Hi my daughter is 7 and has had constipation all her life but is now on maintenance Movicol. She does about 2 poos a month on a potty. We have been to North Stoke clinic who say we just have to wait but school want her to leave. Been turned down by the local constipation clinic and CAMHS. She does about 1 poo a week in her pants a school and 3 wees but the last few weeks she is doing 3 poos a week. I think she has a large bowel as poos are really big even when they are soft.
Looking for a private consultant or clinic to help even considering going to Advice please.
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Cupcakes789
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Hi Cupcakes789. I have been in the same position myself, and tbh getting this sorted with consultants is not an easy step- they don't really want to know unless the child is much older or has other conditions causing the poo problems.
I found managing the school situation myself was the answer, Having my daughter wear suitable underwear particularly at school and when out and about, also found that movicol / laxatives could also contribute to messy poo accidents so tended only to use when absolutely necessary. My DD was a withholder from potty training up till 11 yrs old and occasionally after that, often getting constipated from withholding. She refused to sit on the toilet at home when constipated or withholding but would sit on a potty chair in front of the TV,would not use school toilets except if absolute desperate for a wee.
My DD wore the special soiling pants available through Eric and other on line retailers or plastic pants over her knickers with another pair of pants over them. The plastic pants also reduced the smell She used to dirty her pants at school most days when constipated and doing a whole poo in them a couple of times a week when withholding but couldn't hold any more at school. I spoke to the school about her issues and they were able to allow her to use a toilet near the reception where an assistant would hand her the bag of things like wet wipes, spare pants etc and help her to empty her pants into the toilet and put the soiled pants into a zip lock bag to bring home. Teachers would ask her if she needed to leave the class or she would show a badge to indicate she needed to leave.
Hi thanks for your email. I hadn't thought that the special pants would cover the smell - is it just the plastic ones that do that? Do they show?
Really we want someone to take our opinions that she has a physical problem seriously as our local nhs won't even consider it despite the huge poos.
She has access to a very close toilet though it is too big for her to use but has a step. She has two bags of spare clothes etc but she can't self wipe well enough yet so someone has to help. The problem is she does she doesn't need to poo when she does and vice versa and she doesn't say when she has done a poo.This is why school are fed up.
What does she do with the badge? Hold it up when she has had an accident?
What underwear does your daughter currently wear ? The plastic pants I use on my DD just pull up over her knickers and I suppose by providing a barrier over her knickers helps to control smell as well as preventing poo accidents staining skirts / trousers etc. When she wears plastic pants to school she wears a pair of knickers or shorts over the top so the plastic pants aren't visible. I don't know if you have tried sit times on the toilet or potty but what I did is have my DD sit on the potty chair for a while before school. If she did a decent poo then she wore just ordinary knickers. If she didn't poo or was withholding /constipated when she got off the potty I would then put her the plastic pants on over her ordinary knickers and then shorts over the top.
The badge was an agreement with school, several children had them. DD just had to place the badge on the table where she was sat and when the assistant or teacher saw it they would excuse her from class.
It's a shame that your daughters school seem to have attached a stigma to your daughters accidents, it's really not helpful and alienates the child.
In our case there were a couple of the teachers - particularly phys ed who fully understood the issues, noticed that DD had a pattern in that when she was withholding would sit awkwardly and often at the lunch break would take herself away from her friends and fill her knickers. They could then ask DD if she needed to change which as everything was contained was only her underware.
If you go down the plastic pants route buy them on the Internet, the ones sold in chemists shops etc are hard and crinkly and are not discrete. On line there are some very soft ones that. Make no noise, do not irritate and last well. If possible Don't wash them in the washing machine, wash by hand using gentle soap. I don't throw dirty knickers or plastic pants away - they all get washed.
Hi L. thanks for your advice. Are these the type of plastic pants you mean? I have ordered some of the Eric ones as well and similar from Amazon. We have a meeting at school on Monday. Bit worried!
Hi yes those are the sort of plastic pants I use on my daughter. Stay positive and focussed during your school meeting. When I had my meeting with school I took this approach- " this is a medical issue,I am trying to manage the problem with the resources available whilst ensuring my child attends regularly. I reminded them that they would not discriminate against a child with for example a hearing problem or a mental health issue and that You and your daughter are not letting this bowel / poo issue affect her education" and I asked them -why are the school taking detrimental action to daughters well being and education..
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