DD Passing Hard Poos causing problems with potty training

[Corky]

My dd is nearly 3 and has been dry during the day for over a month now. However she's always had a problem with doing a poo since she was a baby. She would go every couple of days and always strain a lot and do quite a solid poo. This is not always the case but most of the time.

Needless to say she will not sit on the potty or toilet to do her poo and holds it in all day when she's due a poo and then eventually does it in her nappy when she's gone to bed.

She says that it hurts and we always flush it down the toilet. Yesterday there was a bit of blood on the poo and I do feel for her as if it hurts a lot then no wonder she doesn't want to sit on the potty.

When she's due a poo she also eats hardly anything as I guess she's a bit constipated. She's a lightweight and doesn't eat much at the best of times so I do try and get fruit and veg down her to help.

Any advice on what to do about the blood on the poo and how to tackle the potty issue?

Oh crikey have I been here! My dd had chronic constipation for about two years anf we had to delay potty training her until she was 3 as I didn't want her associating the potty with the extreme pain she went through every time she did a poo.

The simple answer is to try and loosen the poo. Have you tried giving her lots of fruit juice? Do you give her lots of fibre? If all else fails, get Lactulose (A mild laxative). You don't even need a prescription for it as it can be bought over the counter at the chemist. The child dose is half the stated adult dose. It is not a strong laxative and your dd's bowel will not become used to it (my dd was on it for years).

If that doesn't work, there are stronger laxatives to use but you should start with Lactulose.

I am potty training my ds3 now and the other day he did a hard poo with blood on it (on the floor so when I picked it up, I had a good look - yuck). My blood ran cold as I remember dd's troubles so vividly, but it was a one off thank goodness.

Hope this helps you to not worry too much about the blood and to think what to do next. Good luck.

She does drink fruit juice and as for fibre well that's hit or miss. When she's due a poo I give her lots of raisins! I guess I could try the laxative but not sure how I'll get it down her - she wouldn't even drink diluted prune juice!

sorry meant lactulose - know it well myself!!

If you know it, you know it is very sweet. I can't say it was ever a problem getting it down my dd's throat and she was (is, to some extent) a fussy eater. I think at 3 they are old enough to understand if you say this will make your poos better so they don't hurt you - well worth a try anyway. otherwise, you could try putting it in with milk (yucky thought but it might work).

Another tip I had from my HV (don't know how good I thought it was but you might feel otherwise) is to put olive oil in with all your cooking, where possible. Apparently, that makes poo softer or greases its passage or something!

ok will give it a go! thanks for the tips

Sunny delight was the only thing that worked for me when I had severe constipation after birth. Tried gallons of fresh orange and lactulose but found disgusting Sunny D did the trick.