Movicol at 3yrs old, desperate for advice

[Bumblebee111]

My son has been constipated since 8 months old, would bleed because the size of his poos and even need assistance like holding his little legs up so it could pass (at the time was still on mostly purée as I’m a nervous mummy) around 1 year old he was put on Movicol, works wonders, 2 sachets a day he goes poo easily, some days he has runny poos that go on for days, which then leads me to reduce his Movicol which then always leads to constipation again, it’s a vicious cycle where we cannot win. He is turning 4 in January and still on 2 sachets a day. He is still in nappies and is starting nursery this Thursday, I’ve tried for so long to potty train but I fail every time as he withholds his poo and wee without the nappy. I have tried and tried, I feel like a failure and I’m embarrassed that he’s starting nursery and over 3 and half years old still in nappies but I don’t know what to do anymore. Dietician said it’s not his diet. Doctor telling me it’s normal for kids his age to be constipated and on Movicol long term but has been sent for blood test to test his thyroid. I don’t want my boy to be on laxatives this long it’s breaking my heart. Any mums who have been through this or are currently going through this I would be beyond grateful for some advice

My DD6 was a very constipated baby and toddler, it took a very long time to toilet train her and I became so worried that she wouldn’t be trained before starting school. I had started trying to train her at age 2.5 and by 3.5 still hadn’t got it down (my older children were trained in about a week!) in DD case she developed a real fear of the potty, but looking back what I think actually happened was that she sensed my stress surrounding toilet training and thus developed a fear. I solved this by stopping any training and even mentioning the potty at all, but left the potty out, played lots of you tube videos/songs about potty training but I stopped asking her to do it. Then with school coming up we started having conversations about school what it would be like and what she would need to do and on the list was of course being toilet trained and being a big girl and no more nappies/pull ups, but I still didn’t ask her to go on the potty. Then one day about 2 weeks before her 4th birthday without any prompting from me she went to the potty by herself and I wasn’t even in the room! That was it, she was potty trained from then on.

My point is, is just perhaps be aware of your own stress and anxiety around it being picked up by your child, and also to let you know that it ok to leave it for a while and then try again, children do things in their own time and with the added complications of constipation to deal with does make it harder. If it hadn’t even been recommended to you before have a look at the Eric website, it’s a great source of info and advice for constipation in children.

@Lillygolightly thank you for your reply! I will definitely have a look at the website, I have looked before but maybe I need to take a deeper dive. In regards to the pressuring and anxieties rubbing off I feel that that isn’t what’s happening here as I’m very laid back to him when it comes to the potty, and have done exactly as you said you ended up doing with DD. There are also other circumstances with this that I couldn’t fit into my post really, he may be on the spectrum, he is also very sensitive and is scared of YouTube videos and ALL cartoons apart from Spidey, so I find it hard when it comes to letting him learn from videos (he used to love YouTube but stopped at around 1.5 years old) I have brought this to our doctor's attention but nothing came of it other than her assuring me it’ll all be addressed at school. I’m not sure if all that plays a part but I guess all I can do it wait and see

Google the Eric charity and give their helpline a call

Dd was like this and was on movicol for years. Although it’s commonly referred to as a laxative, it’s not really-it doesn’t interfere with gut function so it’s not harmful to be on long term. I just stopped thinking about it in the end-it became part of our routine. When she started eating more and more often at school, it sorted itself out and we stopped giving it. Ds was four and a half before he toilet trained.

Join Movicol mummies on Facebook. It’s so useful. Loads of advice and experience on this.

@Haggisfish3 That makes me feel so much better, thank you!!

@fashionqueen0123 I actually deactivated my Facebook because I found it so negative but may have to reactivate just for this, thank you

I remember being so wrapped up in the loo trauma (dd also wouldn’t poo in the potty or toilet for months and months!). But it’s a long distant memory now. Dd is 14 and poos perfectly fine in the toilet as do all of her friends! 🤣🤣

It would be worth it! That group is invaluable.