LOTS of kids resist and something different works for them all. My son is on Miralax and has been since his incident almost a year and a half ago. (He had 4 enemas in the hospital because he was so backed up from resisting!)

My 4 year old daughter had this problem about 2 years ago...since you have been giving her the prunes & pears things should come out pretty smoothly...so while she is on the potty, give her something to do i.e. a book to look at, a doll to play with, play patty cake with her etc. This may distract her while she is going and once she is done you can show her that she was able to go w/o it hurting. You may have to do this with her a few times, but it is well worth it. Good Luck!!