I've only had two truly horrifying moments as a parent thus far. The first was restraining Simon so Diana could give him medicine when he was sick. But the worst was seeing him standing in front of me, as a smile turned to a look of panic, a grunt, a cry, and a look in his eyes that communicated everything he couldn't say: "It hurts to poop."
Nothing about parenting causes me more anxiety than making sure that Simon grows up with good digestive health, because mine was so screwed up. I suffered from a condition called encopresis (I finally looked up the clinical term after almost 30 years). Basically, something causes you to not poop, so you hold it. Your colon stretches, dulling the nerves and causing liquid to seep out without you even realizing it. You shit your pants every day and only have a solid bowel movement every few weeks. The treatment, which I didn't start until I was 10, was to clean me out with mineral oil, and keep me cleaned out until my colon returned to a normal size and I could control it again. I still had accidents now and then, as late as grade seven. It's not good for your self esteem.
So what's the "something" that causes it? It's almost always psychological. I have no idea what my problem was, as one of the symptoms of the condition is for kids to block out the problem in the first place. I don't understand how my pediatrician could have possibly let it go that long before sending me to a gastroenterologist. It's more common in boys, and could be rooted in fear of public restrooms, performance anxiety and shame. And because it's about poop, people never want to talk about it, which is total bullshit.
Simon isn't quite a year old, so naturally I'm not worried that his recent constipation is indicative of a lifetime of issues, but given my own experience, you can bet that I'm hyper-aware of the impact that childhood events can have in the long run. Being diligent without being neurotic about stuff like this will be challenging.
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