Constipated toddler

[PopcornAndWine]

Hi DD is nearly 23 months. She has been having occasional bouts of constipation, not pooing for several days and then getting hysterical and obviously in pain when trying to poo. So I brought her to the GP who prescribed movicol sachets twice a day for 6 months. She said if not addressed this can cause serious issues with potty training later.

Wondering if anyone has a similar experience? Did you encounter any issues with potty training? Any tips beyond what doctor advised? Thanks.

Hi!

My girls have been on laxido (think it's the same thing as movicol) since they were about a year old. It definitely works but you do have to make sure you use it regularly, if I skip doses I definitely notice.
Lots of fluids, fruit and veg 👍🏻

We did have a bit of a problem with potty training, one of them was very reluctant to go and so would try to hold it in causing lots of dirty underwear but once she realised it didn't hurt she just overcame it herself. The hardest thing is keeping your patience with all the washing!

Just to add mine are 4 now and we haven't been able to completely stop the sachets yet so 6 months may not be enough. We're down to half a sachet every morning though

Thanks for your reply, yes the doctor did say we may need more hee than 6 months and not to even think about potty training until she has had a good few months with no painful poos. Diet-wise she has plenty of fruit, she is not great with veg despite my best efforts 😕

I feel your pain on the veg front!

www.eric.org.uk is good

Thank you! I will have a look at that.

Could you try to get more water into her? That can be a big issue. My son had chronic constipation and did struggle with potty training, but he’s also autistic so we think the potty training was other issues rather than the constipation. The only things that helped were movicol and lots of diluted orange.

Also if we knew he was trying to have a poo we would let him watch the iPad. Sometimes I think it became a cycle where he was constipated so going hurt, so he would try to hold it. It seemed to relax him a bit!

Also could you blend veg into pasta sauce/pizza sauce/smoothies? I had to become a veggie ninja.

She drinks reasonable amounts of water, probably not quite enough. I am having to give the movical with very diluted squash which isn't ideal but otherwise she won't drink all of it. Since I started the movical Monday she has pooed every day except today. And no signs of straining or distress when she had gone.

Blending veg into pasta sauce is one of the few ways I can get veg into her! But doctor said too much pasta could be contributing to the constipation and she should have it twice a week maximum 😫 I have switched to wholewheat pasta also.