One word: OXYPOWDER. It will liquify the poo and clean it out. It's used extensively with autistic kids, who often have constipation due to the gut damage that goes along with autism.

Or you could give him that green shit everyone drinks before a colonoscopy. He won't need to shit for a week after that stuff finishes with him.

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Number One . . . I order you to take a number two.

Are you feeding the boy? If put nothying in, nothing will come out.

If your son is really becoming emotionally distraught and continues not to produce any bowel movements, you might eventually need to schedule with a specialist. I agree with Motherload about the dietary stuff, but I'd also add that I'd encourage the boy to get physically active. Take him for a jog or play a game in the back yard that involves lots of running, jumping, etc.
Sorry to suggest this, but if the kid is only "constipated" for a week and has already been taken to see medical professionals three times, you might be unnecessarily alarming him and overreacting. Stool softeners and an enema, all in one week? And you're surprised he's a bit gun shy about taking a crap?
Maybe something else is going on here. Do you yourself have a history of difficulties with bowel movements or your approach to things relating to them? Just wondering. Don't take it as an accusation, but I get the feeling you might be communicating some hysteria to the child that isn't helping the situation.

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Please, no more cracks about my ass.

Three tried and true remedies to get things moving are: mineral oil, castor oil, or cod liver oil. Your son will cringe at the taste of this stuff, but should be as regular as a Swiss watch.
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A man who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

I can second Motherload's recommendation of Activia to attempt to restore bowel regularity. If this situation continues to be chronic, however, I'm wondering if an examination of diet and exercise might be in order, as some other posters have mentioned.

CaCa Doodle Doo (5) -- 11.20.2006
One word: OXYPOWDER.

And, if Billy Mays is telling the truth, it will get your whites whiter than any bleach can.

Please, please, please, tell me you didn't just call Willie Mays "Billy".... dear God, forgive her.

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Please, no more cracks about my ass.

Do you not watch television? Billy. Billy Mays.

If he's only been constipated a week, give it a rest. You probably scared the kid poopless by taking him to the doctor three times in 7 days.

When my oldest, who is also 4, gets constipated, I give her a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of blueberries for breakfast. We avoid all meat and give her a lot of prune juice throughout the day. She also gets a quarter of a Fiber Choice tablet a day until the problem is gone. It might take another couple days to get things moving, but it's important not to scare your child so that he doesn't hold it in on purpose. Just relax, don't even bring the topic up and discretely monitor his bathroom usage.

He's already pooped a bit this week.
If he doesn't poop at all in another week or if he poops an insignificant amount in the next 1 and a half to 2 weeks, then go take him to a doctor for a more thorough examination.

I remember my brother having constipation issues up until he was about 6 or 7 years old. So did my husband's brother...both cases were pretty much due to picky eating and a hatred for veggies. Does your son eat fruits and vegetables? If not, you may want to make him a special "smoothie" made of pureed strawberries, spinach, melon, ice, a little milk, a drizzle of honey, and a handful of blueberries. Blend that up and give it to him. He'll never know it's fruits and veggies in disguise. My mom also gave my brother enemas (which TERRIFIED him, btw) and prunes.
My sis and I never had any "issues" mostly due to the fact that we were virtual fruit and veggie vacuums when we were kids...my dad couldn't keep produce around us at all, we'd eat it up. I'm telling you...fiber, water, and physical activity should be all the laxative any kid really needs.

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An apple a day keeps the ExLax away!

Come to my next stand up gig.If I can't scare the shit out of him no one can.Come and get some comic relief.

Best of luck, Kathy. As just about every experienced pooper here knows, I had serious trouble with my daughter, "Thing Two" because she had salmonella, and this in turn ripped her little insides up so much she became a "constipated non-pooper"

Putting prune juice in her drinks, giving her cholase, milk of magnesia, and feeding her things like applesauce and fruit helped tremendously.

However, the first few months were still full of times that she held it in. It took a bit of time for her to get over the fear. Revamping the diet will be the most important thing you can do along with supporting him and not making light of how much he may be afraid.

There were turds that came out of my kid that were almost as big as an adults's at first, and it was so hard to get through for both of us. Don't give up and remember to tell you kid "this will not last forever". For some reason, kids do lose sight of this fact.

