How to help children control their bowel movements

Several tips to make this stage of parenting and education of the little ones easier.

Sphincter control occurs when urination and defecation behaviors are no longer a reflex behavior, but a voluntary and automatic one. to become a voluntary and automatic behavior. It is estimated that the average age to reach sphincter control is between two and three years old.

When these ages begin to approach and children are still not able to control their sphincters, it usually creates stressful situations in which caregivers start to worry, which can cause more stress in children and significantly hinder the process.

In this article we will review several tips that can be useful to help children to control the sphincters..

What does sphincter control consist of?

Specifically, the sphincter control is to dominate at will a Muscle that has the shape of a ring and that closes or opens and that closes or opens ducts in the body to allow us to discard some substances.

Becoming able to control the sphincters inside the anus and urethra is one of the behaviors that allow us to socialize. It is also a process that involves many factors, among which we find age, maturity and development of the child, as well as environmental factors that can bothas well as environmental factors that can either favor or hinder the process.

We say that a child has not acquired sphincter control when he or she is of a certain age or has been presented with some social demands (such as going to school), and continues to wet or soil clothes or use a diaper, during the day and/or during the night.

Why do some children reach sphincter control earlier than others?

At the outset it should be remembered that, although we have found certain patterns of behavior and child development, these patterns are not definitive: there is a great diversity in the processes we go through as human beings.There is great diversity in the processes we go through as human beings.

That is to say, it is completely normal that some children reach some behaviors before others, and if we want to specifically favor sphincter control we must start by taking it easy.

As we have seen, this is a process that depends on several things. Situations that produce tension, stress and anxiety are one of the factors that interfere in an important way. These stressful situations are usually strong changes, which can cause tension because at a young age it is difficult for children to recognize the rules of a new place and what they are expected to do.

Some examples of these changes are the arrival of a new sibling, starting a new school, the loss of a loved one and even a pet, among other similar events, and even parenting styles that tend to overprotection; although not all children react in the same way to any of these examples.

On the other hand, a child may take longer to control sphincters if he or she has a developmental condition that makes voluntary behaviors that causes voluntary behaviors to be achieved at a different rate. Likewise, the process may be influenced by infections or muscle pressure.

Tips to help children control their sphincters.

There are many ways to promote it, and sometimes it is much better to consult directly with a specialist who can guide the caregivers. and accompany stressful situations that children may be going through. Some of the most common strategies are reviewed below:

Encourage behaviors and habits related to self-care 2.

In addition to being a behavior, bowel and bladder control is a habit which means a step from dependence to independence.This in turn is accompanied by other habits that also allow socialization (such as dressing themselves, brushing their teeth, showering, communicating, etc.).

Therefore, if we intend to stimulate sphincter control, it is useful to also encourage other habits related to independence and self-care.

2. Modeling and preparing the space conditions

Modeling is one of the most popular strategies in cognitive-behavioral psychology and basically consists of serving as a model for another person to help him/her acquire a behavior. In this sense, the child must be taught how and where to urinate and defecate.. This can be done directly by adults, but we can also rely on didactic materials, such as stories.

It is also important to make sure that the children have a space adapted to their size, and to put them in clothes that they can easily take off. From then on, it is useful to gradually invite them to sit on the potty at specific times (just after meals, when waking up or before going to sleep); as well as to and to involve them in their own diaper change (e.g., by asking them to take (e.g. asking them to pick up clean diapers, wipes, clothes, etc.).

3. Do not pressure

It is necessary to keep in mind that boys and girls have different rhythms and that they assimilate situations in different ways. Conveying calm and reassurance is one of the most effective methods..

It is common that when the process begins there are periods of incontinence, in which we must avoid scolding them. In the same sense, we must keep in mind that they can first acquire daytime sphincter control, so we must be patient if during the night the process is slower.

In the same sense avoid comparisons such as "your brother controlled much earlier", or phrases such as "you're a meany".or phrases such as "you are a pisser", since this generates anguish and delays the process even more. If we want them to feel responsible for their own hygiene, it is not necessary to scold or punish them, we can do it in other ways.

For example, encouraging self-care and self-responsibility by teaching them to wash some clothes, or to put them in the washing machine themselves (or whatever is appropriate according to the conditions or lifestyles of each person). In any case, be understanding, transmit confidence and accompany them.

4. Use a logbook

Especially in the case of children who for physiological developmental reasons need more support to achieve sphincter control, it is very useful to keep a daily logbook where we write down the times at which the child urinates and defecates.

Keeping this record daily and in the weeks prior to the start of a special training program is very useful because it allows us to know the rhythms of the child, and thus anticipate and accompany the process.

5. Start a formal training program

In some cases it is necessary to have a formal training program.This can be started by removing the diaper from the child and putting it on half an hour after the child urinates or defecates (which is anticipated through the logbook explained above).

Then it is a matter of keeping the diaper on for an hour or two, and then taking it off again. This training requires above all a lot of patience and a lot of order on the part of the caregivers; especially if it is a child who has learning rhythms or adaptive behaviors that are considerably different from the rhythms we see in other children.

In this case it is especially advisable to seek formal guidance, because training varies according to the characteristics of the child and the caregivers.

6. Make sure that children have the basic knowledge.

Before starting a training program and before inviting them to use the potty, it is important to know if they have the body knowledge to use the potty, it is important to know whether they have basic body knowledgeBefore starting a potty training program and before inviting them to use the potty, it is important to know whether they have basic body knowledge, i.e., whether they have acquired notions related to the body schema (e.g., up, down, front, back).

We must also favor the recognition of key words such as toilet, diaper, dirty, clean, pee, urine, feces, urine, or those that are in their close context.

7. Help him/her to recognize when he/she is succeeding

It consists of the child associating the voluntary behavior (toilet training) with a pleasant and pleasant sensation. with a pleasurable and pleasant sensation. For this it is important to congratulate him/her or show him/her that we are happy that he/she has managed to use the potty properly.

The reward can be different for each child, but in any case, it is important not to overdo it. It is especially important to avoid that the child ends up associating the habit of going to the bathroom with material rewards (because they are rewards that surely cannot be sustained in the long term and that could generate other complications later on).