4 year old DD constipated- advice please

[LizaCarlisle]

Hello everyone

My 4 year old dd has been constipated now since Wednesday. Before school yesterday she passed little rabbit dropping like stools and she was hysterical the whole time.
I've upped her fruit intake which has been hard (she's a very fussy eater) and she has been drinking quite a lot today.
Anyone got any tips on anything else I can try? Apparently according to NHS Choices doctors only give children laxatives as a last resort and try and remedy the problem through diet. Which with a fussy eater is quite difficult! She should just go in the end, surely?
Thanks in advance for any advice

Get some lactulose from the chemist. Also a hot bath and orange juice can help.

We had to give DD lactulose at that age.

Yeah I'd try lactulose

Kiwifruit. Mines a fussy eater too but if I puree it up into a smoothee she will drink it with only a minimum of harassment from me. It never fails to get things moving.

Thanks everyone. I thought about giving lactulose a try. I will pick some up.

Just one more thing- can it make them lethargic?

My son was on lactolose and wasn't lethargic. I second fruit juice. Also try prunes and apricots.

Lactulose will not make you lethargic. It's just a stool softener.

Constipation can make you lethargic.

Yeah I meant the actual constipation, not the lactulose

Constipation can definitely make people lethargic, if she can’t manage the Lactulose (it makes me and one of my DC vomit). I’d get adult
Movicol from the chemist and give her half a sachet of that and a full sachet the next day. It’s exactly the same as the kids version just double the amount per sachet. I would also agree with the bath suggestion and tell her she can poo in the bath, it will help if she squats in the water. Poor little thing, it was by far my worst pregnancy symptom with my first.

A little box of raisins each day as a snack also helps against constipation.
I second the long warm bath followed by sitting on the potty alone to relax.

Avoid dairy, especially cheese.

Yeah, she is suffering bless her but refusing to take anything and refusing to go anywhere near the toilet. I'm at my wits end.

I would recommend the ERIC website as well, it’s really useful.