My 2 Year Old Refuses to Go Poop at ALL! Please Help!

for a while my son wouldn't poop in the potty...we bribed him and it worked. I bought one of his favorite toys and told him he could only have it if he "pushed way hard" and went poop in the toilet...it worked and we haven't had any problems since

You could try giving her prunes or prune, apple or white grape juice. Also whole grain breads and veggies will help with constipation in toddlers. Try the 2nd food prunes in the take along containers (Gerber). They worked for my grandson and he thought it was just like applesauce. Good luck!
B.

Hi S.. Aw poor baby! How awful for her. Well my feeling is that the best approach would be to go back to sort of looking at her as your baby. Don't try to reason with her or offer rewards, this is foolish as she isn't mentally capable to agree to compromise. And since this is a bodily function, reasoning with her mind won't help her make a poo. So treat the symptoms. What are they? No poo! Okay, it's time to love her more and push the fluids. But remember not to force the fluids. Offer them gently, just more often than usual. I always always put a sippy cup of water out every day for my kiddo. She goes to it herself. The poo will come! Please refrain from suppositories as these are unnatural. Get some fiber into her as well. Cheerios are an excellent source and the kids don't know that they are good for them. You will have to watch her without her knowing she is on the spot, use loving eyes, and don't make such a big deal out of it when she finally does go. Also I would let her run around without a diaper and perhaps you'll find a poop in a corner someday, if that happens give thanks to the Lord for her passing bowels! And then ease her back into whatever is normal for you. When she does go, if it's in a corner do not reprimand her. Give her a hug and say I bet you feel better baby. Now lets get you a cookie.

I know exactly what your going through my 2yr old does the same thing. I took her to the doctor for it and he said it is a stage they go through call "anal retentive" He did give me some medicine that I had to give her for 2weeks just to make sure she wasn't compacted. The medicine did work but even when she took it she refused to poop. The doctor told me the only thing you can really do is to just praise them when the go and when they try to hold it tell them thats hurts their tummy and tell them why they should go poop. It sometimes works for my daughter.

Hope this helps a little. Just know its nothing wrong with your child because thats what I thought and the doctor said no most kids this age go through it. "It's a phase"

My son started doing that a year ago when he was that same age and STILL does it. We took him to the doctor and he was so backed up they admitted him to the hopsital. He had 4 enemas!! They gave us a medicaine called Miralax and my son is still on it. If I go even ONE day without giving him the meds he will NOT go poop and it cause him to be constipated again. He is very afraid to go because of a diaper rash he had right around his (sorry for being gross) anus. So when he would TRY to poop it would hurt REALLY bad. So he held it in. He finally constipated himself to the point where all that could come out was watery stuff which (duh) also irritated that rash he had. It made the rash worse and he didn't want to go poop, period! I would suggest talking to your doctor. It's a pain to give him meds every morning, but it's so much nicer not seeing him squeeze his butt cheeks together and hearing him whine. He goes in the potty and it's not diarhea...it's just a gentle laxative to help keep it a lttle softer. No more hurt. The medicine is a powder that you can mix into their juice and it's supposed to be tasteless. He has never had an issue with it. Hope I could help!

I suspect she's had some painful BMs - either too hard or too big for her little sphincter. If she's potty-trained/ing, that's added a little confusion to the mix, too - wanting to be a big girl but remembering it can hurt sometimes to poop.

Have you tried giving her any prunes? (It doesn't take many.) It's one of nature's candies, and while it may not seem to work THAT DAY, surely the following day she's not going to be able to resist. Firm bananas and dairy products need to be balanced with roughage and fruit juices to prevent bowels from hardening. When she finally does go, be sure you're right with her to comfort her rather than persuade or reward her to go. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it or take her to the doctor unless she really gets constipated. Sympathy and comfort, and altering her diet to purposely soften the bowels to ease the process - that would be my first game plan.

