2 Year Old Holding in His Stool/bm/poop Whatever----when Will He Outgrow This???

My son is now 4 and has been going through the same thing since he was 2. I too ignored the problem at first as I thought he would eventually start going normally. Well, it never happened and he is taking a powder laxative that I put in his drink every morning. If we miss, he starts having problems again. I really watch his diet. He eats an apple every day, and I try to get him to drink lots of water. I was also told that he would grow out of it. I am still waiting. It was such a sad sight to watch him (before we got him on stool softner). He would run around the house like he was crazy & cry. The doctor said he is actually scared to go, so he holds it in, and that it is a common problem in boys (????). Oh yeah, when I first started his powder laxative, he had continual accidents (couldn't hold it), so I cut back on the dosage & now he is pretty regular (as long as we don't miss a dose). I wish you and your son all the best.

Hi M.,

Were you trying to potty train when your 2 year old started withholding? It happened to my daughter when she was a little over 2, although she only did it for a month or so. She had started potty training before her brother was born, then after he was born she started withholding. Too much for her to deal with at the time, I suppose. We just completely stopped potty training altogether for awhile, and picked it back up a few months later. It gave her time to get comfortable pooping again without any stress attached. Also, I'm sure your doctor has addressed this, but you can concentrate on foods that encourage soft BMs, juices like prune juice, fruits like berries, whole grains, etc. Try to stay away from foods that do the opposite, like apples, peanut butter, too much dairy, etc. And, in addition to that, I put vaseline around my daughter's anus. It helped a lot. Not only did it offer additional lubricant for when she was pooping, but if there were little tears in her skin, it protected them from getting irritated and hurting while she was pooping.

Good Luck!
L.

The others on here added some good advise, but I just wanted to let you know that my four year old nephew does this and has been doing this for a while. I think it all started when my sister was trying to get him potty trained and would scold him when he pooped in his underwear. Anyway, I think he was afraid to go after that and would just hold it in unyil it was so big, it would cause him to bleed when it came out. So I think that it hurting when it came out caused him to be even more scared to go, and so here he is, still doig it. He still tries to hold it though. You have to be on him constantly during the day telling him he should go potty.

Hi M.,
I just wanted to tell you there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have a co-worker that has just found that light. Her don started doing this when he was 18 months. Unfortuantly her son was 6 before he got over this. She had taken him to a specialist 2 different times and they found nothing wrong that it was just in his mind that it hurts. They did say this is VERY common.
They tried different lax. and found that Miralax worked best. She said that she would also reward him with going to the dollar store and getting him a toy when he went. He finally grew out of this when he entered kindergarden.
I hope by telling you this you can end this cycle earlier then my co-worker. But hopefully this comforts you a little.
Good luck,
T.

My daughter had a similar problem. it started when she was very young and the doctor put her on milk of magnesia and that helped. But she got to the point that she was scared to poop because it hurt.... She is now almost 4 and we have no problems with it anymore as long as her diet stays normal. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. It eventually gets better. I have a 9 mth old that is starting to have the same problem. So i feel for you....

My son is 8 years old and he has had this problem since he was about 2. We took him to his ped and did the senakot (chocolate flavored), enemas, fiber, extra juice, and even mineral oil. The dr even had to stick his finger up his bottom to help loosen it up. The problem is still present and he continues to do it. He comes home every afternoon from school with stained underwear. He just doesn't want to go. We will find him in his room with his face red and all bunched up holding it in. Last week his ped had us do stool samples to send off to have tested. It is very frustrating! I know how you feel M. C. Hang in there. There has to be an end to this at some point.

My 3 yr old daughter does the same thing -- she has a fear pooping on the potty. I asked her why and she said --mommy my butt gets wet -- I am thinking her fear came about when she pooped and the water splasher her -- startled her and now, she is terrified -- her doc said the stool softner should help with this, it did for awhile. Now we have a new problem: my younger daughter is almost 2 and she doesn't get in trouble when she poops in her diaper so my oldest thinks it is ok for her to poop in her panties and she shouldn't get in trouble -- she has actually told me "Lucy doesn't get in trouble when she poops, so I want to be like Lucy" The doc says as soon as I get the youngest (Lucy) potty trained my oldest will be using the potty with no problem. My doc keeps telling me that a child is not completely potty trained until they have no accidents at night -- my oldest is far from that -- I totally understand your frustrations -- but as I am told by my mother and mother-in-law, it takes time and they are only young once -- look at the positive and ignore the negative habits --

Hang in there! My son is 3 1/2 year old is still going through this. He is on Magnesium Citrate every morning. If he misses a day he gets blocked up and cries. The doctor said it was due to the foods he is eating or not eating. She said this is quite common and he should out grow it as he grows. She did recommend me adding more fiber to his diet. I continue to try, but he is not that interested in new foods right now. I know at first it was frustrating, but once we were able to find something that worked we stuck with it. If you need to talk feel free to email me at ____@____.com
Hang in there you will find something that works.