Why Won't My Daughter Poop

I know you wrote about this problem quite a long time ago now, but I figured that maybe I could still give some advice.

Everything you wrote fits my daughter to a T all except the jaundice part, as she never had that. She has been constipated pretty much since the day she was born, and everyone including her doctors told me that she would just grow out of it...she's 5 now and she still has issues with pooping, but we're on the right track to fixing the problem.

I understand what you're going through, but if your daughter has the same problem as mine, all the stickers in the world won't fix it, nor will yelling or other forms of discipline. My daughter got so bad that one time three weeks went by before she had a bowl movement, so I took her (yet again) to see the doctor. That doctor referred us to see a gastrointerologist because she thought Kaetlyn might have hirshsprungs disease/syndrome, which is a condition in which part of the rectum is "dead" and doesn't work to push any sort of BM out. Well she was wrong, but the GI did diagnose her with Anormal rectal incoordination. Basically, since the day she was born, she was constipated ( for no known reason) and her body never learned to coordinate when it came to pushing out BM. So it just builds up and builds up, and her belly gets distended and then finally the BM just pushes itself out. When she would finally go, it was extremely painful.

Her doctor did say she would outgrow it, but also said she could be nearly 15 years old before she learned how to coordinate all the muscles involved in having a BM. But we of course didn't want to wait until she was 15 before she was using the bathroom without problems, so her doc suggested that we admit her to the hospital and cleanse her system. So we did that. She was admitted into the children's ward in Chappel Hill, and spent 5 days getting her system cleansed. And now she's on a very strict high fiber diet, and also taking myrolax on a daily basis. and it's working. We have had some setbacks, in which she'll start "seeping" poop again, and i know it's usually because she's not getting enough exercise or got a little too lenient on her diet. We really ahve to be strict on her diet and make sure she's moving around a lot, because getting constipated again could set her back to the point that she would have to be admitted to the hospital again. But the point is that my little girl that was pooping only once or twice a month is going at least three times a week now, and improving. I hope this helps, and that you are able to find relief for your daughter soon!

i just wanted to reply and let you know that you are not alone.

my daughter is also 6 and has been - on and off now for a couple of years - going through a similiar situation as yours.

She often feels horrible that she is soiling her panties- which most have to be thrown away- and is spending so much time in the bathroom.  All of the wipes and time - down the toilet.  It's so sad to see so much time spent messing around with poop.

She's a smart girl.  She knows what she's doing.  When she does poop, her bowel movements are huge!  They started becoming painful and this is when she runs into problems. 

I've taken her to the doctor.  They said to give her a laxative to clean her totally out (stay at home for a day or two), and the doctor also said that if it's not taken care of now that it could become worse or turn into irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).  My little girl has a milk intolerance, so she drinks soy milk, but also loves her ice cream and cheese sticks.  So to help her out, we limit these treats and give her a stool softener.

 Good luck, let me know your progress.  Hang in there!  It's actually nice for me to know that we are not alone!

My daughter is 7 yrs old and she also holds in her poop . Shes been doing this since she was three. And I undersyand about the poops as big as her arm! I am just blown away when I see it I wonder how can she even poop that out?. But Im sorry that I dont have any answers for you, I'm in the same boat as you I've tried everything I wish I had an answer or reemendy on what would help or stop this behavior, I dont know if its just  that shes too lazy to go or shes to occupied whith her playing? I wish you luck your not alone.