3 year old constipation

[mummyl2013]

for the past 8 months or so my son has been suffering from constipation. Before this his stools were actually pretty loose. I’m constantly trying to feed him things to help him go. Nothing works. Doctor prescribed lactulose. Worked for a bit then stopped. Saw a private pediatrician they gave movicol. Seems to just make him go small bits multiple times and cause him distress. It’s horrible to see. I really don’t know what to do. His diet is ok, he eats a lot of fruit but I do struggle to get him to each much veg unless I hide it in things. I think a lot of the time he tries to hold it. He’s not potty trained because of these issues. Need help 😭

Does he drink plenty? Dd used to suffer with constipation and more fluids helped.

He does drink quite a bit to be honest

How much movicol is he on. It may need to be increased. Is he impacted?

The ERIC website is a great source of advice.

He has 2 sachets a day. I’m not really happy with the effects it’s having on him. Surely more will just cause even more fear and distress?

My daughter is constipated but quite sensitive to movicol. In the end we found laxido slightly better (meant to be the same but somehow isn't quite) and we also found she only needs a sachet and a 3rd of a sachet. Give the big dose at night and the small one in the morning. It's been working for 5 years or so. I wouldn't advise stopping the movicol but the exact dose really can be trial and error. We also give picolax on Friday night as a clear out once a week, so when she goes to school on Monday morning any backlog is cleared.

He needs to be having smooth sausage poo. If he impacted this needs to solved. You really need to see a GP who is experienced in this.

If he’s holding it, it’s because it’s hard and hurts when he poos.

It needs to be softer and that’s what the movicol does.

If he suffers with constipation all the time, then he really needs a referral to a gastroenterologist, which is done by your GP.

The leading cause of constipation in children is dairy allergy. Have you trialled any food exclusions?

hmm interesting you should say that. From birth we’ve worried he may have a dairy allergy and he has quite bad eczema possibly asthma. He has oat milk to drink but does eat some dairy. Could be worth a try.

Speaking to a gp later so will see what they say

There are no tests for non-ige allergy apart from exclusion diets. If I was in your shoes I would exclude dairy (and soya) for 3 months and see if it helps.

Eczema, asthma, constipation are all signs of a non-ige allergy.

my older son is coeliac but he did have a test for that a year ago. Ok I will have to try an inclusion diet next