I am looking for anyone who may be able to help me. My daughter has had problems going poopy for a long time and her doctors have her on a medicine called "Polethylene Glycol" to try and help make her poopy smaller so that she can pass it out her butt. It doesnt help her. Usually when she poops, her poopoo is about as big as my fist and she is only about 31 lbs. She is really tiny for her age. She is healthy other than this problem. She is supposed to go to a GI in March, that was the fastest that they could see her, but I am hoping that someone will cancel and she will get seen sooner. She acts as if she is afraid to go poop and when I ask her about it all she says is that it is because it makes her butt hurt...understandable. We never used pull ups to potty train her but we have had to start using them daily bc of her messing just a little in her pants and when I say just a little, I do mean that it is just a little. She will not poop in the potty for some reason. She does not find this embarrasing that she is wearing pull ups or that she poops on herself at all. She will sometimes go into the corner and squat and poop into her pants. She will hide it and lie about it and not tell anyone and try to clean herself up. She does some of these similar things with pee. She still wets her pants and she will hide that as well. She will do it while playing instead of getting up and going to the bathroom...making us think that she is just lazy.I just dont know what to do for her or about this problem. I did some research online about pediatric GI problems and saw something called Soiling and Functional Fecal Retention and some of these symptoms sound like what she has. I know...I am not trying to self diagnose my daughter or anything but I was just looking around online. Does anyone have any experience with any of this or any suggestions for me? Anything that can help me at this point would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
She's not lazy by the sound of it, it sounds like a medical condition. i'd wait and see what the GI has to say.
J.,
I am a Reg. Nutritional Consultant and mother of 4. I have dealt with and helped a lot of people with these types of problems. And because this is a frustrating issue that needlessly affects many, I'll gladly give you some free advice:
None of our digestive systems were meant to digest proteins and starches together (meat & bread, potatoes, pasta or white rice). And it affects some worse than others, or manifestations of the problem shows up in different digestive issues.
And for your daughter, you see the problem that it is causing for her. The MD/specialist will do tests...guessing. But, short of an unlikely malformation of her digestive tract...she likely gets constipated easily. Does she eat a lot of starches, drink with her meals? Most people do. My suggestion is to: for one week don't give her proteins and starches together (that includes cereal and milk). And give her less starches. Most people don't do well on gluten, even if they're not officially diagnosed. Ideally, you wouldn't let her drink with her meals either(15 min. before, or wait at least 30 min. after meal to drink, even water). Give her more veggies and fruit. More fiber is needed. (I recommend making her smoothies with pinneapple, mango--both good for digestion, and add cold-milled flaxseed, by Northern Edge.)
This is worth trying for a week for at least a week, esp. versus giving her some chemical medication that her kidneys and liver have to process. The doctors aren't likely to advise about this because they aren't hardly taught about nutrition in med school. Plus, there's no money in natural remedies and good, plain practical measures. The money is in the drugs and the surgical procedures.
Kim
____@____.com
i would think she needs to soften it up.
does drinking apple juice help? i'm sure you give her veggies/oatmeal and all that stuff... i thin kits the fluid intake that matters though
Yes, this would be so troubling to you! And of course you can self-diagnose to a point... you're Mom and you are trying to help:) Don't freak yourself out yet...
Have you tried regular suppositories? Talk with a pharmacist -- they are awesome with questions of all kinds:) My mom used them when I was a baby and it lubricates the inside and softens the stool at the colon. This would help make it more comfortable and easier to eliminate. Perhaps your daughter's insides need time to let that muscle shrink down.
If she's just "streaking", maybe use a panty liner and give her a spare one to keep for school then she doesn't have to feel bad or ashamed at school? She's a little young yet, so you do have to remind her to pee -- my daughter still needs reminders and she's 7:)
LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER -- if an adult needs a gallon, she needs at least 2 liters, for now, and go from there. Try the easiest first, then move onto food allergies such as gluten, etc.
YOU ARE AWESOME TO GET ANSWERS NOW! GO MAMA GO!
Hi J.,
Sharie G is right on! My family always had a "history" of this and as I got older and researched I found it was all brought on by ourselves.The way we eat affects EVERYTHING. Fresh fruits and vegetables are great. Don't eat anything processed (which is a lot of stuff including fast foods). A good absorbable multivitamin will help and lots and lots and lots of water.
Getting rid of fecal matter is great, it just needs to be softer and more often. EVERYONE should go "poopie" an hour after they eat each meal. EVERY meal! If not then things are moving too slow and things will get hard and that's when doctors resort to meds. Doctors think if you go once a day you're fine. Not true. If you need a fiber supplement or advice on a multivitamin, feel free to ask. I'd love to help.
God bless!
M.
