Any Parents with Kids Who Have Encopresis

Meissa, 'sounds like you have your hands full. I am assuming that you have this diagnosis along with some support services
If not you need some and so does your little girl. Try to get into a Pediatric Hospital based Clinic(have you tried St, Pat's?) According to what I read, Bowel and Bladder special training and diet management is part of the treatment. Pullups hidden in her back pack to take care of
accidents is an idea too.
C., RN

Hi M.,

This is my last response for this evening. But I don't know of any one with what you said, but my sister adopted a little girl with multiply tumurs in her brain, with fluid on 90% of her brain as well, with mental retardation, and server MS. Needless to say this little neice of mine can't get into trouble the way other children do, but boy do she have a teenage girl attitude. She's something else, she try's to run things just like most children even though she can't talk, walk, or anything else. When my sister and my brother in law, decided to adopt her, the doctors said it was no use she's going to die soon, she was 6 years old. The state said fine, but all finances are on you. My sis, and bro said fine and signed the papers. The love they have for this child blesses them with a patience like no other, teaches them things they might not have learned and so forth. That's not her only child, or her only trials, but she's trusted God through it all, and she's doing fine, and my neice she's 13 years old, and have been kicked out of school for bad behavior. Go figure. Love works miracles for you who's giving it, and the person receiving it. Hang in there. F.

My daughters had something that sounds similar - juvenile functional fecal retention - they refused to go (due to emotional/psychological reasons) and then would end up constipated and really needing to go but then they would be afraid out of fear of pain. When they held it long enough, they ended up soiling their under clothes because their bodies couldn't continue to hold it all. My oldest began when she was almost 5 and continued until she was 10 (she's 12 now) and neither I nor the doctors were able to do anything to change things, she had to just come to the point herself when she was ready to deal with it on her own. My youngest, after watching what her sister went through, began to go on her own about six months later. Believe me, I know it's stressful, and I can't tell you how many confrontations I had with doctors, my girls' father and even the girls about it before I had to just realize that my ranting and raving was just that. One of my biggest fears was that they would become dependent on laxatives (which my doctor warned about), so I leaned more toward natural stool softeners and a healthy diet. The biggest thing I learned was that this wasn't something they wanted, no child wants friends to know they've soiled their underclothes, and they weren't doing it to get back at me for anything I'd done.
I know it's difficult, but believe it or not, you will get through it. You will have that day where you don't have to separate out all the underwear for a separate wash or strip the bed almost every day or sweep the bathroom floor every time they go.

M.-My 5-year-old son has had encopresis issues off and on since the arrival of baby sister when he was three, and exacerbated by our move when he was 4. It has driven me batty. After talked to his pediatrician, ruling out a medical issue, we sought counseling. (He had other behavior issues, too.) His psychologist is really great (Elicia Spotts at SHMS) and things have gotten much better.

im a 27yrd old single mom with a 8yr old boy.ok this is the hardest thing ive ever had to deal with but, i went to his doctor and they gave me a mild laxative for him to take every day for the past week. its gross but the first step is getting him totally cleaned out. that means poopin constantly all day. getting pull ups till its done is the best way to not go crazy. once hes all cleaned out get him on a sitting schedule. even if he doesnt have to go make him sit for 10-15min. its hard to do but it will work. my son pooped in the toilet for the first time ever this week and i can tell its only going to get better!!!!!! as soon as his muscles are trained to do what they are supposed to do life will be so much eaiser! good luck

Hi M.,

My 11-year old son had encopresis when he was about 7 or so. He took mineral oil in his milk every day for several weeks to clear himself out and after that it became a matter of helping him get into a routine. Even till today, I monitor when he goes.

Does your son have any other difficulties? My son has OCD tendencies and Asperger's Syndrome.

J.