# Toddler stool/poop withholding



## momofwitholder (Mar 20, 2012)

I wanted to share my experience in hopes that it will help some parents. My daughter started to withhold her poop about 6 months ago. It started when she had to be catheterized to rule out a UTI. It turned out she had a stomach bug. She had a large bowl that hurt her badly. At the same time, she saw her poop for the first time in her life and was horrified at the sight of it! I attribute her withholding to all 3 experiences. My normally once to twice a day pooper turned into a once every 3 days pooper. All I had to do was give her prune or pear juice and she would go. As time went on she got stronger and stronger that lots of water, no dairy, prunes (or any juice), fruits, fiber and vegetables were no longer working. She now would withhold a week at a time and the only way to make her go was to give her some sort of laxative. Eventually, Senakot and Milk of Magnesia stopped working...she even managed to withhold after giving her a glycerin suppository! I just want to make it clear that she was not constipated nor was she impacted...just extremely strong willed. She would cry and whine all day long when she felt the urge and would do everything in her power to hold it in. We were all miserable...many times I was in tears right along with her. She needed to forget the "trauma" she experienced and I read it could take 6 months to a year or even longer! I couldn't bear the thought of going through this for another day let alone months or years! We have tried everything under the sun. Miralax was prescribed and after a week and a half of an adult dose I took my daughter off of it since it was not working. I also read that it was basically an ingredient away from being antifreeze! I don't know how true this is but I made the decision to stop. I hear it has helped many through this ordeal. I found that raw honey and flaxseed oil were miracles. Unfortunately, my daughter started showing signs of an allergic reaction to flaxseed and so I stopped giving it to her. A good quality probiotic is a life changer for many...I highly recommend this be given to your child regardless...it is so healthy for their digestive systems. Finally, I went through many horrible and traumatizing nights of having to give her a suppository or enema that cause her much pain and misery. Those were by far the worst part of this experience. I decided that I never wanted to put her (or us) through that again in order to clean her out. I discovered something called "Mag07". I recommend that you do your own research and seek the advice of a Dr. It works differently than a laxative that draws water into the bowls or stimulates the intestinal muscles to contract. This type of Magnesium oxidizes the stool so that it comes out soft. It is 100% natural, pain free and non habit forming. I gave my child one capsule in apple sauce (or mashed banana) daily and after a couple days it cleaned her out. If I give her two in a day it cleans her out just like an enema or suppository. I am giving her a maintenance dose of 1 per day and she goes daily. It may take just half of a capsule for some or maybe 2 for others...it takes some figuring out. My daughter still struggles with withholding but in time she will forget her fear...especially now that she is going daily (in a pain free manner). My recommendations are: give your child lots of water, fruits and vegetables, limit dairy and bananas, try prunes and raw honey and a good quality probiotic. Next try the flaxseed oil since that worked wonders for us (before we realized she is allergic). If that doesn't work...Mag07 is your answer. Be patient, praise your child and reward them...this too shall pass!


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## Laelie (Feb 27, 2012)

Hi, I know this is an old thread but wondering if you can tell me where to buy mag07/ I am in australia.


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## momofwitholder (Mar 20, 2012)

I purchase mine from Amazon. Hope that helps!


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## luckiest (Apr 29, 2009)

I'm so glad this post got bumped! We're having the same issue with 19mo DS - he had a traumatic poo (was given a brownie and then didn't poop for 7 days despite our efforts to get him moving (we are GF and both times he's had gluten it has stopped him up horribly), then when he did go it was painful) and has been withholding since. It's so stressful and maddening to see him walk around on his toes, clench, do anything in his power to keep it in. Flax oil does help, but he still mostly nurses and doesn't eat a ton of solid food, so it's almost impossible to get him to take 2 tsp a day.

Off to research!


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