My 8-year-old son has had a j-pouch for about 1.5 years. He's in second grade and has mentioned that some kids make fun of his "bathroom noises". Any ideas of how to minimize the noise???

I hope you mean minimize the noise of the other kids!!
Sorry, I have no advice on the noise of this and I'm sorry your son is suffering thru this.

"Bathroom humor" is pretty normal for boys at this age (I have 2 and sometimes I wonder if they ever really outgrow it....) but I'm sure his difference makes it more likey he's the "butt" of the joke. I'm sure all he's been thru to get to where he is now also makes him much more sensitive. Anyway you can help him find a good humerous "comeback" that will help him shut the other kids up?
I have nothing but admiration for your son and wish him nothing but health and happiness!

I can sympathize with your son - I was 13 when I got my j-pouch and junior high isn't exactly a friendly place either. And don't expect the other kids to outgrow bathroom humor anytime soon. I think I was the only kid my age who DIDN'T think bathroom humor was funny - devestating really.
My only suggestion for masking the noise other than the whole flushing trick is to untilize the hand dryers (if there are any). Hitting them all before walking into a stall gives you a decent amount of cover time, and being a kid, he can really get away with it Its not so cool at 28
I also became quite a good bathroom stalker or camper if you will. The trick is to start the lookout for an empty restroom long before the "urge" becomes "urgent" this way you have pleanty of time. I also played the "medical condition" card A LOT while I was in school choosing to go during class and miss 5 mintues instead of using the bathroom in between classes. If the teachers and principle are made aware I think you'll find they are quite cooperative. I never once got asked "why didn't you do that between classes??"

I wish I had a no fail trick to share, but I don't. I'm sure, being a guy too he's already feeling self-consious about using the stall so much. I think he's a pretty tough kid though to have been through so much at his age.

I wish him good luck in his bathroom camping

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katie

You might want to email Connie (Thomas' mom). I think Thomas went through this. I can't remember what exactly he did but I think I recall that Connie talked with school personnel and Thomas was allowed to use faculty restrooms. You might want to talk with school officials about this. Hopefully they would have enough sense not to make a big deal out of it and make your son feel worse.

I just wish these little guys/gals didn't have to ALSO go through this.

kathy

I taught 7-8 year olds for 4 years, so I'm trying to think of what I would have done as a teacher. I'm sure I would have tried to bring understanding/compassion to the other boys, and coming from a man it might have worked.

I think one mistake a lot of teachers make is not talking about things openly for fear of further embarrasing the child. And I suppose that could happen. However, it's been my experience at that age that the teacher discussing things openly (if the situation brings it up, that is) and showing love/acceptance will help the other kids be more understanding. Not talking about it brings shame, in my opinion.

Another tact: you ladies with husbands/brothers should know that a lot of guys overcome such embarrasment by taking "pride" in their farts/noise. I'm not sure you could convince an 8 year old that he could take pride/brag about the fact that he is the loudest one in the bathroom, but if he bought into that idea he could probably move the other boys past it.

Tell your son I would have loved to have him in my class, and that I think he's got a talent he can be proud of :-)

It's hard enough for adults to deal with disease and getting healthy, I couldn't imagine being a child and having to deal with it- not to mention being the parent of that child. You are strong!!

I'm not sure there is much one can do to quiet the noise, but I am in school to be a teacher and I do think schools will make accomodations for him to use a private restroom or use the bathroom at off times. Especially because most schools stress their anti-bully policy, they try to be sensitive to a child's needs.

As for talking to the other boys...
The problem is until age 10-12, children have a really hard time with empathy (more selfish beings). So someone could try explaining the situation to the other kids but you can't be sure they would understand.

I have 2 older brothers and guy friends and I agree with the whole males taking pride in their gas making ability- bathroom humor!

Thank you all so much for your responses! I have a few tactics to consider now . . . including looking through joke books!

My son is 13. He uses the staff bathrooms. They are private. The staff complains at times because he is camping in their bathroom, but he can't help it.

Melinda