5 year old won't poo

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Im not sure which topic this should be on but here goes......
My 5 1/2 year old daughter goes through periods (maybe every two months) where she refuses to poo. I give her childrens laxatives, orange juice, olive oil, the works, eventually after a couple of days she has a massive but of diarrhea and it's all sunshine again.
However, before that point, she will be doing tiny poos in the loo, wiping and wiping to get the rest of it off her bottom, skid marks in pants etc. she is scared that the poo will be massive and will hurt. I understand where she is coming from but really, nothing helps, until it just comes out of its own accord!
Hoping someone has some help / advice on this...... It has been going on for two years now!

It's a cycle, they won't poop so get constipated. The constipation causes the skid marks and tiny poops. As she's constipated it's going to be uncomfortable when she goes as it will be hard so it makes the constipation worse. I imagine the laxatives are not helping as it's not giving her bowel to opportunity to sort itself out by itself.
I'd start again. Olive oil really doesn't taste very nice. Try a soft pear and a fig, these work well. Make sure she has plenty to drink as well. She needs plenty of fibre in her diet so brown bread/wholewheat pasta etc. It may be wise to seek help from the school nurse as she will have knowledge of this. You can get her to contact you via the school reception, you don't need to explain to the school what this is about. Hope this helps.

Hi, her diet is now super fibre - beans, wholewheat everything, so much ripe fruit you wouldn't believe it. She eats loads of dried fruit, and when she does go, usually it very very soft, she can go two months like this, then it's more a mental thing, she decides she won't. She gets afraid of going. And won't. Sometimes I can bribe her into it, and it's ok, she realizes it wasn't sore and everything goes back to normal, sometime have to resort to the oj /olive oil /sena approach which just makes her.

you need to see GP

lots of dried fruit and masses of fibre aren't really the best thing for a constipated child

Please consult your GP, tell them what you have written in your posts here, don't hang about because constipation can be an ongoing problem throughout early childhood, with concomitant social problems

fab website here

Definitely see your GP. My daughter went through something a bit similar but would never poo except in a nappy (aged 3) and was frequently constipated and in lots of pain, grumpiness and unhappy. She was prescribed Movicol. Also try books if you haven't already; Everyone Poos, Poo goes to Pooland (NHS booklet you can buy from ERIC) etc.

hi,, thanks for the help and advice, she has now gone, no problem - she decided that was it I suppose. Its not really a physical problem, she is not constipated but she gets afraid. I have already spoken to GP, and prescribing movicol isnt really the answer.... hey ho...

We used to buy in a stash of "prizes" for poos as ds had the same problem. Had a whole tin of them in the end. We also used to read a couple of books to him while he was sat on the loo, give him chocolate milk - but only for while he was sat on the loo, dh would play a game on his mobile which he could watch if he was sat on the loo etc.... (The longer he was on the loo the greater his chances of success was our experience.) Got to the point where he really wasn't bothered about rewards for doing poos.

Hi there! We are having the same problems with our 5 year old. What was the outcome with yours? It's been going on for ages and, like you, movicol isn't the answer because it isn't physical, it's mental. Many thanks, Heidi

Just to jump in, we have had c. 3 years of this problem with our DD. In honesty Movicol has been the only answer for us - she was intentionally holding on and refusing to go, so Movicol at the right dose basically forced her to go, pretty much every day. The usual dose is 1 sachet, but for a long time she was on 2 or more a day - you have a to get the dose right. Then in time the habit of holding on fades gradually, but it takes a long time if it's really become a reflex for them.

Thanks for that. We tried Movicol for18 months and she still wouldn't go, it was coming out in her knickers but she didn't care. We've still got a few sachets but am reluctant to try it again.will have a think about it. Thank you x

Did you give her enough? On one sachet a day it did nothing for our DD. I'm not sure where in the country you are but I did loads of research at the time and there's a chap called Dr Anthony Cohn who specialises in this (lucky guy!!) - he's written a book but also does consultations in North London. Maybe you just need a tailored approach to help your DD, we certainly did. Also there is a free advice line through the charity ERIC who also deal with these problems. Either way, I know how stressful it can be, but there is some good advice out there if you seek it out! Good luck x