Need Potty Training Help!

[KGCeliacMom]

Hello!  I am new here!  We just found out my 3 year old has Celiac Disease about a month ago.  Positive blood tests and positive biopsy, etc.  We have been gluten free for around 5 weeks now. 

 

The reason we even found out she had this was because I could not get her potty trained.  After 7 months I complained to my pediatrician who ran a ton of tests and we are glad she did!

 

Sorry if this gets graphic, but I need help.  So  my daugthter has bowel movements up to 10 times a day.  It is not loose stool, more like the consistency of clay.  We have her on miralax daily because she is just always full of stool otherwise.  However, her going all day long in tiny increments is not ideal either.  She is now in preschool and I had to get a dr's note for her to even attend because they are supposed to be potty trained and she is clearly not.

 

Any ideas?  She is 3 years and 3 months and we have been potty training for 8 months.  It's really just the bowel movements that are the issue, but I am losing it here!  Last night we went to a baseball game and I had to change her 3 times in 4 hours and she does not even fit well on those diaper changing tables anymore!  Will this get better as her system  heals?  or is this just something that comes with the territory? 

 

 

[tarnalberry]

It's probably going to take her some time to adjust and figure these things out.  If she's been going 10 times a day, she may not have built up the muscular control she needs just yet.  I would encourage you to give her time, but also to practice.  I know it sounds odd, but what helped my daughter most (though she didn't have these particular issues to work through) was being able to go outside on the grass in our back yard.  (Just like our dog, which is why she thought it was so cool.)  Then there was no "oh, I gotta go" or "oh, I just went" panic, and no "hold it! hold it! hold it until you get to the potty!" scare either.

 

Would it be possible/realistic to start to (slowly!) lower the dose of miralax?

[stanleymonkey]

It might be worth talking to your doctor about a bowel management programme. It basically involves set toilet times, for certain amount of time. It helped our daughters deal with my eldest going from being so backed up she was leaking up to 20 times a day, and my youngest who was so impacted she couldn't go. Miralax along with bowel retraining worked. Our ped said there bodies just need retrained to learn the signals. It's funny but my 4 yr old still goes at the set times without being told to! I say we are goin out her reply is I'm just going to the bathroom before we go! She potty trained in 3 days. My horrifically impacted 2 yr old turned round and asked for underwear and that was that. Be patient it will happen, her body has been through a lot, and you'll soon be loving the calls of mom im on the toilet come wipe my bum!