Encopresis and constipation in kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does she not know it's happening? I don't understand.

There is no feeling of urgency to poop. The poop seeps out because the rectum is full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do a search under the infant toddler and preschooler forum. There are several threads on this and I’ve commented on them a lot about my then 4yo.

Stick with the miralax for now and push liquids. I wouldn’t recommend enemas. Watch the poo in you video if you haven’t already with your 6yo. Miralax didn’t work that well for my kid but ex lax squares under advisement of pediatric GI worked really well. It can take several months or a year or more to get things under control. See if the GI office has cancellations and can get you in sooner. Consider having her wear a pull up for now so you’re not dealing with dirty underwear. Remind yourself that it’s out of her control as she’s likely lost the sensation related to bowel movements.

I just posted above. My 7 year old had been on miralax for years and now we are switching to daily exlax. How long has your four year old been on exlax? My worry is that my DD will have daily pain from the exlax and that we will not be able to wean her off the exlax. GI basically recommended a two day clean out and then 3 squares of exlax a day for a period of a year.

He’s been on it for a year now but took months to get to the right amount. No pain really from the ex lax outside of some cramping when we would initially increase the dose. Trying to wean him down now but no luck so far. But he’s regular with bowel movements now so I’m happy. He needed 5 squares a day but all kids are different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do a search under the infant toddler and preschooler forum. There are several threads on this and I’ve commented on them a lot about my then 4yo.

Stick with the miralax for now and push liquids. I wouldn’t recommend enemas. Watch the poo in you video if you haven’t already with your 6yo. Miralax didn’t work that well for my kid but ex lax squares under advisement of pediatric GI worked really well. It can take several months or a year or more to get things under control. See if the GI office has cancellations and can get you in sooner. Consider having her wear a pull up for now so you’re not dealing with dirty underwear. Remind yourself that it’s out of her control as she’s likely lost the sensation related to bowel movements.

I just posted above. My 7 year old had been on miralax for years and now we are switching to daily exlax. How long has your four year old been on exlax? My worry is that my DD will have daily pain from the exlax and that we will not be able to wean her off the exlax. GI basically recommended a two day clean out and then 3 squares of exlax a day for a period of a year.

Is the Exlax something you need to be home to do? She won't have a full day at home for two weeks and I don't want her having diarrhea at camp. - op

No- you give the ex lax in the evening and there should be bowel movements in the morning (12-14 hrs after dose). The clean out required a day at home though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ducolax works really well and there’s a fast acting chewable variety.

Agree that Dulcolax works well. I also feel like it does cause diarrhea in my kid.

[Anonymous]

this video is helpful for explaining to kids why constipation causes encopresis/the risks of holding it in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgBj7Mc_4sc

[Anonymous]

We eventually had to take my kid off miralax - there was no more "mass" after clean out, but it was softening his stool so much it was actually leading to more accidents. We took him off for a week and they almost entirely stopped.

We did go through relapses after viral illnesses though. Anything that upset his system in general would lead to more accidents for a bit. We expect that now, give miralax and a laxative for a short time, and get off it as soon as we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We eventually had to take my kid off miralax - there was no more "mass" after clean out, but it was softening his stool so much it was actually leading to more accidents. We took him off for a week and they almost entirely stopped.

We did go through relapses after viral illnesses though. Anything that upset his system in general would lead to more accidents for a bit. We expect that now, give miralax and a laxative for a short time, and get off it as soon as we can.

Going through this now. How does a relapse occur? I don't think my son is constipated right now (but obviously I could be wrong)-- but he is having accidents.

[Anonymous]

This is a great video for parents to watch with kids with encopresis to understand it: https://youtu.be/SgBj7Mc_4sc?si=90NAmDLDCLpgPC-n

The problem is that the constipation stretches out the rectum and it takes months to regain its shape. If you stop Miralax without making sure kid has gone a long while with daily poops, they will relapse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We eventually had to take my kid off miralax - there was no more "mass" after clean out, but it was softening his stool so much it was actually leading to more accidents. We took him off for a week and they almost entirely stopped.

We did go through relapses after viral illnesses though. Anything that upset his system in general would lead to more accidents for a bit. We expect that now, give miralax and a laxative for a short time, and get off it as soon as we can.

Going through this now. How does a relapse occur? I don't think my son is constipated right now (but obviously I could be wrong)-- but he is having accidents.

How old is your son? Our son is having the same problem.