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.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com

Michael Richards (not verified) -- 11.20.2006
Come to my next stand up gig.If I can't scare the shit out of him no one can.Come and get some comic relief.

OMG. I didn't read the by-line first, and didn't get it. So funny. Will we all understand the Michael Richards reference when this thread is archived?

Going to the doctor three times in a week would scare me out of pooping, too. You're probably putting the poor kid's mind through hell, not to mentioning scarring him for life and making him scared of pooping and doctors.

A week is nothing to be that paranoid over. I have noticed that a lot of people go nuts if they don't make a BM every day, and it's completely ridiculous. Just give it some time. I myself have been bunged up, but it all worked out in the end. I pooped, and everything was fine, and nobody got hurt. Stop worrying unless it lasts longer, and just let nature run its course.

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[Insert witty banter here]

My children loved the doctor because it's always been either
1.) a european road trip
2.) involved lunch out
3.) has been in a hospital with an escalator

They are so easy to please.

You know, I love those damned Things.

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.....hugging bunnies since 1969
www.daphneszoo.com

I had a love-hate relationship when I was a kid
L) Nice guy
L) Free candy
L) Time out of school
H) Shots and things hurt
H) Embarrassed to be examined
H) Nervousness with all the instruments
H) Being poked, felt, and prodded

It's easy now when I bring my dad with me. Talk for a few minutes, look at what matters, write me a damn prescription and get on to the next patient.

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[Insert witty banter here]

Note: My dad knows the doctors at the clinic really well and he works at the hospital. I got connections =)

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[Insert witty banter here]

Hmm, you might want to make sure he doesn't have what I had, or something along those lines, the "phobia."

I had it in a way that I just didn't like crapping so I held it in until I exploded. It's almost like hysteria of feces. Sounds like he has it worse, where he is scared of pooping. Telling him there's nothing to be afraid of will keep him away from years of suffering.

If that doesn't work, just keep loading him with the fiber, and have a mop at the ready.

Try MetaCleanse. It's all natural. I'd just cut the dosage in half for a child. It will add some fiber to your child's diet plus it has bentonite clay and flax to heal inside. Great stuff. I use it every day.

http://metacleanse.com/

Just give him a good squeeze.
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Sir SamDamnit!
The Emir of Crapistan
Join The Poop Reporter's Lounge

A wise comment was once made in a Disney movie,
Sung by the characters Jane and Michael Banks
"never give us castor oil or gruel, love as as a son and daughter and never smell of...." Castor oil has been known to work quite well but don't plan on going anywhere for a few hours but from what I understand it will clean out EVERYTHING. The same things that work for us may work too Coffee, and lots of chocolate, nothing like the HERSHEY SQUIRTS. And maybe he will learn to enjoy pooing if it means chocolate.

When he does make a big poop, never make any comments like, "oh, my, that's a big one," or "you clogged the toilet!" Even if you have to plunge, don't make any comments because a comment like that convinced me not to poop in my home toilet for 10 years of my childhood--I'm not exaggerating the number.

When I was about your sons age, I was always constipated. This went on for a few years. After a few overnight Hospital visits and many hours of sitting on the toilet with no results, they finally discovered that my stomach wasn't absorbing the nutrients from my food. That's why I'm so short. There's a name for this disease that escapes me now..but it might be something to look into. Just a thought.

Certainly increase his fruit/veggie intake, using every trick in the book to make them more palatable for him - but also use suppositories if he isn't "doing" for two or three days.

I have a 5 year old daughter who poops bigger than anything I've ever seen.If I give her prune juice everyday she's usually ok.

When I was ten years old I had one of the worst cases of constipation in my life! It was my first case of giganto log, which would plague me for years and make me a world famous toilet clogger in college (sometimes on purpose). Anyway, this constipation was so horrible that I spend three days home from school laying on my stomach because it hurt to press on my asshole. The only thing that freed my monsturd was a bowl of stewed prunes (which tasted like ass, but I was desperate).

I think kids under twelve sometimes get constipated this way because they forget to drink water. Then they go outside and play for hours on end and get dehydrated just enough to harden their stools. Things get compacted in there and suddenly... Well, your kid ends up like I did.

Remind your kids to drink water when they're active. And remember the stewed prunes!

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Born right the first time.