Bowel Cleanout for Kids: Your Guide To Know Why, When, What to Expect, and What To Do After by the Constipation Gurus
If you have a constipated kid, you’ve probably wondered, “isn’t there a way to clean out all the poop and start over?” You’re probably frustrated and upset seeing your child have a painful, distended stomach. And they’re refusing to poop, which makes it worse. Maybe you’ve heard about a bowel cleanout and have many questions about it.
In our work with constipated children, we use bowel cleanouts frequently. We understand that doing a cleanout sounds scary, but it doesn’t have to be.
That’s why we want to explain exactly what a bowel cleanout is, why to do it, when to do it, and more.
Why Do a Bowel Cleanout?
When your child is constipated and withholding their poop, a couple of things happen. First, poop builds up in the rectum. The rectum stretches out to hold the poop. The poop in the rectum dries out, hardens, and is difficult and painful to pass.
Second, as more poop builds up, it leaks around the poop being held in the rectum. This new poop is softer because it has more water in it, making it easy to move around the dried poop. It’s like having a pitcher with ice in it. When you add tea to the pitcher, the tea moves around the ice cubes.
Each time your child eats, their body creates more poop which then packs more stool into the large intestine. This backup causes your child’s stomach to become distended and painful. Even when your child does poop, there might not be relief from the bloating and pain because there is so much stool in there, he/she can’t get it all out in one sitting. This is where a bowel cleanout comes in.
Why Do a Bowel Cleanout?
When your child has withheld poop for a while, and their stomach is distended and painful, it may be time for a cleanout. A cleanout is exactly what it sounds like — a time to clean out all the built-up poop in the rectum and large intestine.
There are a few strategies for when to do a bowel cleanout with your child.
One is when you start a new daily bowel management program to help your child’s body recover from constipation. You’ll start working on getting the rectum to return to its normal size.
Another is if your child has started withholding and is having stool accidents or has pooped in their pants again. A cleanout gives a “fresh start” to re-establish the program.
If your child has pee accidents during the day, they could be constipated. While pee accidents don’t seem related to constipation, they are. We often see children in our practice because of pee accidents, only to uncover that constipation is the underlying problem. We recommend a bowel cleanout to stop pee accidents and to start addressing constipation.
Our goal is for kids to not need frequent cleanouts. With the right daily maintenance plan, your child shouldn’t need multiple cleanouts
Bowel cleanouts shouldn’t be used regularly because that isn’t fixing the underlying issues of the child’s withholding and constipation. Allowing the child to be constipated and doing a cleanout regularly doesn’t allow the rectum to return to its normal size and will only continue to exacerbate withholding and constipation.
Timing of a Bowel Cleanout
We strongly recommend taking a minimum of two to three days for the first bowel cleanout. It may take longer or shorter depending on your child and the severity of their constipation. Some children may finish their cleanout in two days; in others, it may take four days.
We also recommend doing it when you and your child are at home. Being in a familiar place and bathroom will help make your child feel comfortable. Let’s be honest — they’re going to be pooping A LOT. Giving them access to their most familiar bathroom will help make the process easier for you both.
What to Expect During a Bowel Cleanout
We aren’t going to provide steps for doing a bowel cleanout here. We find that working with each parent and child to develop a program specifically for them is best (more about how to work with us below).
In general, you can expect the process to be messy. Your child is going to be pooping a lot. Sometimes they may not make it to the bathroom in time. There will be accidents and more laundry.
You can talk with your child about what they can expect. Let them know that if they have an accident, it’s ok. You could also get some special books for them to have while they’re in the bathroom.
At the end of a cleanout, you’re looking for their stool to be more like a liquid and light brown or lemonade color without any chunks or pieces passing through.
What to Do After a Bowel Cleanout
Once your child is cleaned out, you can help them notice the benefits of the cleanout. Is their tummy less distended? Does their tummy hurt less? Is having a bowel movement easier and less painful?
Once the cleanout is done, you can start implementing, or re-starting, a daily bowel routine. For example, be sure your child is drinking plenty of fluids, eating enough fiber, and using a daily supplement for bowel management, if necessary.
Adding in or re-starting probiotics and including pre-biotics in their day also helps keep constipation from returning.
We know that getting your child’s constipation and withholding resolved can be complex. That’s why we’re here to help.
Want Help?
From our years of working with constipated children and their parents, we’ve developed the Constipation Solution Package. When you purchase this package, you’ll go from not knowing what to do to help your child to having an actionable plan you’re confident you and your child can do.
Since every child is different, we’ll work with you to develop a personalized plan for your child. Included with each plan is a 45-minute session with Jessica, our dietitian, and Annette, our pediatric pelvic floor specialist. In this session, we’ll talk through the issues your child is having and develop a plan to start recovery.
You also get to choose whether to have one or two 30-minute follow-up sessions where you can check in and get more support for you and your child.
Our Poop Boot Camp is included in the Constipation Solution Package. So, you’ll have additional information on treating your child’s constipation and withholding.
As a part of Poop Boot Camp, you’ll become a member of our Facebook group with other parents dealing with the same issues as you and your child. It’s a safe place to talk about what’s going on with others who get it.
Working with us and using the information in the Poop Boot Camp means a bowel cleanout will become a thing of the past.
Once you purchase the package and the number of follow-ups you want, you’ll be sent to a scheduling page, and you can make your first appointment. Easy peasy!
If you’ve already purchased our Poop Boot Camp, you get a credit toward the package price. Just email us, and we’ll send you the code to use when checking out.
