Enemas and poop

There are many different methods and medications to get your child to poop.  Pooping is a big deal to a parent of a child with disabilities.

Our current regimen consists of senna twice a day, magnesium citrate every other day and an Adult Saline Enema (Generic) daily (also known as a fleet enema).  We also do manual stimulation.

Unfortunately insurance will not cover enemas.

We have found the best pricing at Smiths and Walmart (even better than online).  They run about $1.44 for a 2 pack of generic.  So that comes out to a little more than 70 cents per enema.  We will usually buy them out of their whole stock.  But they usually only stock about 5 packages at a time.

We used to do suppositories.  Our Special Care Dr. taught us that when you place the suppository you need to push it to the side so it is touching the person (inside of them).  This helps the suppository to melt and so it's not just randomly floating around inside them in a sea of poop.  And if you are using a suppository for medicinal benefits (such as tylenol suppositories) it allows the medication to absorb into the body because it is actually touching the body.

Manual stimulation is where the caregiver helps to stimulate the rectum into opening.  I would only do this if you have tried many other methods of getting them to poop.  It is gross and awkward...but has been really helpful for my daughter.  The child is placed on chux.  The child is rolled onto their side facing away from you so you can see their bum.  The caregiver puts gloves on.  The caregiver puts lube (KY) on their pointer finger and puts the finger into their rectum.  The caregiver bends their finger so it is running against the inside wall of the child's rectum.  Circle the rectum with the finger several times until you feel the rectum relax.  The poop will now come out freely once they have relaxed.  (At least this is the way it works for us.)  We learned this method from our Special Care Dr. (Comprehensive Care).  It is also called digital stimulation.  We now do manual stimulation every other day in order to stay on top of the poop train.

Do you have any poop tips and tricks?  Where do you buy your enemas?

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