"A Pooping Question..."

L.,

He may be withholding because the splash as the poop hits the water and hits his butt is scary. That was the major issue I had when I was potty training my boy.

At 2 it will be a little harder for him to articulate, but if he's super verbal you may want to try and talk with him about it.

When I learned that we had "monsters" in our toilet that were trying to get my son/his poop we changed the way he went poop on the toilet. I placed an IKEA little step next to the toilet that he could use to climb up on the seat to squat over the toilet. Once I was sure he could get up safely, and he knew how to position himself I'd let him do his business. We never had another poop accident in his pants.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

My daughter did this also and it stopped when she started going on the potty, now she goes pretty much every day. I wanted you to know that it will stop eventually as long as he eats food that can actually develop into a poop.
You didn't mention how much liquid he gets, with you upping his fiber intake he will need more or it will make him more constipated. We used to give my daughter a laxative once in a while that tasted like root beer and she loved it, she still didn't like pooping but at least it made it so she couldn't stop it from happening. (She had the best 6 pack abs for a kid) She didn't eat too much when she hadn't had a movement either and I can't blame them, it hurts being backed up. Now my dad has a jar of equal parts applesauce, prune juice, and bran in the fridge and takes 2 tablespoons everyday and it keep him regular even when traveling so I wonder if something like that might work at a lower dose of course. I am sure he had a painful bowel movement and that is why he fights it. At least when they sit on the toilet their bodies are in the proper form to have that happen. Anyway good luck, I remember watching mine writhe against the wall fighting it and crying.

well I would def take to the dr. have you tryed giving him some caro syurp?? that will help keep it soft so he dont feel like he's straining! my son did this alot and now is on meds for this kind of thing.

I encourage you to search on mamasource for similar questions because I know a lot has been written about it.

My son also, went every day and then got into the habit of holding it back and it caused A LOT of problems. It is understandable if you have some painful poops why you would just try to avoid it and hold it back. It can be really hard to convince such a young guy of why this is not healthy. I do urge you to do whatever is necessary to keep those poops soft and maybe have a regular time after breakfast where he sits on the potty and tries to go.

If he is allowed to just push it back (which is what you are describing) then his poops will get bigger and harder and even more difficult to pass -- setting up a vicous cycle. Also his body will give up on trying to expel -- and he will get constipated. It can be a real problem that lasts for years.

My son did this as a toddler as well. We tried to put him on the toilet after meals or when we knew he had to go, but in the end this just caused some serious potty training resistance. I recommend seeing your doctor and maybe put him on some Miralax (makes the poop runny, but it's non-addictive.) If it's a control issue, the more you focus on it the worse it will get (believe me, I know!)

We have had "pooping" issues with my son since 6 months, so I am very familiar with the frustrations of this. My pediatrition told us that this is very common for them to withhold and to try and put him on the toilet to try after every meal (about 15-20 min after) as this is the most common time that he would go. Now, I do admit we did not try this because my son is stubborn, but I thought I would pass on his suggestions. Good luck ;)

My 3-year old was doing the same thing. First, the doctor said to try adding more fruit and fiber to his diet, but when that didn't help, she said to put some Miralax in his juice. You put a capful in some juice or water (not milk) for three days, which will cause some very soft poop. It will not hurt. After that, put a small amount in once a day. This has helped my son immensely. He doesn't even know it's in there. He can now go poop every day like normal without pain. I tried to stop it cold turkey thinking we were done, but it got too hard again, and he was afraid to go again. My doctor said it does no harm to keep going with it, so here we are. I hope you find something that works. Your doctor would be a good resource to ask, too. :)