While the battle can be hard (pun intended) at times, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone would need assistance— either physically, verbally, or emotionally— when it comes to passing stool.
But, for some children, the struggle is indeed real. So much so that pooping is a process that involves much crying and reluctance from the child, and a tonne of headache and worry on the part of the parents.
Not knowing what to do, some parents resort to some pretty silly, but lovely, ways of helping things along such as…
Encourage it out
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An encouragement or two is always good for getting things done. But, if that doesn’t work then double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of encouragements! That’ll surely work, right?
Sing it out
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What better way to get the stool to make its exit than to sing it out right? We have great doubts that this method will work, but fret not, there’s always…
Shaking it out
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The same way we get sauces out of the bottle by shaking it up and down vigorously, surely jumping up and down will cause the stool to make its way out. Pure genius if you ask us.
Push along
Image via EUROKULTURE
What’s better than one person pushing? Two people doing it! After all, misery loves company, and it’s probably why some toilets have 2 toilet bowls.
Cough it out
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The squat and cough technique has long been used by officers to ensure criminals don’t hide contraband where the sun don’t shine. Perhaps this could work, but we reckon it’s not so good to have a child cough so much.
Those are just some of the things desperate parents resort to, but there’s more—here are testimonials of real-life parents on the things they have done to help their child poo…
Jab in the butt
“Previously, the doctor prescribed lactulose, but it takes quite a wait before my child can poop. Also, a few rounds to the clinic for a jab in the butt. I think this experience has made my lil girl pretty phobic to poo. Now, with the constant care of grandparents – making sure she gets lots of water and a good dose of fruits and vegies, her toilet trips are pretty frequent. In addition, to overcome the phobia, I'd get her to seat on the toilet with her favourite youtube shows and games.” – Marianne Aw
Laxative fruits
“Anxious, this word summarises a parent's feeling having to deal with a constipated child. I've frantically searched for a remedy, from laxative fruits to exercises, anything, everything that I could to help ease the discomfort of constipation. When my boy finally passed motion, with hard stools, he cried. As a mother, I felt so helpless and the guilt ate me up for not feeding my child right. I'm still searching for food and drinks that can help to prevent hard stools.” – Abby T
Drinking on the potty
“My little girl suffers at times from hard stool. Every time she wanted to go to do her business, she would cry and hold on to my hand tightly. It breaks my heart to see her in pain and crying. We've actually tried giving her water to drink while she sits on her potty, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.” – Irene Foo
Prune or dates juice
“I believe every parent can relate to this. I experienced this situation a few times until a friend of mine suggested I give my daughter a cup of prune or dates juice every time before meal. Constipation problem solved!” – Nurul Izza Mohd Yatim
All the stress, pain, and heartache on the part of the child and parent can be avoided.
Doing something as natural as going number 2 shouldn’t have to cause so much stress, pain, tears, and heartache on the part of both the child and the parent. So there you go, those are just some of the things that parents do to help their child poo.
Mamil is a growing up milk with 81mg of DHA a day, and a combination of Internationally Patented Prebiotics Oligosaccharide Mixture GOS/lcFOS (9:1).
The Internationally Patented Prebiotics Oligosaccharide Mixture GOS/lcFOS (9:1) promotes good bowel movement with softer stools.