Encopresis Experts

Dear Dr. Steve:

Our 8 yr old son can be accident free with daily fiber, but then his stools are soooo large that he routinely needs to plunge or the toilet needs to be snaked. Where is the happy medium?

Signed, G

Hi G,

Our website, www.ucanpooptoo.com, includes general information about the signs and causes of encopresis, including the exceptionally large stools you describe. A recently published survey indicated pediatric care providers are likely to instruct families with constipation to increase fiber, eliminate ...

Click this post and listen to the special entire live discussion from our monthly Encopresis Expert online chat normally available exclusively to UCanPoopToo customers. Dr. Thorndike talks to parents about working with schools to help children with Encopresis.

Click below to listen!

Encopresis Expert: Working With Schools (Part 1)

Encopresis Expert: Working With Schools (Part 2)

Click this post and listen to an excerpt from our monthly Encopresis Expert online chat available to UCanPoopToo customers. Dr. Thorndike talks to parents about how to help children catch up on school work they miss while going to the bathroom.

Click below to listen!

How to help children catch up on school work they miss while going to the bathroom.

Click this post and listen to an excerpt from our monthly Encopresis Expert online chat available to UCanPoopToo customers. Dr. Thorndike talks to parents about working with schools on a 504 plan.

Click below to listen!

Working with schools on a 504 plan.

Effective treatment of encopresis relies on first successfully emptying or cleaning out the child’s colon.  As explained in more detail in the UCanPoopToo Medication Core, children can be cleaned out with enemas or medicines.  If you do not believe your child is cleaned out after following the steps highlighted in the Medication Core, you should talk to your doctor.  Once your child’s colon is cleaned out, taking regular daily medicine can help ensure that your child has soft, formed poops ...

Do your child’s legs reach the floor when they are sitting on the toilet?  If not, place a stool (or similar item) in front of the toilet so your child can easily rest his or her legs on its surface.  It’s hard for a child (or anyone for that matter) to keep the appropriate muscles relaxed when feet are dangling in the air.  Once the stool is in place, encourage your child to use this surface for gently resting their ...

When your child sits on the toilet, check to make sure they are not tightly wrapping their legs around the toilet. Children with encopresis need to keep their legs resting loosely on the floor or a stool. Wrapping legs around a toilet seat makes it impossible to keep the external anal sphincter relaxed during defecation. And that needs to happen for the bowel movement or poop to be successfully pushed out.

– Submitted by Frances Thorndike, Ph. D.

Recognize that encopresis is a real problem. In my clinical work, I found that most parents first hoped that their child would simply outgrow the problem, but in time, they realized that encopresis was a true medical problem that required intervention and help. Even physicians can under-treat the problem, failing to identify the importance of both medical management and behavioral training. Be sure to pursue both parts of getting your child help: learn about the medications that are used to ...