poop smears

[kasu59]

My grandaughter is 6 years old, she has been on polyethylene for her pooping problem. She continues to have dirty panties, sometimes 5 accidents after shes been home from school. I 'm worried that their is more to this than poor wiping  she tells me she poops at school. But the poop smears continue. Could something be wrong with her muslces in the rectum that she can't feel the poop sneaking out.   WORRIED GMA


This discussion is related to Child having problems with pooping.

[swtmlsa]

It sounds like you're describing my daughter, she has had the same issue. Her pediatrician said that because she is constantly backed up that the poop has to go somewhere so it will just force itself out. After time, this will cause the rectal muscles to become loose. It just becomes this cycle of constipation, the poop having to come out - so it does, and the loosening of the muscles. My daughter has also been taking the polyethylene glycol. This has been very difficult to deal with, the constant, embarrasing smell, the dirty clothes, etc. But, I assure you, if you stick with it you will see an improvement.
I have my daughter use the bathroom after every meal, the doctor wrote a note for school too. I gave her a small travel pack of baby wipes that fits inside her school uniform pocket so that she can make sure that she is very clean at school too. She has done much better but the dr said that it will take some time for the rectal muscles to go back to normal. So the MOST important thing at this point is to make sure that she does NOT get constipated again. If she does, the poop will be right there and again just come out on it's own.
We have not completely eliminated the "accidents" but rather than the 4-8 times a day, we are at only maybe 1-2 times per week. This is a huge improvement.
Good luck with your grandaughter, just remember that persistence pays off!!

[mom@homenow]

Glycolax is for constipation or encopresis, so she has had problems in the past. If she's had difficulty with bowel movements for a long time, then yes it is possible that she does not feel the small amounts that are passing, because her colon and or rectal muscles may have been stretched or strained and need to heal. Depending on the severity, it may take a long time for her to gain that sensation back. It is also possible that she can feel it and is choosing to ignore it or to try to hold it in and is not fully successful. If she has a history of painful bowel movements due to constipation and/or a fissure, she may be trying to avoid using the bathroom.

If she is compliant and wants to stop this, ask her to start going to sit on the toilet at certain times of day (right after breakfast, after lunch, when she arrives home from school) to try to have a bowel movement. If she is not willing to do this on her own, then an adult should ask her to sit on the toilet when she arrives home from school and set up a reward system when she does this without complaint and has a bowel movement. If needed the same should happen after supper. (She may indeed need to go twice a day or more, especially while on the medication) Eventually she should start to regulate her system... but it may take a while. She is not the only one, this is a more common problem than most care to admit. Best wishes~

[kasu59]

The mother is not involved in her life. I am grammy/mama , the product she is on is called polyethylene glycol or glycolax., and the problem is poop smears in the underwear , their is extra smaller amounts of BM in her panties that she dose not feel coming out.

[RockRose]

Polyethylene is a plastic.   I can't imagine she's been "on that" for a digestive problem.

Maybe you need to talk to her doctor or her mother again to get the story?  I think you need a lot more information if she's having 5 bowel movements in the afternoon after returning from school.