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My son is scared to poo

Posted , 3 users are following.

Claire_P
Claire_P

My son is 3 1/2 and has been constipated since he was 18 months old, the doctors have all said there is nothing physically wrong with him and his problems are all in his head. When it first started he had a bad anal fissure which was very painfull and since then he is scared of doing a poo, and wont do it unless he really has to, he still bleeds every time he goes, which surely cant be normal, can it?? We've tried everything including diet, he drinks loads, laxatives didnt work, everything the health visitor suggested didnt help, after 2 years of holding it in I dont think he knows how to do a poo and Im at my wits end as I dont know what to do to help him, he knows he'll feel better after hes done a poo and his tummy ache will go away but he still wont go if he can help it. He starts school in september and he's such a bright boy I dont want him to end up being behind because he cant concentrate on anything else when he needs a poo. If anyone can suggest anything to help i'd be so gratefull as this is making a lovely little boy very sad, and if I get told ''he'll grow out of it'' one more time i'm going to scream.

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    hi there - our experience with our son doesn't sound too different to yours so you might get some tips from my 2 posts:

    Wed Dec 06, 2006 12:01 am ..This is a ray of hope! Blimey - it made me so sad readi...

    5th September 2007, 10:20 pm .... Still improving

    all the best

  • Claire_P
    Claire_P

    Posted

    We've been back to the doc and started on movical, from reading the experiences on this forum it seems to be the most helpfull medication, even though this is'nt a physical problem the doc says that by taking this he will have to do poos and then we can look at the issue of him being scared once we've at least got him going, we're also using a sticker chart and prizes to encourage him, we're trying to be really positive and over the top with praise,

    Thanks to the person who replied to my experience, I read your postings and it sounded so simular to us, I thought about what you said about having a stressfull household and I had post-natal depression after having my son which I'm only just getting over now, wondering if this could be a factor?

    We'll see how we go on the movical and Im going to try and be more positive, watch this space.

  • sharong071
    sharong071

    Posted

    Hi there, my son suffered with the same problem, and i dont say suffered lightly, i dont think my health visitor took me very seriously about how scared my son was to go to the toilet, he was constipated from a young age and associated going for a poo with pain, one day when my son was sat on the toilet screaming with pain again i rang the health visitor in tears so she would understand how bad it was after that i was not fobbed off with give him more fruit etc as i had been doing for years, they checked him out and discovered that because he had been holding onto his poos he had stretched his bowel and that he was now stuck in a viscious circle where his bowel had to be really full before he got the urge to poo, so that made it painfull, and because it was painfull he fought it more, we were having to encourage him to go to the toilet even when he didn't feel like it and between that and his special treat (asda prunes in prune juice, very sweet so he didn't realise they were good for him) we got him to relax about it, my son is six now and his bowel has been permanentaly stretched so we have to make sure he sits on the toilet regularly, he's just got into that great male habit off taking a book in with him so he can take his time,,lol, the think is to not be told its all about diet, fear was the biggest part of the problem for my son.
  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I am sure you have probably sorted this out but just to say that it could be a dairy allergy causing constipation. My daughter suffered terribly when she was 2.5 and the GP told me it was psychological. Finally she referred me to a paediatrician who told me to cut out all dairy food for 2 weeks to see what happened. After a week her bowel movements returned to normal and her terror of going for a poo stopped too.
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