2year old- constipation and giving up half way through!! Please help!

[amme28]

Please help! I've run out of ideas and am so worried! My 2 year old has been constipated for months to the point where she cannot sit down! Went to docs and got laxatives for her which didn't really help. Tried suppositories which didn't help. Tried all different foods but she's very fussy. Went back to docs who told me to up the dosage of laxatives. Been giving her 10ml morning and night. She now seems to try to poo but then gives up and leaves the tiniest little bit still attached! Sorry for the description!! She can also be struggling for 10 mins without doing anything! I'm stuck I have no idea what to do! If anyone has any ideas I'd really appreciate it as I have no idea what to do! Thanks for reading and please reply! :)

We've got a similar problem with our 3 yr old we have been really encouraging lots of drinking which helps (even things which would be considered undesirable such as milk) just to try to get things moving. I have the suppositories but have been too scared to use them. We have been using lactulose but for us at least the constant nagging to drink is what makes the most difference although its very tiresome.

lots of fluid and see if she will eat grapes and dried apricots which are both fibrous.

Stewed apple, apple juice, soft cooked carrots, oranges all help.

Do NOT give allbran, weetabix or similar. This is the worst thing you can do for a constipated toddler. They end up with a huge, hard, impacted stool that is painful to pass.

What laxatives are you giving?

Dried apricots have to be chopped up small and given with lots of water at this age.

I had this problem when I was a kid. I was getting severely constipated from about 6 months old - about 10 years old. I had to take all kinds if different medicines daily and ended up having ops. My mum used to take me to the hospital if I'd been constipated for more than 3 days and they'd keep me in for a few nights giving me lots of different medicines untill I eventually went to the toilet.

The op was more to see what was going on inside me. I had regular check ups at the hospital and had to keep charts of when I went to the toilet and what it was like (soft, hard etc)

Everything's been fine since I was 10 though, not sure what changed at 10 years old though.

Maybe ask your doctor for a referral if this is an occurring thing

This may not be any good (your daughter sounds more severe than mine) but we used syrup of figs. Not good to use it all the time but worked for us. Health visitor recommended.

Hi, similar to the poster, our 3 yr old won't eat any fruit or veggies at all. I try and hide them in pasta sauces and give her smoothies but nothing much seems to work. And she won't take the laxative powder.

Any ideas?

rubyblue my 22mth ds has severe constipation and regularly goes to hospital for treatment, & has biopsy in 2 wks to find cause. He is also a fussy eater. I give him lots of whatever he will eat, he likes grapes so he can have however many he wants as he needs the fruit to keep his bowels moving. If it's laxative powder, is it movicol? You can dissolve it in anything - we dissolve it in his milk as he can't taste it. Will she have a warm cup of milk maybe a hot chocolate with it in?

My daughter had intermittent constipation issues for about 4 years. To be honest it was the most sressful parenting issue i've had to deal with.

Things I did...

Took note of how much she was drinking and ensured it was a lot - of anything. Large beakers of chocolate milk, homemade weak ribena iced lollies, water bottles when she was watching tv, drinks by her bed etc. This was the number one thing that helped.

Make sure her feet are on a step when she's on the loo, or get her to poo on potty - get her in a squatting position not legs dangling.

Get her to blow bubbles (literally) when on the loo.

Make her laugh when she's on the loo. Remarkably successful.

I still keep an eye on things. Particularly when we're having long car journeys etc.

Lactose every day when she was having a bad spell. Mil-par on occasion.

I would still ask for a referral to a paediatrician.

Good luck.

Had this problem with my 3 yr old daughter and this is the ONLY thing that worked.
Movicol (prescribed by GP) up to 3 sachets a day for a few days to get it all moving. Then...
Every morning sit on the potty with a book then...
You say' the fairies want you to try to push to do a poo, can you show the fairies your pushing face? Wow xxxx that's a brilliant pushing face, now after 3 the fairies would like you to try to push for a poo. Wow they are so pleased with, they are dancing around chanting your name xxxx xxxxx oh wow I can see they hace coloured ribbons in their hair, they would like to leave you a coloured ribbon if you do a poo' Carry this on as you pop in and out of the bathroom, at some point you can say 'oh dear the fairies are very sad, you haven't done your poo yet etc etc but try to get back to being positive., If she does a small one then the fairies are dancing all round in a circle (look up to the ceiling) oh they are so pretty, wait what;s that you would like xxxx to do some more, ok I'll ask her. xxxx would you try again for some more poo.

When she did one I picked her up and danced round the room ( with the fairies) Did this for a number of weeks whilst also giving the movicol and the dose reduced to one per day at this stage ( dont rush to reduce the dose tho). Now she has a movicol every other day, does a poo independtly. No mention of fairies.
I think this works on the basis of

1. She was constipated and couldnt push or it hurt to push so you need the Movicol.
2. It was a control issue - she knew I was stressing over it so she didnt want to do it - she is a very stubborn child. By mentioning the faries she wasnt doing it for me she was doing it for them!!! Also the 'fairies' took her blanket away and dummy in the past! Maybe something else might work for others but just get them to do it for someine else not you thus taking away the control element.

Hope this helps

I also found up fluid intake helps - whatever they will drink, also ripe pears - can hide them or mush them up. Also chocolate seems to help - no problem convincing mine to eat this !