Poo withholding!!!!

[SleepForTheWeak]

Following on from a constipation thread I started a week or so ago....

DD is 2.3, and over the last couple months has suffered from pretty bad constipation. It was awful, but finally with lactulose she started to become regular again and it stopped being such an issue. We had started to wean her off the lactulose to see how she got on but she obviously wasn't ready and became bunged up again.

We upped her lactulose straight back up (2x10ml a day) but now she is actively holding her poo, only tiny bits were coming out which really really irritated her bum and she ended up with terrible nappy rash which was weeping. As a result, she was even more reluctant to go, and I fear we are going to be in a vicious cycle.

We have Movicol but she won't take it disguised in any drink (she is VERY stubborn head strong).

It's heart breaking seeing her struggle and strain, she clenches her bum as tight as she can and stands on her tip toes (she's in nappies and won't at this time even make eye contact with a potty or toilet seat!). Her nappy rash has now stated to improve using a couple creams I was recommended, and when she has managed to go it's been quite soft so don't think she's constipated - it's definitely a reluctance to poo due to her recent bad experience.

I really don't want this to develop into a long term issue, which I'm aware it might be as it's a hard cycle to break. Both my DNeice and DNephew had similar problems when they were young and now they are older and still have issues with going to the toilet

Any advice or similar experiences greatly appreciated

Dogwood is spot on.

Good luck. This will not sort itself in days, it's a long haul. It really is a case of trial and error to get the right levels of Movicol and can take a while to work out. You want the poos to be no firmed than smooth sausage (type 4) on the Bristol Stool chart.

Just marking this old bthread as want to read all and save links.

So far I've found movicol in mango lassi is undetectable as any slightly salty taste isn't out of place.

Hi @TigerTeatimes, hope you find something on here which helps.

1.5 years later and we are still having poo issues. DD is still on movicol daily and won't poo in he toilet (still wears a nappy for this). She's 3.10.

She doesn't withhold as much since getting the movicol right but we have had episodes which have involved the hospital, enemas and suppositories

Namechanged since this but my dd is now nearly four and we've had a breakthrough in the last couple of months where she now goes to the loo at the same time every day and doesn't appear to be constipated anymore. Ironically coincided with us stopping the movicol as we forgot to take it on holiday with us, I'm now thinking maybe all the small poos soiling her knickers every day we're as a result of too much movicol! But in any case just wanted to say there is light at the end of the tunnel after three years of dealing with this nightmare problem.

Hi everyone, just to say that 18 months after starting this thread we have had some success and DD is now pooing on the potty (rather than a nappy) everyday with minimum fuss. We caved and said she could watch videos on the iPad if she sat and tried and voila!!

She is still on movicol daily but I'm hoping with a better pooing schedule we will be able to omit this eventually and also progress to the toilet