Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Brad poops!

This post is gross, but it's for my records, so skip over it if hearing poop stories is not your idea of a good time. It may not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you it is HUGE! Bradley has had issues pooping for years! Which means, basically since he started eating solid foods. I use to have to help "deliver" his poop. I always felt like he was holding it. Many times I could tell when he would finally start pushing it out (which was usually when he just couldn't hold it any longer). I tried Miralax and then switched to flax seed hoping that would help. It really didn't. I always felt his issue wasn't constipation from diet, it was psychological, which turned physical because he would hold it for so long that he would constipate himself. As he got older, it just got worse. I could always tell when he needed to poop because he would sit down all hunched over. I would tell him, "stand up!" "let the poop" come out, but he would never do it. Why? Because he didn't want it to come out. Poor kid. It probably hurt when he would finally go which in some cases was days! Like 5 or 6! It was excruciating. Sometimes he would lay on the floor probably out of discomfort. Then when he started potty training and finally went in the toilet I thought maybe it would solve his issue. It didn't. He would randomly go, get a treat, be happy. But then go back to holding it every time he could. I can't tell you how many times I would catch him holding it, swoop him up and run him upstairs (sometimes when I was in mid-conversation with someone!) Most of the time he wouldn't push. Sometimes I would threaten to spank him if he didn't push which would temporarily get him to push it out, but it never fixed the problem. I know it sounds terrible, but trust me it's agonizing to watch your child hold it for days - you will resort to anything. When he would finally go, I would try to remind him how much better he felt, and every time he would promise me he would not hold it anymore. He would never keep the promise!

Then some time at the end of October, it finally clicked with him. I don't know how, it was certainly nothing different I did. He just all the sudden started going. Telling me he needed to go and then going! No problem! The kid went from pooping 1-2 times a week to every day or at least every other day! It is night and day! I don't have to stalk him anymore just wondering when he'll have the urge next. I don't stress when we are somewhere else. This kid is 100% potty trained and I am SOOOO grateful! It is the biggest weight off my shoulders! He tells me "now I can go to school!" One thing at a time Brad man!