Location: Royse City,Texas (35 miles East of Dallas in the country)
Posts: 1,042
My sisters girl had this very same issue...
Mineral oil was the answer!! Really..she started holding it at 3 and did lots of diet changes and bribing etc ..etc...
She started giving her mineral oil everyday and over time she started having BM's on a regular basis and soon all the stress...control issues..faded away. She gave her the mineral oil by spoon.
At this point...I would rather try anything than letting it go any further...if it was addicting...you can wean them from that.
Hope you find a solution!!
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Shelly
Proud Mama to
Rachel 6/96
Clay 11/99
Abigail 6/27/02
Kids with their PopPop..my Dad..wanna guess how old he is???
Mineral oil or liquid petrolatum is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline. It is a chemically inert transparent colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes and cyclic paraffins, related to white petrolatum. Mineral oil is a substance of negligible value, as it is produced in very large quantities. It is commonly used as a lubricant and a laxative. Additionally, mineral oil is used in the chemistry industry to store and transport alkali metals.
Are mineral oil and castor oil good laxatives?
These laxatives should generally be used only when your doctor recommends them, such as if you've just had surgery and shouldn't strain to have a bowel movement.
While both mineral oil and castor oil have their place as laxatives, they shouldn't be used regularly. If mineral oil is used regularly, it can cause deficiencies of vitamins A, D, E and K. Castor oil can lead to serious problems if it's used regularly.
I haven't read all the responses, but I have an irrational fear of vomiting. It's most definitely a control issue. It's also about self esteem. Nothing happened to me to make me afraid of it, I've had this phobia since forever. Sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason. ITA with everyone and would definitely get her to a therapist. They are SO helpful!
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Wife to Aaron and mama to Caity and Brennan.
*WARNING* Stupid crap flies out of my fingers on occasion. In case it's aimed your way, DUCK!
Hmmm, after reading about the mineral oil, I think I would give that a try.
Trust me when I say you CAN'T hold it after being given mineral oil. After I gave birth to W., they gave me mineral oil for 4 days so that it wouldn't hurt to poop. (Yeh cheap hospital wouldn't give me pills).
I don't think it would hurt anything as long as it was a temporary fix.
My grandmother when i was little said i was constipated and would make me sit on the toliet for HOURS because i wouldn't go regular enough for her .. i would sit with books and wait and wait .. and if i didn't go in time she would put a stool softener supository in my bum.. OMG i still remember that and it was TERRIBLE.
She goes potty okay and isn't afraid of the bathroom? Maybe get some extra special reading material that she can read while sitting on the toliet .. not forcing her to sit there .. but encouraging her .. so if she get the feeling she will just go.
Mineral Oil, Caster Oil, Cod Liver Oil are all good ones and will work to help it move through and not "hurt".
Also when giving choices for foods .. how about giving 3 choices ... like lets say chicken fingers, meatloaf, or pork.. with broccili, peas, or green beans... or what ever your family likes.. you could even have her help do some chores to get her moving so she could have that poopy feeling.. make it special " big girl time"
Have you tried the natural laxatives too? Prune juice, that sort of thing. I think that if she is changing her eating habits in order to not poop that is more serious than someone just not having to go for whatever reason. Her pediatritian doesn't have any advice? I know you said that you saw a specialist, but it seems like more of a kid issue than a strictly medical issue. Good luck.
__________________ Megan Mama to Ron (8/13/04), stepmama to Emily(6/9/99) Married to DJ, my supportive hubby
Does it feel like you are in a power struggle over this? It reads this way, particularly when you say that you "force" her to go. My 4 year old has struggled with this for the past however many months since potty training (around 6 months), but it was never quite as severe as it sounds with your girl. I wouldn't hesitate to get professional help, but I thought I'd share a couple of things that really helped us.
Noah used to hold it for 3 or 4 days, and every evening he would do the "I don't want to poop" dance which, although amusing, seemed to be kind of painful. I just started talking about how it can hurt your tummy to hold in the poop and that your tummy feels a lot better after you poop. I thouht this was falling on deaf ears until one day we were in a book store and he started to do the dance and I suggested he go to the potty (encouraged by the promise of buying any book he wanted). He said afterwards that his tummy felt a lot better. So I would try some simple non-persuasive validation of what her feelings seem to be, focusing on the positive. You clearly already know the connection between her emotions and her BM's.
I have two other suggestions for you, both of which you may have already tried. Rewards (bribes, whatever you want to call them) work great for Noah. Trying to ritualize the potty and the rewards (for him, a few pieces of gummy candy after he's pooped-- which he does mid-bath now almost every night) seems to work best, but I also use non-traditiona rewards (like taking a bath in "my" bathroom). When things weren't going so well and simple encouragement didn't work, I used an "if-then" strategy for awhile. Something that he really wanted to do-- in some cases, watch a video, take a bath with me, anything special or not a daily activity-- pooping was a prerequisite. "If you poop, then you can take a bath with me", etc.
I'm sorry it's such a struggle. I think you're doing the absolute right thing by pursuing professional help, as it's clearly something that is reducing your family's quality of life (and hers).
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