Potty Traing Problems

[Annie/NM]

I am soooooooooooooooooo frustrated right now. We have been attempting to potty train for 2 1/2 years. We have gotten close (maybe one accident a day) several times. But the past few months have been aweful. He is 4 1/2 years old and been diagnosed for one year. His blood is in the normal range now so the diet is working well. But he is having major poop problems. He was either constipated or witholding it (not sure). So we had to clean out his system with Miralax several times (his x-rays would show major stool back up). So the GI suggested a small dose of miralax every day to keep him from being able to withold. He suggested "pudding" consistency. Well lately he has been pooping 3 times a day in his pants. My husband says to completely get off the medicine but we have tried that in the past and that's when he gets backed up. I am trying sticker charts, candy for pooping, seeing a behaviorialist etc..................... Nothing seems to be working. I have to have him completely potty trained by August or he can't go to his new pre-schoo (his old one is very negative about the whole pooping issue). He only has one week left before we are all off for the summer. I just need some advice from someone who has had this experience. He has a 5 year old friend with Celiac who is too having daily poop accidents. I guess I just don't understand, if he is doing the diet correctly why can't we get potty trained? I am just in tears over this and feel like a failure and don't know how to make it better for all of us! TIA

[Ursa Major]

Annie, have you considered that your son may be dairy intolerant, too? Dairy is known to cause constipation. Soy is another possible culprit. Try cutting out all dairy and soy to see if it helps (and give it a month before you decide it isn't helping).

I hope you get it figured out soon!

[Juliet]

My son, too, refuses to potty train at all. He's 3 years 7 1/2 months and gluten free for 18 months. More than uninterested - completely resistant to it no matter the cajoling or incentive. I can say, though, that sometimes because of belly distention the nerves that let you know things are happening can be damaged and cause accidents just like this. I don't think that's my son's problem, he's just absolutely paranoid about not having a diaper because he still has vague memories of being really sick with Celiac Disease and bad diarrhea. So, buying real underwear hasn't helped at all. He just won't do it.

[Nic]

My son has been on Miralax for over 2 years daily. He has Celiac, we believe he is dairy intolerant, and are now looking into soy. The Miralax can be tricky. If you give a full dose the poop is too loose. If you cut back the constipation is back. Has the doctor explained to you that 1 dose of Miralax is equal to 4 teaspoons? Maybe try using a measuring spoon and give him 3 teaspoons for a while and work backwards. Hopefully you can find a dose that works for him. My ped. gastro. explained that Miralax can be played around with depending on the current need. But I would look into the possibility of a dairy problem as well. I just feel as though these poor kids should not need a stool softener for years to make them poop, something else has to be interfereing.

Nicole

[Annie/NM]

Thanks for your input. I've never really even thought about dairy problems. I guess we rely on it a lot because of the other things he can't eat. We are definitely playing with the dose of miralax. We've backed up quite a bit and I can already tell he isn't pooping as much and it is getting hard. He is still having pee accidents 1-2 times a day too. He tells me he just doesn't think he will ever get potty trained. Poor kid, we are both so frustrated!

[gfgypsyqueen]

Hi Annie/NM. You described the battle we had with my daughter. She got constipated once and had a painful poop and that ended our potty ttraining. She was convinced poopy would hurt, so she withheld (5 days!) and by then it does hurt. We battled this for years! No amount of reward or punishment made a difference.

She has been on adult dosages of Miralax - warnings on the label and all. The problem with Miralax is "sometimes you feel the urge to go, but just cannot go". Quoted from an adult who uses the same dosage as my then 4 yr old. That made me think it was time to start looking for the natural cures to help.

We've always known that dairy causes her to get constipated, but once we removed milk she is so much better. She has not taken that medicine in 6 mths or more. She can have one milk with lunch at school and that is it. Still she loves cheese and yogurt and refuses to eat soy and rice products, so every now and again she gets ahold of too much dairy products and then she complains of a tummy ache and sleeps alot, eventually pees while sleeping before we can convince her to let the poop out. And by then at least a few days have gone by so she is a constipated mess.

IMO, cut out all milk and casein products (like a milk allergy). Flood him with water every day. Can't get constipated if you have enough water and fat in your system! Eat plenty of fruits like apples, peaches, strawberries, etc. We recently introduced "Big raisins" which are gourmet for prunes She loved them and this kid is picky!

[Annie/NM]

What is caesin? I will definitely try that. So either one milk, yogurt or cheese a day? And then lots of water and fiber (popcorn etc....). I appreciate the input and will try that starting today! Poor kiddo, we are both exhausted! I'm tired of being the mad mommy.

[gfgypsyqueen]

Another thing that helped is my daughter actually liked the Brown sugar shredded wheat cereal. Not sure what the gluten-free equivalent would be, but find something high in fiber - even those fiber drinks. She tried the cereal at a friends house and loved it. So she ate 5 shredded wheats before she could eat breakfast. Give lots of water and some juice if they like it. She doesn't like juice - go figure.

Casein is a milk protein of some sort. We also have a suspected dairy allergy in the family so I've learned all about this one. Items can be labeled dairy free, non-dairy ,but still have casein. for the problems you are having, I would take your son off all dairy and casein (no lactose, lactase, whey, casein, etc.) don't go crazy, but get him off all of it for a few weeks and see if you can get him pooping normally. Then slowly reduce the amount of Miralax over the next month or so. It is a slow process. Then after he is pooping normally without any medication you can add some milk back. She eats pizza and mac and cheese, but I monitor how much she eats and she must eat fruit with it and then limit the dairy the next day.

If your child will eat any soy or rice milks, I would stick to those and avoid milk altogether. Mine is picky, so she wont even touch the rice milk or soy milk.

You can also try probiotics and digestion aids supplements.

I just started getting very concerned that I was having a constant battle with this child over poop, and telling her she had to drink this medicine in order to poop normally. What kind of message does that send to a 4 or 5 yr old? Worried that I was creating a bad cycle where she would grow up dependant on medication instead of changing her diet and listening to her body. We are doing better now, but she still wants dairy and is old enough to help herself to the fridge.

Hope things get better soon for you and your son