Toddler scared of pooing

[Bayliss1]

My dd is 20 months old and has been suffering terribly with constipation. She would scream and cry when trying to poo which was obviously very upsetting! We tried to help by increasing her fibre and liquid intake but to no avail! We took dd to the doctors and she has been prescribed Movicol which has had the desired effect and made her poo very soft. However the problem now is that she is even more scared of pooing and the mere mention of the word upsets her. When she poos, it's everywhere!!! She tries to cover herself up and cries, screams and squirms all over the place making changing her nappy an horrendous task!!
Does anyone have any similar experiences or advice please?

My dd found it difficult and upsetting to poo for months and months at a similar age. Then she became noticeably uncomfortable in her bum in the evenings so we took her to the doc thinking it might be worms. We gave her some worm medicine and the discomfort cleared up. It was only maybe a week later that we realised her pooing wasn't bothering her any more either.

I have no advice but am in the same boat with 21mo dd. She has always tended towards being constipated, but it's got worse in the last couple of months as I think she's been trying to hold it in as well (and really won't drink enough, and is refusing most fruit except apples, and they have to be skinned... aaargh!). She hates having her nappy changed when she's pooed as well, and since about 15 months has only pooed at home and only when no-one's watching (she'll go and hide somewhere and gets very distressed if interrupted) She's been started on lactulose which seems to be helping. Before that we were spending whole days of her whining and screaming intermittently, walking like john wayne and standing in strange positions, and walking round saying 'poo poo!' in a v sad voice... I'm dreading that we're going to have massive poo issues when we come to potty training.

The other day I bought her a book called 'peek-a-poo' (I know, I know!) which has a mouse peeking in other animals' nappies to see their poo (there are quite realistic drawings of poo in the nappies), very random but it had good reviews and I thought it might help her think about poo and see that it's normal. I thought it was going to be a non-starter as dd slammed it shut after the first couple of pages and tried to put it back in the envelope it was delivered in... but later the same day she picked it up and brought it to me to read and now wants it read several times a day. Don't know if it's going to help with the poo issues but worth a try!

We had the same with our DD at about this age. I don't know what exactly brought her out of it but this is what we tried.

1. lots of drinks, this was the age we started swapping water for no sugar juice, obviously water is better but DD didn't like it enough to drink enough. 2)lots of fruit - grapes were good!
2. not making a big "thing" of it when she did need to go but was holding it - just bide your time and try not to let it show that it's an issue
3. Praise her up when she does go
4. Try to get her to understand that everyone does it and it's OK - we'd tell her if we were doing one (tmi - sorry) watch animals doing it (farm trip?), younger siblings etc.

That's all I can remember; hopefully now it doesn't actually hurt your DD (Movicol should've sorted that) so if you don't make too much of a fuss about it she will forget that pooing ever hurt or was something she didn't like.

good luck - it is v distressing I know

Thank you for sharing your experiences! It helps to know we aren't alone!!

Dd is pooing twice a day still but the Movicol has certainly stopped any pain. Think we just need to not make a big issue of it all and give her praise and encouragement. I think she just needs time to adjust to the change (i.e pooing without pain!!!).
Thanks again