For the just over a week, my 5 y.o. son has started making frequent trips to the bathroom. First it started as he kept needing to poop, then it was he had to pee. Didn't think anything of it for a while until last week, his kindergarden teacher said that he was asking to use the bathroom a lot. So we are keeping track of what he does at home and his teacher is monitoring his bathroom use. This week alone he has went 10 times during the school day (he is full day) and tonite around dinner he was insisting he had to go, plus go poo, every 5 minutes. He does go pee and poo, even if it is just a trickle. But the odd thing is that he is not drinking more, if anything, it seems he is drinking less. I am constantly trying to push the liquids on him. When he comes home from school, I give him water and have to keep telling him to drink (he is very low on the autism spectrum so he needs constant reminding to eat or drink so reminding him is nothing new). I took him to the doctor the other day and they did a urine test (just the regular dip stick test I assume) and it came out fine. Dr. said that he could be constipated and if he is, whatever stool is in his system can be pushing on his bladder. So she said just monitor what he is doing in the bathroom and up the fiber, also make sure he is getting liquids and watch any foods that can block him up like apples and such. All of which I am doing. I desperately need some help, advice from other moms who may have experienced this with their children. My son says it doesn't hurt when he goes to the bathroom (I ask him all the time just to be sure). He gets very upset and frustrated when he says he has to go and he just got out of the bathroom 5 minutes ago and I tell him he doesn't have to. I just don't think this is behavioral. This is a kid who could go for hours without peeing.I don't know how he can hold it that long, so this is very unlike him. Even though the doctor said she can't give him anything without knowing exactly what the cause is, I am wondering if there is some test that maybe she overlooked that I can suggest he get. I am just baffled as to what could be wrong.
So you ruled out the obvious medical stuff. and he isn't in pain.
sometimes kids get in the habit of using the bathroom at school if they are bored or not interested or need quiet. and if he has some autism then it might be a carry over to home.
does distracting him work? hmmm, I'm going to still be thinking about this one. if I come up with something I'll pm you.
Your doctor is probably right about the constipation but his evaluation of its seriousness was poor and the treatment plan is lame. Get him to a GI doc tomorrow.
my son did that and he still does sometimes. its definitely gotten better as hes getting older. I don't think that he gets all the pee out if that makes sense because he doesn't quite understand what men are supposed to do and that is because my husband would't go in with him much to show him. my son is also autism and other things.
You know him best, so trust your instincts. If it is a major shift in his daily pattern, it seems unlikely that it is behavioral (plus, teachers in kindergarten tend to be good at noticing major changes in environment). Thus, it seems likely to be constipation. The two biggest things that you can do to help him in this case are
1. Use an OTC stool softener, like Miralax
2. Have him do timed bowel sits. This means that a couple of times a day (once before school and once in the evening, if possible), ask him to take a book, toy, or game with him to the bathrooom. Every couple of minutes, he should try to "push out" all the poop. Things may be stretched to the limit and quick bathroom visits only make that worse. He really needs to work those muscles.
For background: This isn't something that gets enough medical attention, but our American diet is terrible on our GI tract. Add to that, there is no medical definition of constipation and it is under-reported by radiologists. We have been told this by our son's specialist, who has the evidence to back it up (pun intended).
My youngest has anxiety, and tends to go to the bathroom a LOT when she is overly stressed.
All she says is "mom I just feel like I need to go."
Nerves can affect the digestive system. Not sure if that's what's affecting your son but it's something to keep in mind going forward.
(And yes, she was completely checked out by an excellent pediatric GI doc, including having an endoscopy, to rule out any physical problems.)
Well, if you think it might be constipation, then give him generic Miralax. It won't hurt him, and it will make sure that he is "emptied out". I have had that same problem where something is stuck inside and it won't come out so I have to pee a little bit all the time. SO annoying!! I asked my pedi about using it for my daughter when he told us to, and he said it is inert and all it does is soak up the water or liquid that you mix it with and it helps all the stuff that is compacted to slip out. We were supposed to give her a full capful of the lax; this is the adult dose, but it is what he said, she was 3 and about 40 lbs at the time. He said to do this everyday until she didn't complain about it hurting when she went for 2 weeks. (My dd was having pain at the time.) I hope this helps, it certainly can't hurt.
Oh, I just thought of this...fiber can cause constipation also, so be careful.
