Toddler waking 4am every morning doing poo

[Gilbe]

Hi there
my 3 year old wakes every morning at 4am and has done a poo, and doesn’t go back to sleep. We’ve had sleep training advice but nothing is working. He was born prematurely and has dairy allergy. Has anyone has experience of this of managing to change a baby’s bowel habit so they sleep longer?
many thanks

Hi!
No personal experience but this sounds dreadful!
Have you tried giving him dinner at 4pm then a light snack before bed so he doesn’t go to sleep hungry, but may then poo in the evening?

Use a laxative for a short period to change the poo timings?

We had this with 2/3 of my kids and both were dairy intolerant. Once we really tightened up their dairy intake it did get better a tiny bit. It’s brutal though’

are they potty trained? We are more likely to poo 20/30 mins after we eat due to gastro-colic reflex so if you try and sit them on potty/toilet regularly after these times and over time it should help them get into a better routine . Use toys/books and bubbles to help them relax etc.
Are they pooing while asleep and waking after as this could mean they could be constipated or witholding their poo in the day-
The ERIC website have lots of information on toileting

thank you all - really appreciate your ideas