In Reply to: Re: 7 year old withholding bowel movements posted by Mary on December 03, 2000 at 11:53:02:

: : Hi! I have a 7 year old son who I guess you could say has never caught on to popping in the toilet..He will pee on his own it is just the pooping thing...When I put him on the toilet he seems to be pushing but tells me he can't...This has been an on going on as far as I can remember..I have been to about four different doctors for this and no one seems to want to help..It seems that he my son has no feeling or urge to go..He will hold it and mess in his pants now I do not mean a full bowel movement in his pants but I want soiling like leaking...For a while he would go but only when I put him on the toilet he would never go on his own never telling me he has to go...I thought he would eventually catch on and go on his own..But that never happened..Now here we are again with him withholding his stools..I have an appointment to see the Dr on Monday morning again and after looking up constipation I came across a term called encopresis which seems to fit my son..cronic constipation..So instead of asking for help I am going to tell them what is wrong with my son only after a few hours of searching the internetand i can tell you the reason for this and them who have degrees and never once even told me a name for this or told me that my son is cronically constipated..I know for a fact he is not doing this o purpose..And it is not behavioral or something in his head.. Is there anyone else with a child who has this who can give me some helpful words of support..And tell me my son can be helped.and that there is help there.Thanks

: There are tons of parents with this problem and in fact a couple of them posted here days ago about this. Instead of "telling" your doctor what you son has use the approach of "I've been doing some reasearch on Ecopresis and this sounds very much like what my son could have. Is this a possible cause of his bowel problems?" You sound like your doctor has been rather vague about your sons problem and are not really happy with the care and treatment of your son. If this is the case then it may also be time to think about switching Doctors for you son

Hi, I also have a 9 year old son, who has been through several doctors. I was told between the ages of 2 and 6 that he was lactose intolorant, so I kept him away from dairy, and feed him lactose meds, but he still "soiled". On repeated doctor visits, I was told he must be getting lactose that I wasn't aware off! Then - when he entered 1st grade the school nurse said he had to have a note from the doctor to say he couldn't have dairy. A diffrent doctor said there was nothing in his records indicating he was lactose intolorant, and to give him dairy!!! After stomach pains, he was given an x-ray, which showed he had cronic constipation. He was put on mineral Oil, 2 tbl spns per day for 1 year, he still soiled, and leaked oil, it was horid. Finaly I got to see a specialist, a pediatric gastroentrologist. He said many children have this disorder, and unfortunatly because it's not something parents talk about, he dosn't usually get to see the kids untill they are teenagers, and by then their rectol nerves are shot,(not to mention their self confidence) and they have to take medication for life. My son was taken into hospital to be "cleaned out" and now takes Milk of Magnesia to prevent further blockages, he is much more out going, and doing alot better at school. I hope you push your doctor for an x-ray, or my friends son was given colored rings to swallow, and then x-rayed two weeks later (they were still there). The sooner you get the blockage cleared the less nerve damage there will be.