X-Rays offer definitive proof a child is constipated and can be helpful.
1. Extra-large poops.
- This is the top sign!
2. Firm poops.
- Poop should be a pile of mush like pudding or frozen yogurt, not a log or rabbit pellets. These signifies that your child is constipated!
3. Poop accidents.
4. Bedwetting and pee accidents.
- Virtually all kids with enuresis, daytime, or night-time, are chronically constipated.
5. Recurrent UTIs.
- Chronic UTI’s are caused by the double whammy of holding pee and holding poop. A child who withholds poop harbours extra infection-causing bacteria in the rectum, an organ that is not designed to store poop.
- The rectum’s job is to sense stool is there and to signal that information to the brain. If a child ignores these signals and starts storing poop, the infection causing bacteria venture too close to the outside world.
- These bacteria colonize the perineum (the area between the vagina and anus) and eventually the bladder. The less often the child pees, the more opportunity for the offending bacteria to crawl up to the bladder. Antibiotics will clear up an infection but will not prevent a recurrence.
- The way to make it hard for the offending bacteria to journey to the bladder is to fully treat constipation.
6. Frequent and/or urgent peeing.
7. Infrequent pooping.
- Kids should poop a pile of mush every day.
8. Pooping more than twice a day.
- Extremely frequent pooping means the child’s rectum is stretched and lacks the tone to fully evacuate.
9. Belly pain.
- Children who frequently complain about stomach-aches usually turn out to be constipated.
10. Skid marks or itchy anus.
- Skid marks indicate is that he/she is not fully emptying. A kid who frequently scratches his/her bottom is also not fully emptying.
11. Super loose poop.
- Runny poop may be all that can ooze around the large, hard rectal clog.
12. Continued troubled potty training or hiding to poop in diapers.
- Sure, it can take a few weeks or even a few months for a child to get potty training down.
- However, if a child continues to struggle, that means one of two things:
- The child is not mature enough or
- The child is constipated.
- Toilet training a constipated kid is an exercise in futility.
- Also, when kids hide to poop, it is not because they are shy; it is because they are in pain.