S....
I had a neice that had the same problem. I think that eventually she just grew out of the problem. I hope that things start getting better. I am sure that it is stressful for the both of you.

My friend is having the same problem with her daughter. Have u tried asking her doctor?

If she is potty trained I would say to go into the bathroom with her and help her "relax" read a book, do the abc's sing songs, etc... if she is still in a diaper, you can do these same things! Also, you can get books that talk about going poo! Good Luck! Let us know what happens :)

I'm with Corinna. More fluids, given stealthily. Put the cup where she can get it. Offer popsicles all day long. Cut up prunes into her oatmeal, whatever it takes. And most of all, stop talking to her about it unless she brings it up first!

Have you consulted a dr. about her not going? I know someone who's child was having this problem and it wasn't because she wouldn't go...she couldn't go. For the likes of me I can't remember what they said the problem was, but there was a reason why, and if it hurts her to go, then I don't blame her for holding it in, but if you haven't I'd consult a dr. Good luck.

My son did the same thing when he was 2 yrs old. He got constipated one time and after that he was afraid to poop at all. We tried giving him prune juice and everything else that we could think of and he still wouldn't go. He would go a week before he would finally go and he would only go after we had given him an enema (which I hated do because I thought that it was traumatic also) If it is a week in between the times that she goes poop then she is making herself constipated. I talked to our pediatrician and we put my son on Miralax. She said that he had to be retrained that it was okay to poop because it was a mental issue at that point in time. The miralax makes it so they can't hold their poop whether they want to or not. Once we did that it took maybe 2 months and he no longer needed the miralax (although the pediatrician said that some children can take longer) He would take half a capful of Miralax mixed in with his juice or water everyday. Now he is almost 4 and will usually poop every day or every other day without any medicine. If you are willing to try medicine for a while it helps. Hope this helps you.
J. B.

My daughter just turned 4 and we have been battling this issue since she was 2. At one point she had a painful bowel movement and then pretty much made the decision to just not go. I explained to her that everyone has to poop and she just looks at me like "not me" and everytime she is able to hold it it just reaffirms her opinion that she doesn't have to go. My pediatrician reccomended taking her to a gastroentereologist to have her checked because there is a certain edical problem that could cause this but he said she was fine. She has been on Glycolax for almost 2 years and that is a stool softener. It adds water to the stool so that it won't get hard. Our problem has been finding the right dose becasue too much means watery poop she can't even hold and too little means hard poop that she won't push out. The specialist said to keep her on a daily dose of this and if she goes 1 day without pooping to triple the amount the next day and continue that until she goes. He said to avoid enemas an suppositories at all costs because she is associating bowel movements with pain and as long as she does that she will never go normally. The bad news is that this is a daily struggle that stops activities and drives all of us nuts because no matter what we do/promise/bribe we can't force her to have a bowel movement but the good news is that we have been over a month now without incident and the specialist said that this is extremely common and usually resolves itself by age 5 - Good Luck - I know how frustrating this is :)

My sister was like this and well at 30 I think she still is. All you can do is keep doing like you are doing. Eventually she will go.

I wish I had advice, but I don't. I just wanted to lend moral support!!!

Wow, I can't believe someone else is going through this. My daughter started doing the same thing about that age. She still occasionally does it but she's pretty much over it now. Isn't it frustrating! Her doctors believed she did it mainly because it's really the only thing SHE can control but I'm not sure if that's the real reason. I think it started after she had a really big, extremely painful movement. I think she was afraid to go after that but then turned into a control thing. I tried everything rewards, punishment, praise, stories, EVERYTHING! What helped us was I explained to her what poop was and why we NEED to go. I drew pictures of the body and digestive tract and showed her that poop was kind of like our bodys garbage and if we didn't get rid of it it would make us sick. When she would get a belly ache I told her that it was her body is telling her to go. I also gave her mineral oil (doctor recommended), yogurt, and high fiber foods like apples (not bananas), whole grains, and the occasional hot cocoa (chocolate is a natural laxative and the warmth gets the bowels moving). Don't put too much pressure on her. Let her take control of it, even if that means she has to help clean it up (believe me she won't like doing it for long). Also, make it seem like it's no big deal, giving it too much attention will only make her obsess about it and want to control it more. Last of all, relax and don't let it get the best of you. She will grow out of it and she still has time. Some kids aren't fully potty trained until 5-6, you should feel lucky she did it early.
P.S. Buy flushable wipes and always carry extra panties because with all that fiber and liquid she WILL have to go.
**If you have anymore questions definatly contact me, I know how frustrating it can get.

