constipation and bleeding in toddler

[Kveta]

DS is 2.7 and has never been one for regular bowel movements - every day or 2, sometimes he'll go 3 days between them.

He has a healthy diet - normal day will be porridge and fruit (not always fruit, depends on his mood...) for breakfast, lunch is at nursery, so full meal, something like veg lasagne, or chickpea curry (ick) or a roast, followed by more fruit, or flapjacks, then dinner will be something simple like a boiled egg or cheese and toast with yoghurt, or baked potato, or left overs from previous days. He drinks plenty of water too, and will have an occasional glass of fruit juice, and snacks such as a biscuit, or raisins, or pom bears. He still has breast milk once a day too, but as I'm 35 weeks pg, it's more colostrum at this stage.

but recently he has had a day every few weeks where he strains to poo, then there is blood all through the poo, and when we wipe him too.

yesterday he was straining and crying with it, and was put to bed knackered, but still poo-less, after 2 days without a bowel movement. Then more crying and grunting this morning, and he finally produced a quite frankly epic poo, with quite a lot of blood. Then 5 minutes later, another epic, with more blood.

then he cheered up immediately, and was bounding around the house like a 2 year old should.

However, I am mildy concerned about the bleeding, and wondered if anyone has any advice - GP doesn't have an appointment for at least a fortnight, so thought I would ask on here first.

thanks :)

Poor thing , i would take him to the gp to see if theres anything they can give him. It sounds like he may have torn himself and then each time he poo's this re-opens the tare, this can also cause infection so needs to be looked at really , make sure you keep his bottom extra clean and you could also put vasaline around his bottom so when he poo's it slides out easier (sorry ITMI) , you could also get lactalose from the chemest which will soften his poo a little.

Poor thing - constipation is rotten at this age. I have experience of a child with constipation - not due to bad diet because he eats the same as the rest of the family, it just seems to be that he's prone to it. We have had bleeding too, and once there's a little tear, it makes him more reluctant to poo, so it builds up and the cycle continues.

The GP prescribed movicol which has really made a huge difference (it makes the poo softer so it doesn't hurt, and it means that DS goes twice a day so it doesn't build up. I also recommend a bit of vaseline on his bottom after he's gone, and if you can put a tablespoon of prune juice in his weetabix or porridge, that'll make a difference too (the sunsweet prune juice is really good).

Good luck for the next two weeks - it's important to get this sorted out before potty training as it can create big problems if the child learns to withhold poo, as that makes the constipation even worse.

thanks, will give prune juice a try, then see the GP if it doesn't improve matters. will vaseline him up too!!

it was so sad to see him crying and straining yesterday - he tried on the toilet, on the potty, and in his nappy, and nothing was happening, poor thing. had to give him calpol before he'd go to bed too.

but then, of course, this morning he was full of beans once he'd gone, and you'd think nothing had happened to him!

It's odd that it's so irregular too - if it was every time, I'd understand, and do more about it, but it's only occasionally, and seems to bear no relation to his diet either. And then sometimes he has looser stools, which are just a delight to clear up. My dad has crohns disease, and DH has an irritable bowel, so we are a bit paranoid about bowels in our family!!