Can anyone recommend a stool softener for my poor DD?

[RGPargy]

DD (3) has recently been suffering from hard and painful stools. This makes her reluctant to go, which makes her hang on it, because it hurts her little bum so i need to know if there's anything she can take to help soften the stools and make it easier for her to have a more comfortable poo.

Thank you!

Lactulose. But should try diet changes first, Orange juice, prunes etc

couple of things can help in the short term

• lactulose
• putting vaseline around her bottom to help the poo come out more easily
• movicol (although think you may need a prescription for this for kids?)

in the longer term

• more sultanas, apricots etc
• lots of water

I would firstly make sure that she is drinking plenty of water as dehydration can be a cause of constipation and also increase the fibre in her diet. You could try a suppository from the chemist which should help with softening or get her to take some Milk of Magnesia which has a mild laxative effect.

Thank you for your recommendations. She normally does drink quite a bit of weak squash during the day and is very good at eating her fruit. I will get her some OJ to drink and will get her to eat some more raisins & apricots and see if that helps. I might get some Lactulose if she doesn't have a significant movement by the end of the weekend! :)

apricots and kiwi fruit

homemade ice lollies using watered down juice / smoothies are the same as a drink

syrup of figs from chemist though had similar affect to lactulose for my dd which unfortunately was nil effect. Drinking water makes a difference to any other type of drink and oranges not juice but fresh oranges with the plinth bit have I got that wrong|?? by plinth I mean the rind bits for some reason help with the roughage. Doc prescribed lactulose but it was useless in my dd case.

Movicol is more effective than lactulose, so worth asking for on presciption.It comes as a sachet and is mixed with water,so it's easy to give.

You could try Benefibre, soluble fibre which dissolves in eg fruit juice. Also increasing fruit/veg generally especially those like apples which are high in soluble fibre. Bran muffins also good.

movicol will probably work; dried apricots, linseeds in the diet might help, lots of water. lactulose useless for my dd too.

lactulose does take a while to work.
prune juice and orange squash helped dd as well

Lactulose is very gentle but can several days to work.
Second the suggestions for orange juice, apricots etc.
Is she potty trained/training? My DD went through a 'holding on' phase at this age but got over it after a little while.

If this is a significant problem I think you should see the GP anyway and get a script for Movicol while you are there. They can help with dosage, etc. It is very effective.

Squash isn't going to make much difference apart from the hydration point of view, but orange juice will of course.

If you include too much fibre you can have the opposite of the desired effect. Does she eat a lot of carbs like white bread or pasta? that can cause problems as much as not enough complex carbs or too much high fibre.

While things are bad, lots of water, lots of fruit (not bananas) and cut back on processed stuff.

I know everyone is saying orange juice but my GP said apple juice for ds.

movicol is brilliant, and it is very easy to adjust the dose

Movicol comes in chocolate flavour but kids seem to like it! Lots of other flavours as well..or can just stick some squash in it. Very gentle, but start off slowly, don't dive in with 2 or 3 sachets every day...
good luck!

Movicol is cracking stuff. I've had it on prescription following operations.

Water and dashing about should help too, although as she's 3 I daresay she's not sitting still much.

Movicol comes in flavours ?

DD has been on it for years and we get the disgusting one you have to mix with squash!

I was told by the paediatrian to avoid apple juice and too much milk. (No more than one cup of milk per day).

There is a really good website with loads of info called something like childhoodconstipation.

forgot to say - cut out bananas as they contribute to constipation