My 4 year old daughter is having the same constipation problems. She has had huge painful bm's for over a year and a half. Her ped put her on Miralax at that time. It helps sometimes and then it doesn't help, so we have had times when she still screams in pain during a bm. At her last visit, he told us to take her to a ped GI, but I have been reluctant to put her through medical procedures. I was speaking with another mom who had a daughter with the same issues and she said sometimes it is a muscle control issue. That they do not know how to properly use the muscles of the abdomen and the rectum to push out the stools. The muscles have to be coordinated to work correctly and they are not using them to push and relax correctly. She said her daughter was treated with biofeedback to learn to coordinate the muscles. Has anyone heard of that? I'm not sure what to do at this point either. I really want to get her off the Miralax, but she loves her cereal, milk and cheese. I try not to give her alot of it and she does do a pretty good job of eating fruits and veggies, but somehow she still has this problem. So now I'm thinking maybe it is a muscle coordination thing?
Take her off the Miralax please. It's not good for children's systems and can cause havoc for her if she is on it for too long as well. My 9yr old daughter was on it to help her go and it really didn't do anything for her either. What I found did best was fresh fruits, more fiber and healthier eating in general helped her.
You've gotten some great advice about starches and all but my question is did this issue suddenly happen or has it been an on going issue since she was a baby? I'm thinking a change in diet, less proccessed foods and junk foods (even those little packets of 'fruit' snack need to go), etc. More fresh fruits, veggies, and old fashion home cooking will help greatly!! Not saying everything you have to buy is 'organic' or 'natural' but know what your food is. 100% juice is always best too, not Hi-C type drinks.
Not to scare you, but here is a link to the what polyethylene glycol is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_glycol. Take note of what different products this chemical is used in.
Good luck!
S.
We have been dealing with this since my son was 2....he is now almost 9....He went to a PED GI dr in Greenville and she helped so much.....he still has issues from time to time, but nothing like what it used to be. We still use the same medication that you are using,it is supposed to increase the water in the intestinal tract to that the poop does not form as big of a stool. With James, he was given a capsule with rings in it. Then, 48 hrs later, we had an x-ray. This was to check motility in the GI tract. All that checked out well. Because of the large(HUGE) bowel movements, his muscles were stretched. She said that the muscles would heal in time. It has gotten a TON better. He was doing the same thing that your daughter is doing-0hiding in a corner to poop, hiding it from us, etc. James was also helped by using a Lipski. She told us to allow him to cont to use a potty chair as long as he could because it made him sit in a more squatted position. When he became to big for it, we moved him to the Lipksi potty seat--it fits over the toilet and has a step on it.James still takes 17g of Miralax(Polethylene Glycol) daily. If not, he has issues. It is increased at times when he gats upset or nervous. He did great all summer, then when school started, he had problems again.
Please feel free to email if you need to talk about it or have ?'s. I know it is frustrating and upsetting, but know that others are similar situations.
Just re-read responses from Mimi H, Kimberly P, and Sharie G - couldn't have said it better, except - AGAIN - get her off the chemical that's hurting her little body!
This sounds very familiar. My twin girls did almost exactly the same thing and it started about the age of potty training. I too went to see the Ped because when they did pass a BM it was huge and I mean huge. I thought it was perhaps them "holding" it in and to this day I still believe that was a little part of it. The ped put them on the same med which is also aka Mirolax which is now sold over the counter. The problem with that is they would have streaks on the pull-ups/panties and it would happen several times throughout the day and the daycare would call and tell me it was diarhea so I ended up having to stop that treatment all together otherwise I would have lost my job. After some time I did take them to a GI doctor and he told me that their colon was indeed oversized and the only thing I could do is continue with the Mirolax-I didn't think of this at the time and I have been told that Mirolax is a non-habit forming laxative. However, how can that be if you are telling me I have to give that to my children in order for them to have a BM? My twins are 7 years old now and there poop is still huge and there has been times when one of them has asked me to put A & D ointment around her anal passage so that the BM will come out easier. I have started to give them some chewable probiotics for kids that I found at kroger as well as that new drink made by Sunsweet I think the name is Plumsmart. These two things combined have seemed to help but I am going to mention to the ped about everything because the size doesn't seem to be improving but I am not quite sure how long it would take for a colon to shrink back down to the proper size? I too am at a loss because I don't feel that the situation has been corrected and it concerns me because I have a cousin with colitis and I sometimes wonder if this isn't a warning sign of that disease-idk? I would love to know myself but I thought I would at least write my experience and what I am now doing to try and improve and correct the issue. I don't think my ped really understands how big their BM's really are-sometimes I wish I could collect it and show her which would be quite gross but what else am I supposed to do to get these Doc's to understand there is an issue-and shoving a laxative on me just isn't going to fly-having a BM should be natural.
My daughter sounds just like your daughter. She's 3 years old and has been struggling with constipation. She was going on the potty pretty regularly until a few months ago and now starts to go in her underwear but's it's always very little. She will complain her tummy hurts but it's like she's afraid to go b/c it will hurt. We told the doctor and he put her one Miralax. We mix it with some juice and it does help. We try not to give her as much cheese and milk and give her more fiber rich foods but she is a very stubborn eater so it's hard to get her to eat foods that will help. Please keep us posted on what your doctor advises.
