How do I get my son to push his poop out?

[mlieggi]

My son is 4.5 years old. He has been potty trained for one year doing #1. However, for some reason he cannot seem to do #2. He doesn't understand the concept of "pushing the poop out" and I simply do not know how to explain it to him. He does go, but since he doesn't know how to push it out, the only time he goes is when he is so overfilled that he has no choice but to let it out and then, he tries to hold it in. I am totally at a loss on what to do.  He has been sitting on the potty today for almost 8 hours trying to poop and I keep thinking that this can't be right. But I don't know what to do, when I take him off the potty and try to wipe him up, I can see the poop still coming out so I put him back on the potty to finish and it is now a recurrent cycle. Ever since I can remember he has had problems with constipation. I give him baby laxatives and raisins to loosen up his stools but they don't seem to do much good. He has to start Kindergarten soon and I am afraid he will be that one child who goes to Kindergarten in diapers.  He has already been expelled from pre-kindergarten.  What do I do or say to this child to get him to understand how to push the poop out?  He is my third child, so I have done the potty training thing before but for some reason he just does not want to do it. I have talked to my doctor and their response is "he's just not ready." I find that hard to believe because he says that he wants to go on the potty but then after a few days in underwear and his first accident, he gets discouraged and reverts back to pull ups.  Could this be a medical problem?

[chapmanmum]

I have been through the same problem with my 3.5 year old son, You really are doing everything right but I have one suggestion that really helped us. I began giving my son a stool softener every day around the same time, this way his bowel will move around the same time every day. Also there will be no holding it in and the bowel wont block. Try not to sit him on the potty for all that long, see if he needs to go , try, if cant then get him off. With the stool softener he will know when he needs to go and it will all come out. Its just a matter of giving him the right amount so he is not getting runny poos but you want it to be soft. He can have this everyday it wont hurt him, Here we have a softener called parachoc and its great. Anyway after going a couple of times comfortably he should get the concept. I hope this has been a little help.

[rileysmomOH]

If he has had problems with constipation it could hurt to poo.   He also could be withholding because it hurts.   Yes, yes yes get him on stool softener.  My daughter has been on it daily for 2 years with no problems.   If you don't get this under control it could lead to Encopresis which yes is a medical problem.   It already sounds like he could be full.

You may need to find another doc.   My doc told me the same things and it lead to full blown Encopresis and over a year of misery for my daughter (and us).  You cannot just ignore this and "hope" that he just goes one day.   Where does your doctor think all the poop is going if it's not coming out?   (Not slamming you, slamming the doc).

Here is a trick to get him to push.  I would get him on stool softener and then try this.  Give him a balloon and explain that he needs to use his belly to blow it up instead of his cheeks.   I had to retrain my daughter how to push and this worked well.   One way to know if he is pushing correctly is to have him bend over and push.  See what his "bum" is doing.   I know it's alittle too much info!!!!!  Keep in mind though, he may not want to poo if it hurts!!!!!


rileysmom