The Reason We Have a Kitten Is Because I'm So Sick of Poop!

Let's talk about poop. I know, everyone poops, right? There's even a book called, Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi. But, I am sick of dealing with poop. Apparently a common side effect of having ADHD and potty training is not being able to use the toilet consistently. So, although my daughter has been potty trained for quite some time, she has always struggled with pooping.

I blame myself, because I pushed her to potty train - but, the reality is that children with ADHD often struggle with potty training and she is no exception to this. She really struggles to end a task that she is engaged with and move to a less pleasant task like going to the toilet. So we've been through the addition of Miralax, Pedia-lax, prune juice, an increase in fruits and vegetables, and she still fought constipation.

We've been seeing the GI specialists since she was 3 - and for five years it didn't get a whole lot better. In June, I agreed to see the child psych clinic at the University of Iowa. Three visits later, we have a plan that is working - and a kitten.

I was desperate and a long-term bribe seemed like the way to go - so we set a goal of sitting on the toilet and attempting to poop to earn a trip to the animal shelter to pick out a kitten. I started out with a simple, achievable goal - one that already was happening - she had to sit on the toilet when she woke up and she would earn a check mark toward the addition of a kitten. The next two weeks would add in an additional time where she needed to sit on the toilet, and the last week would have a third time where she needed to sit on the toilet, but the resistance was strong! She is extremely stubborn - and she DID NOT WANT TO SIT ON THE TOILET. But she really wanted a kitten, and even that was not enough to get her to sit on the toilet consistently.

At our second child psych visit, the child psychologist showed us an enhanced toilet training technique: hold in your poop, play for 2 minutes, push out for 2 minutes. She also encouraged us to really focus on sitting on the toilet after dinner - since this is when our brain will most likely want to release the excess waste. It required a lot of my attention. It required coaxing, coaching, and being extremely positive about all of my daughter's attempts. But it worked!

In two weeks, one of extreme illness on my part, my daughter has only had one accident where she pooped her pants - and has not been constipated since she's pooped nearly everyday. I know that most parents of eight-year-olds do not have to worry about their child still having poop accidents, but if you are struggling with your child who has ADHD and using the toilet - please know that you're not alone and there is hope.