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Bowel Incontinence

My son is 9 and is seeing a multidisciplinary team for Aspergers although I have not had confirmation of the diagnosis. He has bowel issues and soils his underwear every evening and it's a mess. I don't make an issue and he washes himself but he is unaware that it is happening until it is too late.

I don't want to make a big issue to him but tell him to look for the signs of wind/gas that he needs to sit on the loo. The paediatrician has suggested nappies and carrying a change of clothes and informing the school but he is in mainstream school and he's aware enough that this would be socially destructive.

Does anyone have any methods that work to help reduce this behaviourally and/or physically. Also the paediatrician suggested lots of milk products for the bacteria as lack of this may be contributing, but this seems odd to me.

Any help appreciated
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Avatar universal
I also have trouble with bowel and urine problems.I was tested in my early 50's and found to be autistic +dd my wife never makes a big deal about itThe only requirement is be diapered to not ruin things.
Helpful - 0
12549261 tn?1425930967
Your doctor may be telling you to feed your son products with Sweet Acidophilus & Bidfidobacterium cultures. These are probiotics that encourage the development of intestinal flora. They are available in Sweet Acidophilus milk and in some yoghurt products. These probiotics are clinically proven to improve your immune system and are thought to give you some protection from colon cancer. Consumption of these products may make his bowls looser for a while until he gets used to the cultures. Your doctor may want to schedule his intake of something like this to "regulate" his bowls. I would talk to your doctor some more to se what his intentions are for this. I've been drinking Sweet Acidophilus milk since the early 1970s, but some people (like my husband) can taste the cultures and don't like it. The cultures are also available in capsule form in health food, drug, and grocery stores. Talk to your doctor more about this.
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Avatar universal
VERY IMPORTANT FACT.

As older some people get with Aspergers Sydrome, the skill of using the bathroom decreases. There is nothing you can do about this. This is something just simply caused by having a form of Autism. You can not just tell your child with this problem to stop, because they don't even know why they're having this problem.
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Avatar universal
When my son was younger I took him to a gastroenterologist for this problem. The doctor prescribed a special laxative to be given at a specific time of the day. The reason for the laxative is two-fold, the doctor told me. First, even though it looks like the child has diarrhea, the underlying problem is actually constipation. When the bowel is blocked with hard stool, the child cannot control his bowel movements because the liquid just leaks around the blockage. The laxative prevents the constipation and because it causes the bowels to move consistently and easily at the same time each day, it helps the child to learn when to go to the bathroom and to identify indicators that he has to use the bathroom.

The kind of laxatives I am talking about are not the over-the-counter kind which should not be given long term to a child. This is something that I mixed up with water and gave to him every day. It can only be gotten with a doctor's prescription. The doctor said the best time to begin this regimen is at the beginning of summer break.

You should see your child's peditrician to get a referral to a gastroenterologist. It will help. I just changed my son's underpants and washed them until he got it under control, however; I was thinking that if you don't think it will do him psychological harm, women's Maxie pads (with "wings") or Poise pads might be helpful. They may be better than pull-ups for his self-esteme because there is less evidence visible through the clothes that they are being used. I was thinking Maxie pads because although I have never had to use Poise pads, the Maxie pads seem like they would be more comfortable. They stick onto the underwear and can be positioned to where they are needed.Talk to your child's pediatrician before using the Maxi pads. I didn't use any kind of pads with my son (mostly because I just thought about this after reading the post about using paper towels), Since my son also had bladder control problems and was quite hefty for a while, we used depends at night when he was about 9 or 10.
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Avatar universal
i have a son who has aspergers and messed his pants everyday atleast once a day i gave lactose milk for him to drink it lessened however he still messes his pants daily
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Avatar universal
Having Aspergers myself and being an adult baby, i would say its a good thing he is unwilling to go with the idea of wearing nappies. People with aspergers, as with any ASD, can often be very gullable and impulsive. While im trying to spread genral understanding of infantilism and clear up the common misconceptions associated with it, I dont like the idea of any child potentialy becoming an infantilist.

Stay strong and stick with underpants, try sugesting that he loads his pants with some toilet tissue, and then some kitchen tissue, this will help keep his pants clean and help with the clean up process. Also sugest that he has at least 6 spare pares of pants on him at the begining of each day, put him in charge of his own laundry, and sugest that he take a shower at least three times a day and clean up and change staight away each time he soils himself.

You may also try putting him on the glutin free casien free diet as well as taking lactose out of his diet. Caffiene is also another thing that can cause lose bowl movments. Increasing the amount of fiber he has should help as long as you decrease the fluid intake propotionaly.
Anti dioreah tablits will also aid with the problem, but stick to the dose given on the back of the pack.
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Avatar universal
  Help my boyfriends son has recently came to stay the summer with us, He is having the same issues with his bowels and its driving me crazy. Im constantly having to remove my couch cusions to clean them, my dinning room table chair covers ugh i have had it so bad im so frustrated. His father wont listen to me i want to put him in the big boy pull-ups i cant continue to do this he even hides his soild underware behind my kids dressers, its making my home have a bad oder. Im trying to be sympothetic but its hard especially when im just conciderd the girlfriend but its my home they are in and i feel like im being dissrespected.
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Avatar universal
Carolyn,
Thank you very much for your response, I'll check out the site. I had an idea from my research that milk could cause problems or exacerbate any bowel problems and you have confirmed it.
Thanks again
Fiona
Helpful - 0
791606 tn?1240593511
Here's the web site:
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/
Take care,
Carolyn
Helpful - 0
791606 tn?1240593511
You may want to look up "Thoughtful house for Children" It is a place in Texas, USA that specifically deals with Autism and bowel issues. They have an email group for parents to ask questions and get answers from other parents. You may get some good information here. There are people from all over the world on the site but most are from USA.
Hope you find the information you are looking for.

Also, they have found many gut/intestanal issues with children with Autism and this site will have some answers for you. It usually isn't a behavioral issue.

Sometimes Milk can cause bowel problem...not sure why the dr. would say to give more????

Take care,
Carolyn
Helpful - 0

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