Is MOP too aggressive for our situation?
I have one kid with a history of chronic constipation that started when she was a baby, and I've always closely monitored her pooping habits. I actually became aware of Dr. Hodges and MOP several years ago when I was looking for guidance on potty training her. But shockingly (to me), this post isn't about her. It's about my 5.5 year old, whom I have never thought of as constipated in his life...until now.
He potty trained easily at 3, with daily spontaneous poops that were reasonably soft and big. No accidents that I can really remember. He's also not even close to being dry at night, but my understanding was that it was normal to take much longer for that to happen (my daughter was night trained within a couple months of being daytime trained, but that always seemed the most abnormal).
Four weeks ago, he suddenly had multiple poop accidents in one week. It seemed like he just wasn't making it to the toilet in time, and they were all very soft and sticky and hard to clean up. I thought maybe it was some kind of mild illness and waited it out. Since then, he's had 1-2 poop accidents per week, bad enough that we've needed to throw away several pairs of underwear. Also around the same time, we started dealing with him waking up from a leaking pull-up several times a week (we've tried going both up and down a size, to no avail).
My understanding is that encopresis technically can't be diagnosed unless it's been going on for 3 months. But he starts kindergarten in a couple weeks and I've been stressed about this happening at school. Doctor recommended a Míralax cleanout, and I went down the rabbit hole and ended up buying the MOP protocol book. According to Dr. Hodges, both the poop accidents and the overnight peeing can (only) be explained by rectal backup. He also says if you catch it younger/earlier it is easier to resolve, and might not require the most aggressive versions of MOP.
So I decided to go ahead with it. We got some Pedia-Lax LGS because we're familiar with it from using it a few times with our older child. Gave it to him tonight, and it was quick and easy (his only complaint was that it made his tummy hurt right before he pooped). Some stuff came out, but not a ton. And I'm suddenly feeling a bit daunted by the thought of doing this for...months, and wondering if I am moving too fast? Is it overly aggressive to do MOP at this point, and should I be waiting longer to see if he actually continues to have accidents...? (Most recent one was two days ago.) Would welcome perspective or feedback.