Encopresis

[imgoingtodisney]

Does anyone elses child deal with encopresis? How do you deal with this while traveling?

 

[dizzy4disney]

Our 8 year-old son has encopresis. We give him mineral oil on a daily basis so that he's not constipated. We will take lots of extra underwear and the flushable wipes. It's a frustrating problem, but we're all learning how to deal with it.

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

Although our 8 year old son has never been diagnosed with encopresis, I'm pretty sure, after researching his "problem", that it is what he has. He too has a daily dose of mineral oil, and we will be sure to bring it with us when we go to WDW. We just got back last week from a week camping and we forgot the mineral oil! DH (who doesn't yet seem to understand ) thought he would be ok without it, but I knew better and made a trip to the grocery store to pick it up. He seems fine while traveling as long as he gets his "medicine" and there is a restroom close by so he can use it if he needs to.

 

[mom42860]

My son has been living with this since 2nd grade (he is now in 5th). He no longer takes the mineral oil but we have to be vigilant about his bathroom time. He does well at home, and usually only has relapses when his routine changes. IE: when he visits his Dad for a week or if we go away for vacation. When we go to Disney I will schedule a bathroom break for him and insist he take it even if he says he doesn't need to. I also make sure I have extra underwear and moist towelettes. It is difficult because sometimes I think it is over and then I see the signs. I know it embarrasses him so we deal with episodes between the 2 of us (tho' my husband and oldest DD know about it). I found out thru' the school nurse & among friends that there are many boys who have this problem. Ours are very lucky because we know it is encopresis and can help. Some are not so lucky and live with shame and sometimes punishment for something they cannot help, how sad.

 

[js]

May I ask what this is. Both my children had to take Mineral Oil, Metamucil "cookies" and nectur juice on a regular basis since they would become quickly constipated and even had a terrible moment last Oct. at our hotel when we HAD to give my ds an ennima since he did not have a bowel movent in about a week and half even when we had given him a suppository.
Anyway, the comments about bringing extra underwear make me think this is something different. My ds-3 has grown out of this once he became potty trained (go figure), but we must keep on top of my dd-7 even to this day must ask her to go or she can not go for days at a time. Two years ago, she was admitted to the hospital since she began crying late at night that her side hurt her and we thought it was appendics but low and behold we weren't "monitoring" her and she didn't "go" for over two weeks. Anyway, we still have the monitor them but I just wanted to know. Thank you very much

 

[Tink]

I wanted to thank you for posting this. My daugter is only 2 1/2, but she has just gone through this constipation problem. Nothing was working. She is not potty trained yet, and I kept telling the doctor if she was constipated and it hurt she was going to have a tough time. Anyway, I tried the mineral oil and it worked like a charm. At first I though I was the only one with this sort of problem. Its good to know that Emily is not alone.

I was getting nervous since we leave next week and when we go away she usually gets irregular. I didn't want any major problems in WDW.

It is amazing what you can learn fro these boards!

 

[ceecee]

Yes, please tell me what this is exactly. My 5 year old has only been going to the bathroom (bowel movements) if I give her a child's laxative. The Dr. said more friut and juice (she drinks it all day!!!!!!!!!) They then said Phillips MO - which actually gags her when I force it down. Laxatives work for one time and she has pain with it. Is this common and shouldn't my Dr. be aware of this if it is????????Thanks for the help.

 

[dizzy4disney]

Here is a link I found that describes encopresis. This should answer your questions. Believe it or not, it is very common, but a lot of people don't talk about it. It is embarrassing for the child, but it's important to reassure your child that it is not his/her fault.


Encopresis

 

[mom42860]

Please forgive me if some of this text is taken from website info. I have gathered, and is not in my own words:

Encopresis is characterized by uncontrollable bowel movements resulting in soiled underwear. Usually occurring in boys*, usually starting in grade school. BUT it begins at a much younger age because a child is busy playing and does not want to stop for a bowel movement so they hold it all day. This results in it hurting when they go -which leads to more holding and more pain and the cycle begins. It becomes a real problem when a child goes to school because they do not want to use a strange bathroom. The rectum stretches and loses its feeling so the child does not feel the urge to go. So when they move, laugh, jump, etc. they have a movement in thier pants. The children really do not know they are having a movement.
There are some sources that say more *girls are being diagnosed, also younger children. But many Dr.s don't agree with this so do some online searching so you have info. to show the Dr.
The way to treat it is by a daily dose of mineral oil- check with your Dr. as to the dosage.
Also a laxative, (very difficult to deal with- I found Senakot (sp?) was good for us, just hated giving a daily dose).
And last a routine instituting a bathroom schedule. This gives the child a set time every day that they can and have to use the bathroom. Make it very comfortable for the child, give them a book to read, a toy, a snack, make them stay there for 10 minutes, give them lots of privacy!
This treatment can take a long time, but it took a long time to get to where they are so be patient.
There can be relapses, if a child becomes very immersed in something again and starts to hold again. Be vigilant like brushing thier teeth. Don't lose hope, it does get better.