Potty Training Poopy Toddlers
Let me start by saying, I am not a potty training expert. What I can say is potty training (number two) did not come easy to my sweet boy.
Let's stroll down memory lane...
We started potty training my son when he turned 2. Our daycare encouraged us to start young, understandably because he'd age into a new daycare at 3 and most daycares require kids to be potty trained at 3.
Even before we tried potty training, he'd cross his legs to keep from pooping. I'm not sure when and how this started but we didn't realize this was a sign of constipation and fear of passing hard stools. When we did start potty training we had not addressed the withholding. We should have but we knew nothing as first-timers.
I remember potty training and holding my son on the potty (while he screamed) and forcing him to poop because he hadn't pooped in days. I look back and wish I'd known to be patient. Forcing him to do something that caused him so much fear and anxiety wasn't the fix. He wouldn't just not poop in the potty, he wouldn't even poop in a pullup.
We finally decided to let go a bit. He pooped in his pants 4-5 times a night for about a year.
What we tried:
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Occupational Therapy (OT). OT was described to me as helping with anything that that's a daily struggle. This was a daily struggle for our family. We were frustrated, my son was frustrated, and he was scared. We didn't know how to help him and hoped someone could help him learn to better control his emotions and frustrations. While this did help him learn to regulate his emotions we didn't see an improvement with potty training.
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Poopease Roller. I will say this was the only time I could maybe get a bowl movement out of him. If you have a child who doesn't struggle with the fear of pooping but does struggle with constipation, I would give it a shot.
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We did cleanouts that included Miralax. I'd read all the articles about Miralax and we finally decided to try it. What we didn't know is after the cleanout consistency is key. We did this and it helped for about a year. We thought we'd finally figured it out at age 4... until we experienced regression due to him going on antibiotics. And the pooping in pants resumed for about 9 months.
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PROBIOTICS. Let me start by saying we'd tried probiotics and it didn't work. I believe for a few reasons: (1). He just wasn't ready (2). We always tried them when he wasn't cleaned out (3). Use and consistency.
So let me tell you what we've found successful after THREE YEARS. First, your child has to be ready. Their brain has to be able to identify their body needs to go and they have to want to cooperate (interoception).
We began using Culturelle Kid Probiotic Powder every morning. Instead of giving him a full cap of Miralax in the morning, we gave him half a cap of Miralax in the evenings with dinner. One day I accidentally gave him two doses of the probiotic (one in the morning and one in the evening with no Miralax) and actually found this extremely effective! Come to find out, the pack says if they are in digestive distress they can have two doses of the probiotic.
We've been using the probiotic and half a cap of Miralax for about a month and have had the most success we've had. He is no longer pooping his pants and is actually recognizing and telling us when he has to go.
I can't believe I didn't mention this earlier in the post (sometimes it is so easy to forget) but I also prayed about the situation. As silly as it sounds this was hard on our family. I prayed about it with him and over him. We've been talking about going to multiple sources but forgetting our most powerful source, Jesus. He cares. Sometimes I feel silly and selfish for asking him to help with things that seem so small when other people are facing what seem to be mountains, but he cares! He wants you to bring him all the things so He can show you how dependent we should be on Him!