Pico Sulphate 2 year old

[Justdontbejudgy]

2 year old has had intermittent constipation since weaning from EBF around 8 months old. Resulting in a hospital admission in Nov 21 with a massive poo requiring an enema (12 days and suppositories not touching the sides).

Settled on 1.5 sachets of laxido per day but continence nurse (new one following a couple of apps with another) has got us picosulphate as she suspects 2yo is withholding. Now that I have started observing her more she is (crossing legs , on tips toes etc). She's very interested in potty training i.e. now wants to sit on toilet and can tell you re pee and poo in nappy but not getting the concept ( I have no issue with her not being potty trained beyond 3 btw).

She currently can soil her nappy up to around 4 times per day (due to withholding and poo eventually coming) and nurse wanted us to try the picosulphate to stop the withholding. We got it at the end of Nov. but the next day when we picked up the prescription she WENT, A LOT and has been regular but frequent since then. So we held back and since looking at the side effects/not to be given to under 12s/ not to be used for more than 5 days/to be given at night (nurse said to give it in the AM..... we're still not sure. We are finally getting referred to the pediatrician having only had nursing telephone appointments.

Looking to hear others' experiences of this to see how much it is given off prescribing guidelines and did you have success? We've also been told to keep going with the laxido. She already has quite a lot of gas from this (sometimes wakes her later in the evening after bedtime : cries until a massive fart. Just don't want to make things worse for her but we do need to do something.

All the laxatives say in the side effects not to use for more than a certain number of days - the idea is that if you have bought them off the shelf, you don't stay self-medicating and not realising you need medical attention.

However if you have been directed to use them by a professional it's OK.

There are major advantages to picosulfate:

It doesn't taste disgusting
It's a tiny volume to take
It doesn't give you masses of wind
It really really works

Thanks - on the first dose should we maybe avoid going too far from home/not letting nursery deal with the effects??

Obviously everyone is going to be different, but it's unlikely that on the first dose you are going to get a poo explosion.

All laxatives take time to work, plus if your DD is very constipated it's got a lot of work to do!

Am sure the poo nurse has told you the aim is to get the poo so soft - like gravy - that your DD can't withhold to get her back to feeling OK about doing a poo. And then keeping it soft for months so everything that is stretched from being full of constipated poo can go back to normal.

I don't have experience with giving picosulfate to a child as young as two, but I would say ....

• do give it at night if you can. The idea is to get them waking up, having breakfast, then going to the loo ( you'll need to tell them to go and sit on the toilet after breakfast every single day) and get their body into the habit of going regularly at that time. Then it's all done and you can get on with your day.

• start with a small dose, maybe less than the nurse recommended, and only if it doesn't work ( your DC doesn't go the next morning) do you increase it

• keep using the laxido but be careful to brush your DCs teeth more often if you're putting it in squash or juice.

Thanks. Have given her 2.5ml this AM. Several movements today. I wouldn't say she has been constipated of late just withholding so it all comes in dribs and drabs. Nurse hopes this treatment will get her regular and then we should start toilet training if she is ready.

Will give it the next week to see if the soiling lessens and hopefully we'll get word of the Dr's app soon (12 week wait I've been told) as she also hinted around concern due to my own (and my mother's)autoimmune conditions .

Great, good luck OP, sounds like you're doing really well.
I would add - don't rush it with the toilet training - getting over severe constipation takes a LONG time. Those rectal muscles don't just spring back into shape overnight, and you may find your DC has accidents and leaks off-and-on for some time to come. (Six years for us, and counting.) It'll be a lot easier for you to deal with this if she's in nappies rather than pants.