Sunday, December 02, 2007

he's full of ... well, you know

We're going on day ... 40 maybe? ... of a poop strike.

Our eldest has decided that he isn't going to go poop. At least not without a fight. The expression that crosses his face several times a day might lead one to believe that he is creating a huge poop masterpiece. But upon examination of his diaper, all that is visible is a small skid mark. Evidence that the poop daylighted, but only for a moment before being violently withdrawn in to the bowels of my child.

This morning, after watching him struggle after eating a huge breakfast, Charlie plopped him on the potty despite his desperate cries. Five minutes later, the prize was a poop no larger than a quarter. Since that time, I've watched him stand in the corner in apparent distress, on his tippy toes, with a bright red face and a blanket shoved in his mouth.

He will vehemently tell me, "I NOT GO POO-POO!" And he means it. It's his choice alone to refuse the poop and he will exercise that right.

Usually he's got control. Until he is standing in our bath tub and the diaper that catches the poop before it rebounds, is absent. Or, there is so much mass that has accumulated he doesn't have the capacity to store it all. But he sure does try. Doctor Arnold Kegel himself would be impressed.

Little does he know, the spoonful of Hershey's chocolate syrup he just ingested was 75% laxative. I plan to continue this regiment until he realizes that his resistance to poop is futile.

Because although he may not give a sh*t about how pooping is a good thing and will improve his life considerably, I do. I'm his mom. And I care. But mostly, I'm tired of looking at him grunt and groan.

16 comments:

  1. Good for you giving him a laxative. The kid needs to poo!

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  2. I remember my brother being taken to the hospital twice when he was little for refusing to poop for extended amounts of time. Those trips, NOT PRETTY! The laxative idea is brilliant.

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  3. Oh my.... I can only guess what the next post about this strike will be full of.

    -Debbie

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  4. His tummy must be as hard as a rock!

    This reminds me of an A&E program where prisoners swallow papers with important information on them and then refuse to poop for weeks on end.

    That's what I call control!

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  5. Oh my! Well I hope he goes soon, for your sake and his. Thanks for visiting my blog. I didn't get a video with my Camera, but I've taken a few awesome pictures already. Stop back by soon. I plan on posting them in a day or so.

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  6. I heard about telling your child that his poop NEEDS and WANTS to come out and only he can help his poop get out of his body.

    This was you are working around the obvious control issue and you are giving him the "out" of "helping" his poo.

    I am sure this is too little too late since the laxative will no doubt work quickly. But maybe you can use it next time.

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  7. Laura: We've tried that. I told him that the poor poo-poo wants to come out and go for a swim in the potty and only he can do it. I also told him that if he doesn't go poo-poo, his tummy will hurt. Which, I'm sure it does, at this point. I've told him that he can go poo-poo in his diaper - or the potty, which ever he prefers. He just doesn't want to go. AT ALL. Whenever I bring it up, he'll say "I no go poo-poo. I NO push it out!!"

    I've given him the laxative 2X today and still ... nothing. I'm holding my breath (literally & figuratively) to see what tomorrow brings.

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  8. My brother did the exact same thing at this age. My mother did the laxative trick as well. It will do the trick, but you might have to give it a couple of days... and be prepared for possibly the biggest mess you've ever seen in your life. Poor kid. Poor mommy.

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  9. 40 days? Do you mean it literally? *40* days? Isn't that very very long to go without pooping? What does your doctor say?

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  10. I am beginning to think that ALL moms of 3 year olds talk about poop a whole lot! We tried no diaper all day yesterday and are going to try the rest of the week. At one point, my little guy brought me a rather lovely handful of POOP and said, "Here, you take it!" How lovely! I will survive, I hope.

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  11. Poor little dude! Prune juice? Glycerin suppository?

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  12. omg, poor you. poor baby. that's an astonishing record, however. not one that i envy either. ick.

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  13. My older gal once went 8 days. Her legs were shaking she was trying so hard to hold it in. My ped told me to give her half a capful of Miralax in her juice one time per day--for at least a month until the cycle starts to even out. It completely dissolves and is tasteless. She's now a pooping champ, reveling in the big ones. Oh, and the Baby Lax liquid suppositories (stick it in and squirt it out) are much better than the bullet glycerin ones. We had to use that, too! Good luck!

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  14. A skid mark?

    That's awesome writing! You definitely know how to appeal to the senses.

    Think of the number of people who get to shake their belly buttons in front of acomputer, thanks to you!

    Love, Aunt Susie

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  15. Hi Jenna—
    Sounds like the makings of encropresis to me. Our son was like that for a while and we finally asked our pediatrician what to do. She prescribed two things for him: a one time enema to get rid of the dehydrated “plug of poop” in the rectum that neither a laxative nor a stool softener would address. Then an oral stool softener to be taken once a day until he re-learned that pooping didn’t have to be painful. She said that many times kids hold it because it hurts to go. The laxatives give them cramps and cause them to go often; which are two things about pooping kids don’t like. Conversely, the stool softener just makes it easier, not painful, to go when nature calls. It took our boy about two months to get back to normal with the whole thing.

    Good luck!
    Michelle McKeig

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  16. I am crying. Tears streaming down my face. I have never read anything so funny in my whole life. Maybe its because my son isn't pooping at the moment either. I love your blog. You are an amazing writer.

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