Worried About My Son

HI S.,

I'm not an expert, per se, but I'm a Mastered Social Worker. I'm concerned for your nine-year old behaviors. If if your doctor is a neurologist and he's done a series of test and he/she is saying he'll grow out of it-well I might feel a little better about this. One Advice I give and I hate giving advice is, if you're not happy with the answer your doctor or anyone gives and your heart knows something is going on, find another doctor. Schedule an appt with a neurologist to have his brain checked for any problems. Also schedule an appt with a child Psychiatrist (not Psychologist) first. I don't know if my email will show up, but email me back if you have any other questions. And hang in there, it may be something so small that can be fixed easily.

Hi there S.,

I'm so sorry! There's nothing worse in the whole world than being worried about your children and feeling helpless about it.

If it were me, I would take him to different doctors until you get somebody willing to help you. I'm no doctor but this is clearly not normal behavior for a child his age. Sometimes you have to be demanding with doctors until you get what you need. Be strong!

You'll be in my thoughts.
Good luck!

C. Smith
www.enhanceyourwayoflife.com

If he's hitting his head in his sleep, there may be something neurological going on. A nerve/brain issue could also explain the lack of bowel control. I'd make him an appointment with a neurologist.

Have him tested for a learning disability. The prob. could be a slight case of autism.
The doctors around here are somewhat flakey. I bring my children to Dr. Rhodes in alexandria. I know what you are thinking. Thats an hour in a half away! But let me tell you, he is worth it. So worth it.
I took my daughter to a dr. here because I thought her arm was broken. Well, it was her wrist and all he did was put a little brace on it. 2 days latter it was still hurting her so I took her to her reg. ped. (Dr. Rhodes). He was very upset because the fracture was very close to her growth plate. Had she fallen on it she would have had surgury to fix it if it could have been fixed. As soon as we got the cast on her it nutrilized her wrist and it stoped hurting. I will never, hear me, NEVER bring them to another dr. here again. You'd probably be better off bringing them to a vet.
Call Dr. Rhodes. He will help you figure out what is wrong and help you with a soulution better than.....he will grow out of it.

I think you need to get another doctor to examine him. If your kids are on ARKIDS, doctors are not supposed to treat them any different, but sometimes they do. My friend went through a lot of problems with her son's doctor. They said he was fine, although every single time he ate, he had a bowel movement and his stomach hurt. After she got ugly with them, they figured out he needed surgery. Please take your son to another doctor.

Sarah C. is right about the rewards and making him clean hisself. My daughter was having trouble with this and it was becoming real bad. I started making her clean herself and staying school after it happen and it help. Her's was also meds she was taking that made her so stop up it had no where else to go but out and I never could understand why she was doing this. My first doctor said it was wanting attention but I knew that that was crazy. I took her to two different doctors until I finally told them I wasn't leaving until they find what was wrong with her. You have to get tough with them when you know there is something wrong with your child, you are the only one that knows your kid more than anyone and you know when there is something wrong. Don't give up and stand up for anything you beleive in. Good luck!

My 7 year old nephew has the same problem. My sister in law was told that he has encopresis. It is triggered by something traumatic that has happened (divorce, birth of new sibling, death in family, etc.). Sometimes children just don't want to stop doing what they are doing to go to the bathroom and end up doing it on themselves. But in his case, he holds it in until he is constipated and impacted until the point to where he can no longer hold it and his bowels move on their own. They have had so many problems with the school system because of it. One thing that has worked is incentives. They told him that if he goes a week without doing it, that he could pick out a special toy at the store or bring him to the movies or bring him to a special place to eat. It seems to work so far. Another thing that works is that if it happens at school, he cannot check out for that reason. Instead, he has a change of clothes at school and HE must clean himself and change. They have a lot of info on the web about encopresis. I hope this helped.