Prune juice for easier 'poo' times....

[mumtosp]

Hi all,

I am really hoping someone can help me out !
18 mo DS has been straining a lot while pooing... he has also cried a few times :( surprisingly the poo actually isn't constipated and is pretty soft (sorry for TMI) We took him to he GP who recommended Lactulose. We tried that a few times but that just made his poo very runny... almost diarrhoea like...

So for the past week we have been giving him a couple of spoons of prune juice. It has helped a bit but this morning again he strained a lot... The pune juice seems to have made his poo tar-like. I don't understand why he is straining so much since the poo is so soft...

Also, this morning while he was pooing on the changing mat I noticed that a bit of fleshy part come out every time he strains to poo and then goes back in.... he also has some tiny cracks around his anus which were tinged with blood.... We are applying calendula on the cracks and that's helping..

Once he's done pooing he seems very happy with himself and is not bothered by the tiny cracks....

Is all this normal? Should we go back and try lactulose again? Do we need to see a specialist? And what about the fleshy part that comes out... is that normal?

Once again sorry for the graphic details, but I am very worried about this :(

TIA...

Sounds like he has a few anal fissures causes by straining. No, not normal, and they are incredibly painful too. My DD had them when she was a baby.

Lactulose can be a bit hit and miss. I am something of a paediatric Movicol expert and am always recommending it on here! I think you should go back to the
GP and ask to give Movicol a try. It's a long term treatment, not an as-and-when kind of thing. It can be tricky to get the dosage right at first (a consultant told me the texture to aim for was mushy pea-like ) but once you've cracked it, it should solve the straining and pain issues and allow the fissures to heal.

Were you giving the lactulose twice a day? I was prescribed this for my ds when he was having issues pooing, but twice a day was causing it to be really runny. I reduced it to once a day and that seems to have helped considerably.

Thanks all :)

MyHat I will ask the GP about Movicol

BadFam1 I'll try giving Lactulose once a day to see if that makes a difference.... How long did you have to give lactulose to your DS ?

Anything is worth a try

He is still on it at the moment. Was prescribed at about 12 weeks, he is now 19 weeks. Doctor has said to keep going until solids established so I can solve the issue with fruits and fibre. He is only having small amounts of fruit and veg at mo so will slowly wean him off the lactulose (perhaps go to every other day then stop) as I introduce more food.
Seeing him struggle so much and in so much pain was awful so don't want to go cold turkey and have it clog him up again.

I hope you find something that helps your little one