Potty training a child with chronic constipation

[Totality22]

Sorry - I have also posted this in kids health.

I have a deadline (nursery!) to get my DS fully potty trained but he suffers chronic constipation. He currently goes a few times per week and can tell me for up to a day that he "needs a poo"... so him telling me he needs to go isn't a good indication iyswim?

When it comes to wee's he has no awareness? He never tells me?

He is 2.5.

Where do I begin with potty training?

TIA

You begin by sorting the chronic constipation - you'll never get anywhere til that's sorted and he can feel when he needs to go. Is he on movicol? Could you speak to the gp about upping the dose til he's pooing regularly without needing to strain. Also tell the nursery telling to hold their horses (they can't penalise you about this, it's illegal).

Totally agree with sorting the constipation out first and taking it from there. Does he have a lot of dairy? Can be a big cause of constipation in toddlers.

You don't, you get the constipation sorted first, Get a GP to write to your nursery explaining the issues. My lovely DD suffered this and it was only finally sorted last year when she was 8.. Get a referral to a paediatrician to help, although ours was fairly useless and DD ended up in hospital where she was put on a very high dosage of movicol. From my experience you won't get the weeing sorted until the constipation as the baldder is pressed upon and they won't know when they need to wee.

Sorry I should clarify the constipation is being treated.

We use Movicol and currently he goes twice a week. We have used suppositories and laxatives in the past (very sparingly) but currently he has nothing other than Movicol.

Sometimes he can just go, other times he has the feeling of wanting to go for up to a day before he goes. So him telling the nursery nurse he wants to go may not be an actual indication he is going to go imminently.

I actually suspect getting him trained for poo's is going to be easier.

I hope this makes sense?

How much movicol is he getting, doesn't sound enough if only going twice a week. Do not let nursey pressure you into potty training, that is unfair as he has a medical condition.

Yes I agree, it sounds like the dose needs upping. Poor kid can't possibly be expected to train until the feeeling of needing to poo means that poo is imminent. How long has he been on movicol? Even once the constipation is sorted it will take several months for an over extended bowel to return to normal, so potty training may be a while away yet.

Seriously don't let the nursery pressure you into training before this is sorted. I can't think of anything more likely to put him off potty training than being expected to do it when he's not ready.

Is he drinking enough liquids esp water? One of my DC has bladder and bowel issues and when going through with a doctor recently what she drinks in a day, we discovered she was drinking half what she should in a day for her age. We have now doubled her fluid intake and with Movicol every day are seeing an improvement.
The Eric's website has heaps of info on it. There is a table saying how many mls a child should drink per day. I think it is on their website.
The doctor told me we need to sort out bowel issue, daytime dryness then nighttime wetting as in most instances they get resolved in that order.

Don't worry about nursery they are there to help with potty training. My DD2 was on movicol and nursery took it in their stride recording as much info as possible for me about each toilet trip to help me know what had gone on during the days she was there