My 19 month old is holding in his bowel movements.?

Question

I don't know what to do. I try to get my son to sit on the potty and he gets scared. When he needs to poo he just stiffens his legs and holds it in. Then when two days have passed he will start to cry because he can't hold it in any longer and it's harder. I feed him with plenty of fiber and I give him the gerber yogurt drinks (it helped in the past) but now he doesn't seem to even try to allow himself to go.

Answer 1

This is normal.  I would suggest giving him some Miralax.  My 2 year old daughter can take this.  It is perfectly safe.  Only give about 1 tablespoon at first and see what happens.  He will go no matter what it will loosen him up and not make his tummy hurt either.  Be sure and talk with your Dr. first.  Mine loves this product and you can buy it at Wal-Mart.

Answer 2

Oh man that sucks! Maybe he is too scared of the toilet. I would talk to the doctor about how to help with that.

Answer 3

The fiber that you are giving him is great, but also be sure that he is getting lots of water, especially with this horrible summer heat.  Water helps lubricate the intestines so that stools can easily pass.  If he is dehydrated, even mildly, it can cause constipation.  If a child is constipated and it hurts to go, they can be fearful of the pain that they know will come with going potty, so therefore they will hold it in.  If dehydration isn't the issue, I would make an appointment with his doctor, just to be sure that there isn't some other underlying problem.

Also, I agree with some of the other posts that since every child is different, maybe he just isn't ready to go on the potty yet, but I kind of doubt that's the problem....I also had my oldest potty trained at 19 months, so I don't really think its too early.  However, with my son, for some reason the toilet really scared him, I never did figure out why.  Once we gave up trying to get him to use the big potty and got him a small training chair, everything went fine.  Or, you could get one of those little seats that goes on top of the big toilet seat so he won't feel like he's about to fall in.  They have them with all different characters on them, maybe you could let him help you pick one out, and he might think it's cool that he has a potty seat that is for no one else but him.

Answer 4

i agree with the previous answer, i also think 19 months might be a little too young... but i may be wrong, and also every child is different. i think you should first find out WHY he doesn't want his p**p to come out.. have you had negative attitudes towards his poops before, like saying yuck it smells, or it's yucky so it should come out, or anything like that? if that's the case, it's normal because he thinks it's yucky and he doesnt really want to deal with it... in this case you need to change his attitude towards the issue, let him know it's a normal porcess and it needs to come out so he has more space in his tummy to eat yummy things.

i hope i helped.

Answer 5

Reason with him. Tell him if he would just use the potty then he wouldn't be hurt when he can't go to the bathroom. 19 months is a little young for reasoning but try it anyway...what can it hurt?

Answer 6

Ever hear of laxatives ?

Answer 7

Surprisingly this is normal. It's a form of anxiety.  They see it as a part of them leaving.  You will start to see more of this anxiety the more the potty chair is being introduced.  Not to worry though it will get better.  The best thing you can do is talk calmly with him and explain that it's okay.  If you have a potty that sits on top the the toilet, let him flush the toilet and say goodbye to the p**p together.  Now if he starts to hold it for more then 3-5 days you will need to bring him into the PD for some stool softeners.

In response to others comments:  This does not signify that he is not ready to use the potty.  He just doesn't understand the process of his body yet.  I wouldn't recommend putting the potty away.  That could cause confusion in the child and could make it a little more difficult to introduce it at a later time.

Answer 8

Oh yuck. That is so gross. There is something wrong with him.

Answer 9

give him some prunes so he doesn't have a option,or you can wait until he is ready.

Answer 10

It's quite common for kids (and even some adults) to get into a "constipation cycle" where they get constipated for whatever reason, and when they finally do go it hurts a lot, so they don't want to go again, and they hold it in again until they can't hold it anymore, but then it hurts again, and it just repeats over and over.  Fiber is good.  So is making sure that he gets enough water.  You could also talk to your doctor about a stool softener or laxative that would be safe for him.  If you think he could understand, have a little talk with him about how it hurts to poo if we hold it in too long, but if we go poo right away when we first need to, then it doesn't hurt.  But just keep giving him the fiber and the yogurt drinks and lots of water, and he should be able to break out of the cycle eventually.  Good luck! :)

Answer 11

did he start to do this when you started sitting him on the potty? at 19 months old i would assume (might be incorrect but this is my opinion) he is a little young and could be scared of being on the potty. I think the best thing to do is to call the dr and find out if there is anything that can be done to stop him from doing so.