Movicol and potty training

[tired999]

My ds1 has just turned 2 and has been on 1/2 sachet of Movicol since Christmas. He has stopped hiding in cupboards when he needs a bm but will still only go when he's alone. He won't tell me when he has a dirty nappy and would sit in it all day. He has a tantrum every time he is changed.

A couple of weeks ago we ran out of Movicol and he didn't have it for 2 days. This resulted in him nipping it back for just over a week even though we'd given him extra to get the backlog shifted!

If we go out and he needs a poo he'll have a tantrum for hours until we get home and he can go into the conservatory or his bedroom to do his business. It's making going out very difficult, especially as I also have ds2 who is 7m.

I've tried to gently introduce a potty but he's just not interested but tobe honest I would just like him to tell me when he's got a dirty nappy instead of running away or denying it. The GP and Health Visitor have been no help at all and have only suggested bribery which hasn't worked at all.

Does anyone have a similar experience to this?

My dd was on movicol till she was just over 2 (i think it was 2 and 2 months) and then suddenly didnt need it anymore. So maybe not much longer to go.
He could still in discomfort and that's why is hiding. Have you thought of upping his dose?

If I upped the dose it would not be solid anymore. As it is it's very very soft. I think it's more psychological than uncomfortable.

Yes - dd was like you describe, sympathies, it is awful isn't it. Before movicol she could spend days hiding and crying and standing in funny poses trying not to poo, with movicol she still got distressed but couldn't hold it in so long. I was dreading potty training but actually it's been the answer for her, she came off movicol a couple of weeks ago and now poos perfectly normally. It was a complete surprise. She got wees first with no problem, but we had a couple of weeks of poos in pants... Then she just seemed to get it (with the help of chocolate bribery for the first few poos on the potty...). I can't believe the transformation still. So don't lose hope yet, hang in there with the movicol, try concentrating on wees in the potty first, when he's ready, and see what happens.

Watching as I have a DD with a similar problem - only she is now 3.4! We tried training her at just gone 2 but didn't get far as it was clear she wasn't ready (weeing all the time and by day 3 was distressed by the whole thing) so we stopped. We tried again when she was just coming up to 3 but really even now, after about 6 months of training, we are still stalled (she will wee/poo in her pants, cannot or will not go to the loo/potty on her own initiative) and I think it is because of the constipation issue. We have similar problems with days out and needing to be at home to do a poo. Really the issue for us has been compounded by trying to potty/toilet train her and the pressure has made her more likely to hold it in. She also hides to do a poo and will deny it. Having trained older DS successfully in a week at 2.10 with DD we are at a funny halfway house where she wears pull ups but I take her to the loo reasonably often and she does some wees there (but no poos in the loo for a long time now).

I appreciate my situation will not fill you with confidence! But from my experience I would say go very gently with it if he is still having physical problems. Even better, at just 2 I would say you could probably hold off training for longer and see if his constipation improves - there is probably still a psychological element at play here for him and if he can become more relaxed about the whole thing then potty training will be likely to be more successful. In your situation, I would probably not even begin introducing the potty until you feel his general attitude to poos is less bound up in stress?

I do think half a sachet may not be enough. My DD is two next month and on 1.5-2 sachets per day. The consultant told me that the consistency we're aiming for is like mushy peas or Angel Delight... in other words, not solid.

I have no idea about how such loose bowels would affect potty training, because I'm not quite there yet. She is also a nightmare when it comes to running away when she's pooed, not wanting nappy changed, happy to sit in it, etc. I figured that's normal.

Why is he so very private about pooing do you think? Do you think he's trying to withhold? Possibly not, since he seems to need to be in home surroundings before he can go (which is also pretty common, even with adults!).

Thank you everyone.

It's the psychological element that worries me as his poo is like chocolate mousse when on half a sachet. I have noo idea why he hides. He comes with both my husband and I when we go to the toilet, gives us the paper and flushes so seems to know how it should work.

The reason why I went to the GP recently was that he sometimes says naughty boy when he has a poo. We always praise him when he does go so I have no clue where this came from.

we have just had a few months of one of our twin girls withholding her poo. it has been really upsetting. i found this advice on another thread on mumsnet and I don't know if it's coincidence or not but it worked within a week and she is now pooing happily.

i had to share it in case it helps anyone else with this problem - i know how upsetting it is to see your little one so distressed trying to hold in a poo!.

The idea is and I'm just going to quote the other thread!, "examining the poo"(!) This basically meant that each time DD poo-ed (whether in nappy or potty) we had a good look at it to see what it was like, e.g. colour, consistency, etc., decided that we had no use for it, and disposed of it. I know it sounds totally weird, but the friend's point was that some kids reach a stage of consciousness where they know that something is coming out of their body and that have some control over it, but they are not sure what it is and can therefore get anxious about "losing" it, particularly if this coincides with moving from the "comfort" of nappies to the potty. I was extremely skeptical when she suggested it, but, as she pointed out, for as long as they wear a nappy they hardly ever see it as it gets whipped away while they lie waiting for the new nappy. So .... we spent about a week "examining the poo" in nappies and on the potty and, while I don't think it greatly enriched my life, DD found it fascinating and we have had no problems since! "

I hope this helps anyone else going through this.
Good luck! x

Hi there. My ds1 is now 4.9yo and has been on laxatives since he was 4 months old. He is on Dulcolax now, not movicol, but has been on huge doses of most things in the past. We've had problems with impaction in the past, but that has improved and over time his laxative doses have been gradually reduced as he no longer needs as much. He wasn't toilet trained (by-passed the potty as he was never interested in it) until nearly 3yo, but once he managed to pee "in the big toilet!" he picked it up very easily. Loose motions haven't really made toilet training harder - although it is a bit tricky now he is older and trying to wipe himself, especially since he is also on iron medication, as his poos are stickier than most children's. There is really no rush to potty train, so if he isn't very interested can you just leave it for a while? Completely ignore his odd behaviours when he does poos and when you notice he has a dirty nappy just say "yay, well done! better out than in!" and whisk him off to be changed. We had a great little book called Pirate Pete's Potty, where Pete learns to do wees and poos in his potty. It even has a button you can press to give Pete a cheer! Maybe you could read that occasionally as a bedtime story, just to slowly give him the idea that pooing isn't bad. I'm sure it'll come with time, just may require longer and lots of patience - good luck!