hi, i am new to this board. i have a seven year old daughter who has mild cp. she was potty trained late, but is normally dry during the day. however, she is still wearing diapers at night and has adjusted herself to only having her bowel movements at night in her diaper. i have tried everything, including the doctor's advice of giving her fiber in the hopes that it would make her go more regular and in the morning. didn't work. she just still waited til night. she has occasionally had a bm in the toilet, and has been rewarded, etc., but it is not at all on a regular basis. i should also tell you that she weighed one pound, ten ounces at birth, (she was our foster child and we were blessed to be able to adopt her) so she was extremely premature. i am at a total loss. is this at all common with cp, or has anyone else dealt with this issue?? any and all help would be appreciated. we have tried everything we can think of, to no avail. thank you so much. kate
is this at all common with cp, or has anyone else dealt with this issue??
It is my understanding that this is very common for people with cp. My 7 year old daughter also has cp (ataxic) and we deal with terrible constipation. They say the inside muscles that help push things through are as affected as other muscles in the body. We have gone to a naturopath to help her as I didn't want her on Mirilax and such. It has helped a lot! Some of the things we do are strong probiotics, Vital C powder and magnesium. Fiber in the form of apple pectin can also be added if she doesn't eat her veggies good (like my dd!).
Its true, children with CP bowel problems are common. One OT told me floppy tummys make for a lazy bowel. Muscles in places you wouldn't expect are affected.
My son has one sachet of Movocol Paediatric a day. Keeps him completely regular, although we are struggling to train him. But he's still only 3 1/2.
thank you so much for the replies to my post. unfortunately, the problem with my daughter is not constipation....she is very regular and almost never constipated. the problem with her is that she has trained herself to only go at night when she has a diaper on. we did try the miralax to try and get her body to go in the morning as opposed to the night, but it didn't work at all. not quite sure what to do next. thank you again, casamom
I went through the same with my daughter now 11 years old. The issue was her fear of the high seat and of falling. in. It was resolved by getting a low down potty and rewards.
nope, other then to suggest not to push it and it will change with time and age. Often when kids notice that they are lagging behind other kids their age they are motivated to adjust.
My 11 year old still had accidents during the day. I don't know why, but I think that due to her CP she has a difficult time tightening the muscles needed to 'hold it in'.
She begged me 2 days ago to find out why she cannot control it like other girls since she doesnt want to have accidents "when I'm in 6th grade".
Maybe you have ideas for me?
i wish i had something to suggest for you. have you talked with a doctor about her muscles maybe not being strong enough to keep the urine in? it makes sense, with her having cp. i don't know who to turn to anymore to get some help with this. the next step they say would be a psychiatrist for my daughter, but i don't think that will help, so i'm not going to pursue that, at least not now. lately she has used the bathroom about half of the time. good luck, and let me know how things are going. kate
i agree with your approach. They usually grow out of these fears with age and maturity. Sending her to a psychiatrist may just create issues that dont currently exist.
thanks for your opinion on this and for talking to me about it. i wish you and your daughter well. right now i'm fighting her school to get an OT and PT in place, which they are required by law and her IEP to have, and so far, do not have. it's so frustrating, because she especially needs OT for her writing. sigh. good luck, kate
All I can think of is to persevere with making her sit on the toilet for 5-10 minutes each night to encourage the bowel movement. My daughter, recently has had a problem with her bowels and the doc suggested sitting 3 times a day on the toilet, about 15 minutes after each meal for 5-10 minutes to encourage it to come out. The doc said to put a step in front of the toilet so her feet are elevated and to sit back on the toilet. She now does and takes a book in with her. It has made a big difference. Although your daughter is not constipated the info may help to retrain your daughter to go at a different time?
thank you so much for your response. those are all good ideas that i will start using immediately. it makes a lot of sense....wonder why i didn't think of it???!!! lol. good luck with your daughter, and again, thanks! kate
They say the inside muscles that help push things through are as affected as other muscles in the body. We have gone to a naturopath to help her as I didn't want her on Mirilax and such. It has helped a lot! Some of the things we do are strong probiotics, Vital C powder and magnesium. Fiber in the form of apple pectin can also be added if she doesn't eat her veggies good (like my dd!). 