S.,
I had the same problem with my 3 year old son...I told the Dr. that he didn't seem constipated but for him it seemed normal to hang on to something and squat just to poop. Sometimes he would shake. I tried everything. I finally went to the dr. and he prescribed Miralax. you put it in 4 oz of juice or water. As much as I hate using prescriptions for ANYTHING, I was desperate and It has helped a lot. He has had huge, loose diapers and he isen't having a hard time anymore.
good luck

S.,

Try lots of liquid, yogurt, and bananas. My brother and his wife use them to help my niece when she is constipated.

J.

Let me say you are not alone....my daughter is 5 she pretty much had trained herself by age 2 and she has been that way since day 1.....she IS NOT constipated, i asked her doctor whom i told look this child can go 7-8 days and not have a BM, isnt this a little unhealthy, his opinion was so long as she isnt constipated or in pain that some kids just do that...
This is something that really gets on my nerves but believe me i've tried many ways to get her to go and its NO USE until she does it on her own....so don't worry either she will grow out of it or like my daughter who just turned 5 will still do it...

if you want to talk, email me anytime. ____@____.com

J.

Try benefiber in her juice or oatmeal. I also put it on peanutbutter sandwiches. You have to use it consistantly everyday. Benefiber has no taste and disolves in liquid. My son would not go either but this helped him get regular. It took a long time. A bowel movement is one thing that children can control and I think that is what it is. Hope this helps.

Kids this young tend to do this based on the fact it's the one thing they can control. They cant control what they eat, but they can control if they eat it. They have no control over bedtime, where they go, or anything in their lives. So sometimes a child withholds due to the ability that it's something they can control. It could be due to one of two things I think. If there are set boundaries, and you enforce them. She could see it as it's something you can't control and she can. Therefore, she has control of something and you have none like she experiences. Or it could be, if lots of changes have occured(ie change daycare, you going from not working to having a job, a move, etc) she could see it has either she's trying to control something in her life or she wants you to have attention specially directed to her if there's a lot going on.

Good Morning S.
I don't believe I remember anyone going through a refusal for that long when I was in a stay-at-home moms organization Years ago. But a high school friend of mine had a child (20 years ago) that had constipation terribly. I realize this is not the case with your child, but my concern is the outcome of not releasing it.

My friends child was probably 6 months when this extreme constipation happened. He ended up having nerve damage inside the bowel wall to the extent that he could not control his bowel movements as he got older. He literally had to be told to sit on the stool at certain times of the day or he would have accidents... we are talking grade school age, thus causing emotional problems as well. He was able to get himself on a schedule and is doing fine as a young man now.

All I know is to urge you to speak with a pediatrician about this possible loss of nerve sensation. I had never heard of this problem her child experienced and have never since... so I felt I should share that info with you. It doesn't sound like that is a problem in your child's case, but I'd still ask a Dr.

Good luck to you.
K.

Talk to your pediatrician. This sounds like a rather common psychological issue that I face with both of my children. The children seem to fear having a bowel movement and so they hold it in...then it gets more and more uncomfortable, and the cycle continues. In my case, our doctor prescribed a mild laxative (not a suppository) for temporary use, and provided some direction to help modify schedules, diet, etc. that would help to correct the problem and allow me to wean the children off of the laxative.