I cannot handle dd's poo problems anymore.

[Howlingbellyofbeelzebub]

dd is 4, became constipated on holiday in the summer, have been battling ever since. doctor thinks I'm a loon and it's my anxieties about dd starting school that have caused it. Won't give me anything but lactulose.

About a month ago we had soiling and overflow eventually cleared blockage by giving other dd's movicol (i know it's not great to give dd her sister's meds but we were desperate and it did clear the blockage) - however since then she has been witholding and just letting a tiny bit of poo out at a time - it's soft enough to be not painful I think but it is literally every 20 mins throughout the afternoon - this afternoon I wiped her bottom 15 times. There is never enough poo to actually fall into the toilet as she stops it coming out so it is just stuck all over her bum cheeks and often smeared on pants too.

At the moment she has just started reception and is finishing at 12pm but in 2 weeks time she is there all day and I don't know what will happen . I've had to stop going out in the afternoons as she is on and off the toilet all the time. If I give her more lactulose then we just get to the point where it comes flying out and she can't make it to the toilet so it's poo everywhere. (as happened at the theatre on Monday this week - sigh).

So what can I do? I'm going to ask for another GP appointment and also try to talk to dd's teacher tomorrow. I am so desperate that I am considering paying for hypnotherapy, there's someone here locally who I have seen before and she treats school age children but it's £60 a session and I just can't afford it.

I just wish I knew how to help. The worst thing is that my other dd has had poo problems from birth due to her cerebral palsy and things were going really well with her and she no longer needed her movicol. But with all the crap going on with dd1, now dd2 is witholding poo as well. I literally can't cope anymore, I spend all day wiping crap of bum cheeks but never see any real poo in the toilet or nappy.

Sounds as though things have improved since your first post.

Was going to suggest that you jusy focussed on trying to get her to sit on the loo for 10mins or so every so often (but as regularly as poss). Maybe keep her home from school for a couple of days to do this.

Give positive re-inforcement for the time on the loo not for whether any poo is done, iyswim.

Hopefully, after a few sessions on the loo with distractions (new sticker books, story tapes, etc) she might relax enough to do something.

It sounds as though you have moved on from this now but thought it might be another angle to consider.

Hope you are going to continue improving It's a pretty miserable situation.

Our DD held in for a few weeks when she first went onto the loo, and we used all the star charts etc. She had got constipated when we started toilet training and then became afraid of pooing as her poo had become a bit tough once [sigh]. They have good memories...

We resorted to supplementing her already very fibrous, and fresh diet with 'syrup of figs', a completely natural vegetable extract, one teaspoon in the morning and it worked a treat.

We also upped her water intake.
And occasionally if we were all wailing and gnashing our teeth, an apple juice as well. And if we were all really howling, we used to bribe reward her with little white chocolate buttons for a job well done, so to speak.

Took about two weeks to get it right and then we eased off and just kept the water intake high.

we also explained that poo wasn't part of her, that it was food her body didn't need, and we introduced corn and tomatoes so she would see bits of the food in her poo.
The novelty and interest eased her fears, and we were very happy to wave off the poos round the U-Bend after that!

She's now as regular as clockwork and has a very healthy bowel.

There is light at the end of the withholding poo tunnel, and hope my story helps to cheer you!

Glad things are looking better I hadn't thought of that, a story tape would be a good idea too.

Hi,howlingbellyofbeezlebub, just wanted to bump this and see how things are going for you?

hi HBBB How r u and LO doing with it all?

hi - we found this website very helpful www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/pediatrics/patients/tutorials/constipation/encopre.cfm. Get your GP to refer you to a paediatrician. My ds has been on movicol for 3 months now and has not had an accident since the original appointment. While it's not ideal to have a child on medication this problem made my ds's first year of school a complete nightmare for everyone. I hugely regret thinking it was school issues when actually it turns out to have been a very common bowel problem.

a bit of an update - we saw a different doctor last week who immediately prescribed Movicol. We had to give her quite a high dose to get things moving and keep her off school whilst things settled down but things are pretty good now - we're down to half a sachet of movicol and 5ml of lactulose - it's a precise balancing act! too much and she has 'fast poo' (can't spell diaroheah) - too little and we're back to the witholding. I did ask the doctor about movicol as someone here had said it stop them being able to poo without it but she said that is absolute rubbish and movicol is the easiest and most painfree way to sort out these problems.

