Toddler Struggling to Poo

[HappyIdiot]

DD is 15mo and is on 1 sachet of Movicol per day for ongoing constipation issues. The Movicol works well and her poo is generally soft. If she doesn't take it, the constipation comes back. We got on top of it early and she never got to the stage of impaction or a fear of pooing.

The problem is that sometimes she still strains and is clearly in pain when she poos, even though her poo is soft. She poos a lot, up to 5 times a day. I would say that every couple of days it seems to hurt her more.

I was wondering if maybe there is something else that is hurting her? Maybe internally? Maybe simply because she is going a lot. I'm not sure if there is anything else that I can really do to help her.

For info, her diet is generally pretty good. Weetabix/porridge for breakfast, lots of fruit, yoghurts, veg and meat or fish for dinner. She doesn't always eat loads but has been improving. I try to make sure she drinks a lot too, but this is a bit of a battle.

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated!

The first time the gastroenterologist talked about my son being constipated I almost laughed in his face. DS2 pooed at least three to five times per day and nobody could believe the amount of veg and fruit he ate.
The doctor explained that frequency had nothing to do with it. You are constipated if you are not emptying your bowel. You may have soft stools running around the hard bits. He sent us for an abdominal x-rays and my son had fecaloma. it looked like a drug mule x-rays. Hundreds of rock-hard balls of poo up to his lungs!

I would say that probably your dd might be constipated and when she needs to pass the hard feces, it hurts her.

If it continues, try to ask to have an abdominal x-ray. Because if you DD has fecaloma, she will never be able to pas them on her own. You need to increase the Movicol for a month in order to break the stones.