Should we send him to school?

[CaptainCallisto]

DS2 is four and in reception. He's had a lot of time off school this year for various medical reasons (including one five week stretch for appendicitis and complications after surgery). He was off Thursday and Friday with what we thought was the tummy bug doing the rounds, but has turned out to be leakage from another faecal impaction.

He's been off today having been up most of the night in screaming agony from his tummy, but seems to have settled. We're starting him on Laxido today. The doctor said it'll probably be 48 hours before it has any real effect, but that's no guarantee.

I'm reluctant to keep him off tomorrow if he seems well in himself, but we've never used Laxido before so I'm not sure what to expect. Is he likely to have a major expulsion when his bowels open? Last time he was impacted he had an enema and it was explosive! Obviously I don't want to inflict that on school if it's going to be similar!

If it's likely to be more gentle/steady I could send him in a pair of the PJ pants nappies we have for DS1 (additional needs) and make sure school know I can come and get him/clean him up if necessary. We're only a few minutes away if I jump in the car.

If he hadn't been off so much this year I'd just keep him at home until he'd passed, but I'm very conscious of the amount of time he's had to have off! Does anyone have any experience with Laxido? Would you send him in?

I would keep him off personally while you get on top of it. Spend the time ensuring he's drink lots of water and spend the day pushing the fluids, eats well, moving lots.

Laxido can go either way really. Hopefully it will be a gentle clear out but fluid is key.

Poor thing sounds like he's had a rough time.

You could let him go but tell kinder to call if any issues?
I would take him off wheat & also dairy, & use almond, coconut, or oat milk & see if improvement too. Still have rice & porridge/ oats but no wheat try gluten free bread
I wonder if he is sensitive to certain foods ?

Thanks both - I'll keep him off and see how he goes. I'll have a word with school when we pick up DS1 this afternoon just to see whether there's anything we can be doing at home.

He's been tested for all sorts of food allergies/intolerances over the past few years. He had a milk protein issue but we worked through the milk ladder thing and he's been fine with that for over a year now. He's also been tested for coeliac disease.

The issue he has bowel wise is that the muscles contract too quickly so he almost never has a completely solid stool. He was three before he stopped having 'baby' poos! The gastro consultant said he's getting these occasional incidents of impaction because his bowel just doesn't know what to do with a solid stool if one forms.

Poor thing's really been through the ringer this last year!

He's 4, doesn't legally have to be in school so I'd keep him off. It could possibly be really embarrassing for him if he had an accident at school.

Yeah, I'm keeping him home. I popped in to see his teacher when I picked up his brother and I've got some bits to do with him. They're learning about bees and the rest of the class are writing bee stories tomorrow, so we've got the little worksheet and he can do that to go up on the board with the others.

Poor little chap, hope he is on the mend soon

He's 4, most countries don't send there kids to school that young. Assuming work/child care isn't an issue, focus on getting him well, there is plenty of time to focus on education later. Last thing he needs is to have a truly negative experience at school if he does have an explosive bowel movement. Also going to school tired won't be much fun and have zero benefit.