Havent read much other than OP, but i know how your feeling. We struggled for 5 years. DD1 never poohs at schoool but if she is having an overflow, we might end uo with accident.
Things that helped us was:

Reading books on the loo. Gave her somehting else to think bout and helped relaxed.

Blowing bubbles on the loo (its impossible to blow and hold pooh at same time)

Movicol all the way lactolose sucks

star charts

HTH

Can't praise Movicol highy enough - DD1 was on it for 12mth +. Please continue taking this - you must go through a re-edication process - convincing the brain it's right to go and poo! It took over 12mth to work for my daughter - weaning off little by little one month at a time - from 2 sachets twice a day, down to once a day, then one sachet - etc etc! Under no circumstances must you just stop!
Believe me it DOES get better - but you must be patient and try not to talk about pooing in front of the child concerned - they musn't start to feel "shy" about this!!!! Just let nature take it's course and if an accident happens - just shrug it off (easier said than done!).
3 years on and it's like nothing was ever a problem! But I know from experience when you're caught in the midst of the problem - it feels like there's no escape! Best of luck.

owwwwwwwww my sil is having this her dd is 4 . and she has been like this from 1 she has had hipno to . but it didnt wk she has also had infcol. and sum stuff from the hospital to its a powder stuff and it gives her lose poo bad , but my sil is like u hun at the end of her tethers . her dd is at school and still has a nappie on as she will hold it and hold it till she carnt no more and it has to come out . but she wont do it on the loo . they keep telling my sil that she will grow out of it but that dont help . sil thought it was all to do with her dd having a whole in the heart that was corected when she was 6 months she also has a leekey valv to . hope she will grow out of it hun x good luck

i am going through something similar. DD2 has been fairly constipated since birth, had problems with formula then i tried goats milk and she ended up with a fissure from chronic constipation from the goats milk.

anyway, mixture of diet, water, lactulose, movicol, homeopathic remedy - i thought we were ok but the problems are back again. She is now pooing about once a week despite being on movicol. It is purely psychological - when she does poo it is absolutely massive (think a snake size girth and length!) but it is fairly soft. Amazingly soft considering she is pooing only weekly.

i guess i need to up the movicol dose... i tried lactulose before but she loves it so much (she has a very sweet tooth) and i found it made her poo sticky and quite hard to push.

i get glycerine pumps from Spain - basically the glycerine liquid in a little pump you squirt into their bum rather than trying to push a suppository into an already congested back passage. far easier and they can't push them out like they do with the suppositories.

anyway, lots of sympathy... tis horrid.

i am going through something similar. DD2 has been fairly constipated since birth, had problems with formula then i tried goats milk and she ended up with a fissure from chronic constipation from the goats milk.

anyway, mixture of diet, water, lactulose, movicol, homeopathic remedy - i thought we were ok but the problems are back again. She is now pooing about once a week despite being on movicol. It is purely psychological - when she does poo it is absolutely massive (think a snake size girth and length!) but it is fairly soft. Amazingly soft considering she is pooing only weekly.

i guess i need to up the movicol dose... i tried lactulose before but she loves it so much (she has a very sweet tooth) and i found it made her poo sticky and quite hard to push.

i get glycerine pumps from Spain - basically the glycerine liquid in a little pump you squirt into their bum rather than trying to push a suppository into an already congested back passage. far easier and they can't push them out like they do with the suppositories.

anyway, lots of sympathy... tis horrid.

I'm glad you've seen a more sympathetic GP and got Movicol. Lactulose is good but is rarely enough to clear a blockage and doesn't help with the bulk of the poo, just eases it's passage.

This is a good website and gives you some information on establishing a toileting routine.