New here - 8 year old soiling

Hi all.

I’m new to this site and came here looking for ideas and answers (and to hopefully feel like I’m not alone)!

My 8 year old son started having daytime wetting accidents in about July time and then has been soiling since August. Just recently he has told me that he used to hold on to his poo, which I guess explains how this started.

I spoke to a really unhelpful GP after visiting the Eric website - the GP basically said he didn’t want to hear about what I might have read on the internet 😳 and prescribed Laxido 2 sachets a day. He gave zero information about it.

Just before Christmas we got to the stage where the soiling was worse and I was really fed up of washing pants! I spoke to our school nursing team who pointed me at the ‘poo nurses’ video - and suddenly there was information about changing the dose. Why hadn’t the GP said I could alter the dose I’ll never know.

So we tried a bit less - then as that didn’t work we tried a bit more. I actually didn’t know which way to go and he had been complaining of tummy pain so I thought I’d try the gp again for some help. I’m thinking at this point that he might be impacted and that the gp would examine him - except they don’t want to do face to face appointments at the moment because of Covid. This gp said if he was still having poo in his pants maybe reduce the dose - but when I said but it’s not a lot of poo she said maybe increase it!

So it looks like we are making it up as we go along. I’m not sure whether we should try to do the disimpaction regime - any advice or suggestions on this or any other ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Mumbelfast]

Hi I have been through this with my son who is turning 10 . We seen a consultant and recommended impaction with movical or laxido first for 1 week . Start with 2 the first day 4 the second 6 third and so on. We went to 12 in a single day obviously spread out . His intestines needs to run clear and watery so staying at home is essential after this you give 2 at night before bed so his poo is easy to pass . My son takes 2 every night and will be on this until he grows out of it. We needed to do impaction twice before soiling stopped the bladder is really affected by constipation so observing everyday is essential adjust dosage when needed one sachet extra makes a difference when needed. I hope this helps 😀

[Teddy500]

Hi, I'm not an expert but it sounds like you need to do a full disimpaction, there are instructions on the ERIC website but you'll need lots of Movicol so your GP needs to agree to prescribe it, if they won't then insist on a referral to a bowel and bladder clinic or an incontinence nurse who will guide you through it. Afterwards you'll need to be on a maintenance dose for a long time and also think about if there's anything in his diet that you can change to help - plenty of water, veg, fig rolls instead of biscuits for example (sorry if this is saying things you already know) also a toilet sit after breakfast and tea helps (my son watches a 15 min YouTube video) and sits with his feet on a stool so his knees are slightly higher than his hips). Best wishes 🦋

[Hidden]

My own childs experience ended up with a diagnosis of salicylate and lectin sensitivity causing bowel and bladder problems.

[Lubo2009]

I would ask for a hospital referral sooner rather than later - in reflection I wish I had pushed for this sooner.

Also I found the Eric helpline helpful.

Good luck