Toiletting issues

Hello, my son is nearly 4 and having assessments for ASD. He was fully toilet trained by 22 months, and had no signs of ASD at this point. His ASD symptoms began at around 2.5 years, and have been gradually getting more and more profound. About a year ago, we started having problems with toiletting. He just will not (or cannot?) tell anyone when he needs to go anymore. He will just hold on and hold on for hours and hours until he eventually has an accident. I don't usually let it get to this point at home, as I can tell when he needs a wee, so I take him to the loo, but at school he just constantly wets himself, and refuses to go when told. He has also become TERRIFED of going for a poo. He will hold on for days, and eventually ends up in such pain and discomfort, that I take him to sit on the loo. He then cries and screams until he manages to go. At school he has had some soiling accidents and he refuses to go with anyone except myself. He is not constipated by the way, simply holding on to it! This is becoming a major issue as it is taking over our life, and school are constantly moaning at me about it, as they just don't know how to deal with it. Has anyone else had similar issues with their children, and any advice would be really helpful.

Parents
  • My son is exactly the same and has been holding in his poo since he was a toddler. The longest he held it in for was 7 days, when he did go he would scream in pain so the cycle starte dagain. After years of fighting the doctors, I managed to get some real support from the local community nurses who are actually trained to deal with kids & continence. They even spoke to the school after they complained about having to deal with any accidents.

    He was put on Movicol and we had to basically clean out his bowels so they were clean & empty to start again. He now has 1 movicol every day to make sure his poo is too soft to hold in. We still have dirty undies sometimes as he tries to hold it in, but for the majority of the time he does go to the toilet.

    I found a reward chart helps as well. If he poos every day on the toilet he gets a treat at the end of the week.

    Speak to your doctor again and try and get the children's community nurses involved. Speak to a Health Visitor as well if the doctor is no help.

    Good Luck, I really do know what you are going through 

Reply
  • My son is exactly the same and has been holding in his poo since he was a toddler. The longest he held it in for was 7 days, when he did go he would scream in pain so the cycle starte dagain. After years of fighting the doctors, I managed to get some real support from the local community nurses who are actually trained to deal with kids & continence. They even spoke to the school after they complained about having to deal with any accidents.

    He was put on Movicol and we had to basically clean out his bowels so they were clean & empty to start again. He now has 1 movicol every day to make sure his poo is too soft to hold in. We still have dirty undies sometimes as he tries to hold it in, but for the majority of the time he does go to the toilet.

    I found a reward chart helps as well. If he poos every day on the toilet he gets a treat at the end of the week.

    Speak to your doctor again and try and get the children's community nurses involved. Speak to a Health Visitor as well if the doctor is no help.

    Good Luck, I really do know what you are going through 

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