Long term constipation

[Mummymoo2]

My DD is now 23 months old and has suffered with constipation since she started weaning at 5 months. Before anyone askes she eats more than enough fruit and veg and drink lots and lots of water and is very mobile but just cannot poo without laxatives (she'll do a snooker ball twice a week or so without). Shes had them every day since she was 9 months old after trying all the natural remedies i could find to no avail. Ive been to the doctors countless times and seen a paediatrician but all they do is up the dose of laxatives. I feel like this is not getting to the route of the real problem, just putting a plaster on it. Does anyone have any advice?

I'm afraid I don't have any advice except be persistent if you feel further investigations are required. Ds has finally got a referral to a gastroenterologist, and he is 7.

My DD was the same, when she was about 2 she started with bad constipation. The Drs was the same giving her lactulose and movicol. They just kept upping the dosage when I kept going back when nothing was working.
Apparently it is very common in children, which i was shocked at.

My DD stopped having constipation when she was 6.

It became a vicious cycle, because it hurt my DD she held it which made it worse. And I found that my DD relied on the medication so we warned her off it and it sorted itself out.

Im scared of trying to take her off it because i hate seeing her crying while shes going and now shes got to that age were she will associate it with pain and might start holding it back which will only make things worse

What is she on?

If it's movicol then there's no harm just keeping her on it for a while longer, and wean her off when older. DS was on it for two years. Don't take her off it, it'll result in withholding which makes the problem so much worse. Stop looking for a way to get get off them as soon as possible, and think about it as a means to an end. It'll take time, but she'll get there.

But. If you think there is something else causing this, then push for tests.

It's really really common btw. Ridiculously so. Loads of toddlers are on movicol long term.
. It's not a laxative as such. It just sits in the gut and absorbs fluid, making the stools softer and easier to pass. Totally inert. Don't worry about her being on it.

Sometimes there is no root of the problem. My daughter was diagnosed with idiopathic constipation as a baby. Her bowels are just incredibly sluggish (as are mine!).

It's so common. She's been on Movicol for five years now. It's not ideal (and she has turned into a child with a VERY limited diet, and doesn't drink enough either, which obviously doesn't help) but I'd rather her be on meds and trouble free than suffer the effects of chronic constipation.

Chronic constipation can stretch the bowel, and in the long term cause even more problems if not medicated.

Agree with the posts above. My son has been on movicol since age two. He's now four and toilet trained. When we have a good run of things I make the mistake of taking him off the movicol. It never ends well. My advice would be to keep with the prescription. It's not doing any harm. Constipation is incredibly common in young children and they do grow out of it. Unless you feel there is more going on then of course push for a referral.

Totally agree with pps, don't take her off it, just find a good maintenance dose to help her poo comfortably and regularly.

My advice is only coloured by ds's experience, as others have said, it is very common and in most cases with no particular cause and will be grown out of. If you have concerns that there is something else involved, keep a poo/medication /dr visit diary and push for a referral.

Mentioned upthread but are you aware of the stretched bowel and how to work on ensuring this can "shrink"?

My youngest had investigations by a gastro consultant and they found nothing. For some reason he is chronically constipated, and will only do a poo with the help of laxatives. We manage with lactulose and senna. He should grow out of it at some point but there's not much else we can do.

Dd had this at about the same age, it caused her to have a retracting prolapsed bowel. So part of her bowel popped out then went back in again after straining. After several trips to a and e we got referred to a specialist at Manchester children's hospital. They did a week of daily enemas because her bowel was full of hardened poo. This helped to break up a lot of it. She then had lactulose and suppositories for a short while and has had no problems ever since. She is now 16.