constipation.....help!!!

[stukkaroo]

hello there, my four year old is holding on to her poo cos it hurts too much, I went to the pharmacy yesterday and got her 'Duphulac' which is a mild laxative....this morning she forced a very hard poo out(sorry to be so graphic) in tears, and now shes in pain, and wanting to go, but refusing to relax.
HELP!Im trying to make really soft food like veggies stew, and rice, but its been 3 days now......tried massage, lavender in a bath....
any ideas?

lactulose - from chemist

chocolate
apple juice
prune juice

vaseline round her bum (gross!)

lol!really?vaseline??
ok ill try but shes tightly clenching those buttocks and not letting me anywhere near.....
the med. im giving her has lactulose in it.
chocolate sounds like a good one ! thanks

yes, though may be more suited to babies, at 4 she maybe too old I guess.
you may find the lax takes a while to go through and you need to keep giving it.
"Organic osmotic laxatives e.g. Duphalac® (lactulose) can not be absorbed by the body. They work by drawing fluid from the body into the gut softening and increasing the bulk of the stool. These products can take up to 48 hours to act" from here

get a bottle of califig from sainsburys... brilliant stuff, no nasty chemicals (i think), just syrup of figs, try a spoonful and see how it goes, i swear by the stuff...

I'm not sure if children are allowed the stuff but I had Movicol once after an op and it's fab, not a laxative, its a stool softener and re-hydrates the poo so it comes out comfortably. Think its prescription only. I found it better than laxatives.

ah, ok. im trying to get her to drink loads....so far, shes guzzled the apple juice wolfed the choc, sniffed at the food, and holding her bum.
shes on her 5th dose of duphalac.....fingers crossed and ill get califig tomorrow if nothing shifts!!
thanks for help.

My dd was like this and we got lactolose and senna from the doctor. They did take a few days to work. She did have to stay on them for a while for pooing to become a normal thing to do.

They are now kept on her repeat prescription list so I can get them if I think she needs them.

I forgot to mention dd was holding on so tightly that it took adult doses to get her to let go!!

Elk, Ive got a feeling my DD may be like that, shes crossing her legs and going red in the face trying to stop herself going!
quite distressing, and shes got a funny 'clenched bum' walk......bit of a catch 22 situation that may take some breaking!

take her to the gp - chronic constipation can be really hard to get sorted and it very quickly develops into a vicious cycle

ds2 had chronic constipation for years - none of the over=the-counter laxatives worked so he ended up on movicol paediatric (stool softener) plus a heavy-duty laxative which eventually did the trick but it took a while

Not rice - gums you up. Children need a paediatric verion of movicol. Don't know it it is prescription only.

I find artificial sweeteners (shock horror) such as xylitol and sorbitol (not aspartame) have quite an effect.

not rice...especially sticky STICKY white rice she has every day at school!!!!I KNOW!!! shes half Japanese...they all get it apparently.
Ok, Ill try G.P cos she was in agony this morning as she forced one out.She was so much better after, but its the anticipation of the pain that is causing a problem already I think.

My 10 year old has just got over this. She didn't go for about 5 days and felt 'her tailbone was aching'... she poos regularly and never sufferes from constipation and I began to get really worried, especially when leaky stuff was coming out (sorry to be graphic) but not the 'real stuff' (which I imagine had turned into a plug). So an old Grandmothers trick.. lay her on her back, tell her to relax her belly muscles and tell her to lift her knees to her shoulders and hold them there, relax, hold for a few seconds then press her knees into her shoulders,breath out and relax(rather like a doubled up position) then straighten out and do it again.

I bought all the fig syprup, fed her veggies etc (she eats healthy anyway) but nothing worked. A couple of hours after she did this exercise (for about 5 minutes on and off), she managed to go. It was a bit painful, but she went.

I think that yoga type position moves the plug about and allows the bum muscle bit to relax a little. Its worth a try and is non invasive...(Also good for gas pains)

sounds good.
we did a bit like that as she squatted on the loo this morning,with her knees up by her ears.....poor love is exhausted by it all, awake most of last night, and asleep by 6.30.shes usually awake til 9!