So I'm sitting Chris' band room office, killing time by bombarding LJ with my comments on other people's journals, and now it's time to post in mine
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Poopy revelations ahead. Shield your eyes, you of delicate constitutions! I mean it - shoo!
My son (7 yrs old) has the same problem as Zach, and it's been like that intermittently since the age of 4, when he - ack, poor thing! - had a hemorrhoid of all things. Imagine - a preschooler with piles. It's brutal.
He did tend to hold things in before that too, though, which probably didn't help any.
He does the exact thing you say - soils his underpants with tiny poops repeatedly until he can no longer hold it back. And oh, do I understand your frustration. I've cussed up a blue streak over this problem many a time, but I've come to the conclusion over time that it only serves to make both my son and me feel bad. So let me share with you the results of my research.
It's probably a mix of physical and emotional reaction. 1)Kids don't have as certain a recognition of body functions as adults have. It's just not completely developed yet. They may not recognize a poop for a poop until it's too late, or if they do, they may feel able to hold it back when it turns out they can't. 2)They may interpret a bowel movement as pain, which is even more plausible if they've been in the habit of holding back because it turns the poop harder and it builds up and it hurts their poor little assholes. And kids aren't as likely to think in terms of common sense - "I'm going to bear this little pain because it's good for me". They're more likely to try and avoid it at all costs. Vicious circe and all that.
What's helped best with my son is to focus on diet. Make sure he drinks lots of fluids - especially if you increase the fiber content. Be very careful with milk though. Youghurt is good, especially live youghurt. If he likes prunes, that's very good news, but soak them in water first or make him drink lots with them. Ripe bananas = good news, green bananas = bad news. One apple a day is not only a proverb - it actually helps. Pears too. The fluid intake, I'll say it again, is very important.
Helping with an enema once or twice to empty the bowels if he's completely stuck, does no harm, especially if it's to kick-start a more stringent diet regime. Of course it shouldn't become a habit, but I know I don't need to tell my favorite pharmacist that.
Final piece of cold comfort: If you have kids or cats you're going to end up with dirt under your fingernails one way or the other. (As a case in point, my little!Spica puked out her little guts three hours ago, but now seems fine. I foresee more puking tonight though.) Becoming an intermittent mouth breather helps. *g*
My son (7 yrs old) has the same problem as Zach, and it's been like that intermittently since the age of 4, when he - ack, poor thing! - had a hemorrhoid of all things. Imagine - a preschooler with piles. It's brutal.
He did tend to hold things in before that too, though, which probably didn't help any.
He does the exact thing you say - soils his underpants with tiny poops repeatedly until he can no longer hold it back. And oh, do I understand your frustration. I've cussed up a blue streak over this problem many a time, but I've come to the conclusion over time that it only serves to make both my son and me feel bad. So let me share with you the results of my research.
It's probably a mix of physical and emotional reaction. 1)Kids don't have as certain a recognition of body functions as adults have. It's just not completely developed yet. They may not recognize a poop for a poop until it's too late, or if they do, they may feel able to hold it back when it turns out they can't. 2)They may interpret a bowel movement as pain, which is even more plausible if they've been in the habit of holding back because it turns the poop harder and it builds up and it hurts their poor little assholes. And kids aren't as likely to think in terms of common sense - "I'm going to bear this little pain because it's good for me". They're more likely to try and avoid it at all costs. Vicious circe and all that.
What's helped best with my son is to focus on diet. Make sure he drinks lots of fluids - especially if you increase the fiber content. Be very careful with milk though. Youghurt is good, especially live youghurt. If he likes prunes, that's very good news, but soak them in water first or make him drink lots with them. Ripe bananas = good news, green bananas = bad news. One apple a day is not only a proverb - it actually helps. Pears too. The fluid intake, I'll say it again, is very important.
Helping with an enema once or twice to empty the bowels if he's completely stuck, does no harm, especially if it's to kick-start a more stringent diet regime. Of course it shouldn't become a habit, but I know I don't need to tell my favorite pharmacist that.
Final piece of cold comfort: If you have kids or cats you're going to end up with dirt under your fingernails one way or the other. (As a case in point, my little!Spica puked out her little guts three hours ago, but now seems fine. I foresee more puking tonight though.) Becoming an intermittent mouth breather helps. *g*
Thus endeth the poopy pep talk. Good luck!
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