Providing your family tools to help overcome toileting challenges
Pediatric pelvic floor therapy focuses on optimizing function
through functional play and realistic habit change, to help your child get pee and poop in the potty, keep their underwear clean and dry, and end the battle with constipation
Signs your child may benefit from pelvic floor therapy:
Bedwetting over the age of 5
Constipation
Toilet-clogging bowel movements
Issues emptying bladder or bowel completely
Urinary incontinence
Bowel incontinence
Recurrent urinary tract infections
Withholding
Urinary urgency
You find it hard to talk about and feel like you are alone.
Your child struggles with constipation, encoperesis, or poop leakage and it’s heartbreaking to see them struggle with the pain and discomfort.
You thought your child was potty trained but they are still having frequent pee accidents.
Your child is still struggling with bedwetting over age 5.
Your child leaks pee when they laugh or play outside with their friends.
Your child can’t seem to make it to the bathroom on time.
Your child doesn’t know when they are peeing or pooping.
These common challenges are not inevitable, and you are not alone
I believe in a head to toe approach looking at your child as a whole person, not just their pelvic floor symptoms, to get to the root cause, so that they can bloom.
A lot of what we do in therapy may look like play!
Functional play can address mobility, strength, posture, tension, breathing, coordination, balance, sensory regulation, and integration of reflexes to optimize bowel and bladder function.
Woven into treatment is education about how the body works, diet and hydration, breathing strategies, and toileting mechanics and strategies - in way that is age-appropriate, fun, and compassionate for you and your child.
The Root To Bloom Process:
Root
Evaluating all of the underlying factors that may be influencing your child’s symptoms. This is an ongoing process for 3-5 visits.
Tend
Addressing factors influencing your child’s symptoms, working towards a goal of symptom reduction.
Grow
Challenging your child’s body with new ways to move and gain strength, to be able to participate in all the activities that they love.
Bloom
Guiding self care to remain symptom free and thrive in life.
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The first appointment is a virtual session with a parent or guardian to discuss primary concerns, medical, developmental and social histories (family environment, school, diet and hydration, toileting habits, etc.), your goals for therapy, and what treatment may look like.
The second appointment is in-person with your child. This is where I get to know your child and hear their story and concerns from their perspective. I will look at range of motion, strength, breathing, coordination, and functional movements. If it is appropriate for the situation, and parent/guardian and child give consent, there may be an external pelvic floor examination.
I believe in a head-to-toe approach looking at your child as a whole person, not just their constipation or leaking.
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Treatment is individualized for every child and will involve some combination of the following:
Education and conversation for caregiver and child on the how the body works, diet and hydration, breathing strategies, toileting mechanics and strategies, and a home program of things to focus on.
A lot of what we do may just look like play! But it is functional play to address mobility, strength, posture, tension, breathing, coordination, balance, sensory regulation, and integration of reflexes to optimize bowel and bladder function.
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I primarily treat children aged 2 and up. However, if your infant or young toddler is experiencing bothersome symptoms, pelvic floor therapy may be appropriate. I do a 15min intake call with all new families, and can also provide additional occupational and physical therapy recommendations if I feel someone else would better meet your child's needs.
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No, in pediatrics there is not an internal pelvic floor muscle assessment.