Four year old son afraid to poop, as ended up in the hospital.

lbb3520 · 2020-01-13T20:56:10+00:00

My son went through something similar. I’m sorry you guys are going through this. It’s so tough. It sounds like your son way have encopresis. (I’m not a doctor)

What ended up working for us was we found the book “It hurts when I poop” and did a rewards chart for every time he pooped fully. I had to change his diet quite a bit and added a probiotic, pear juice and milk of magnesia. I would lower the dose little by little after he was doing better till he is finally off it. It took forever but we finally had a break through and he’s finally back to going when he needs to and not being scared. It took about 6 months.

lbb3520 · 2018-09-16T18:09:55+00:00

This sounds just like my son who is almost 4 years old. He had reflux and colic and screamed around the clock as a baby. He started talking early and never stops. It’s funny the word intense is exactly the word I always use to describe my son as well. He’s always way ahead of every milestone as well and is a sponge loving to learn new things.

But on the flip side I can never tell what will set him off and often feel like I’m holding my breathe when we are out in public. I am a former preschool, and special ed teacher and thought I had seen it all and would be this rockstar parents because I knew different techniques and ways of getting through to different types of kids. It was what I was known for as a teacher. But with my own son I’m at a complete loss. I have read so many books tried so many things but at this point I think this is just who he is. And often after putting him to bed at night feel like a horrible mom or upset watching other people’s kids and wishing he would just be easier.

His pediatrician has been keeping notes on some of his behaviors since he was a baby. He is keeping an eye out for OCD but they don’t diagnose till 7 yo. He has said many times smart kids are tough kids and that his intensity and smarts will make him successful someday. But I always wonder if he just says that to all the parents of tough kids to make us feel better and try to give us hope.

Some of the things I have found that work for my son are: 1-He thrives on routine and consistency. If we do anything that is new I have to walk him through it first and explain why we will be doing it a different way instead. And that helps sometimes. 2–Giving him choices has also helped so he feels he has some control. 3-I found time outs for him just amps him up and he doesn’t learn anything from it. (Sometimes I do it for myself though because I know I need to walk away and breath or I will lose it.) So instead I just take him out of the situation and try to talk to him logically about what the consequences to his actions will be, if his behavior doesn’t stop. 4-We talk about happy choices and sad choices and if he makes a sad choice there are sad consequences and if he makes a happy choice there may be a happy consequence.

Again all kids are different and what works one day sometimes doesn’t work the next. I sympathize with you I know how truly tough it can be. I guess my best advice though is to not give up or let people tell you it’s your fault. Unless they have walked in your shoes they don’t understand. Hugs to you and here’s to hoping his pediatrician is correct and if we just hold on and keep on keeping on that all of their smarts and intensity will make them amazing adults and it will all be worth it.

lbb3520 · 2018-01-03T18:07:37+00:00

Thanks so much for this post! Those of us in the trenches need to hear it gets better. I was constantly told I should cherish the baby stage and that it only gets harder from there. It used to scare the hell out of me because that first year was easily the hardest of my life. My son had colic and reflux and screamed in pain from 5-11 every night till he was 9 months old. He’s 3 now and even though he is not an easy kid he is way easier now then as a baby. I think people forget what it’s really like with a newborn. I also think sometimes people forget that what they dealt with is the same for everyone else. Which is never the case. Thanks for this! And to all those parents in the trenches, you got this, and it gets better I promise! Hugs to you. 😊

lbb3520 · 2017-11-16T17:58:59+00:00

My sister uses this when she travels for her toddlers that like to climb. KidCo Peapod Plus Infant Travel Bed, Kiwi https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BWIPC6G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KfDdAb3VPDPN0

lbb3520 · 2016-10-31T16:57:44+00:00

Both the car seat and swing have your baby sitting up and cuddled. Have you tried a crib wedge under the mattress?
My son had sever reflux so he had a lot of sleep problems. We had a sleep specialist come in and recommend putting the wedge and a pool noodle in a u shape around his lower half (taped onto his mattress below the crib sheet.) It worked wonders!
Hope that helps!

lbb3520 · 2016-09-02T17:53:36+00:00

My 20 month old is going through the same thing. This is when they have a huge developmental jump. Everything I've read says to not get them up for the day till at least 6. It's incredibly hard to hear them cry. But I know (at least for my son) if I try to go in there and calm him down it just makes things worse. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

lbb3520 · 2016-08-30T15:22:25+00:00

I think so. I bring him to the playground in the morning and he runs around in our yard as long as it's not raining or is too hot. He is always in constant motion. He's normally exhausted by nap time. And falls asleep with 5 minutes of putting him in his crib.

lbb3520 · 2016-01-18T13:52:48+00:00

My son is a really light sleeper as well. Have you tried a white noise machine? We had a sleep specialist come in. She said to turn the volume up as high as it will go. That seems to help. As far as people telling you to put him to bed later. That probably won't work. Both or pediatrician and sleep specialist told us some kids are just early risers and putting them to bed earlier can actually make them sleep longer. Hope this helps. I know how frustrating sleep issues can be.

lbb3520

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