Start ‘em early! Good bowel and bladder habits start with talking to your child about their habits. This makes this more ok for them to discuss and not feel ashamed about their bodies of how its functioning which is so important because later this could help you identify issues.
Constipation is a direct cause for close to 90% of the kiddos that are bed wetting after they have already been potty trained.
Are the bowels and bladder that closely related?
Absolutely! Think about all our organs living in a tiny house and when one is taking up so much room the others get squished and pushed out of the way. This is exactly what happens with bed wetting. When the kiddos finally relax and sleep, their bladder does an emergency evacuation for safety reasons! If their bladder is getting more full and not emptying during the day then the urine will back up into the kidneys and cause damage.
SO… the child that has a bed wetting issue is actually a GOOD thing for their body.
So talking to your children about how often they poop and pee during the day IS important. But another thing to be aware of is that just because they poop every day, does not mean they are not still constipated. Yikes, so how do we keep track of this. Poop and pee charts are amazing and you can make it fun!
The Bristol stool chart shows you the type of poop they have and they can choose what their poo looks like which will tell you so much about their hydration, fiber intake, and put them in power of their own bodies.
Speaking of hydration and fiber... we all should be taking in ½ our body weight in water per day and kiddos fiber serving is measured in the size of their hands. Talk to your doctor about what might be appropriate for your child and their age. And for those tough food critics out their try and sneak some fiber in with their “snack foods”.
If you are also wondering about your bowel habits with your own bladder issues… YES is the answer. Bowels will always directly effect your pelvic floor, bladder, and surrounding organs. So if you are constipated this can cause leakage, increased sensation of urge and frequency of urination, and feeling of incomplete bladder emptying. Straining to have bowel movements on a regular basis can weaken the pelvic floor, cause pain, and pelvic organ prolapse. So teach your kids by example and discuss these topics and see for yourself how much better you feel when you are pooping well!
Happy potty training!
