I'm at my wits end with my DD. She had an incident of constipation a few weeks ago - she was constipated for a day or two and eventually managed to go with help in the bath - a giant and pretty solid poo which must have hurt. She was really upset although calmed down very quickly once she was done and there was no bleeding or visible splits. Anyway, we'd already been giving her lactulose etc so she was back to normal in terms of consistency immediately. However, she's been withholding ever since. It starts early in the morning and she'll strain and strain to hold it in, all the while getting more upset. This happens repeatedly throughout the day until late afternoon / early evening when she obviously can't hold it any more and goes. She's miserable all day because her tummy hurts I think, and then she's absolutely inconsolable every time she starts going - screaming, shaking her head, going "no no no". She's clearly terrified - it's heartbreaking.
She's having regular prunes to keep her poo soft and we're praising her through the roof when she goes. We've also read her a couple of poo-related books to try and normalise things. The doctor says there's nothing wrong physically, it's a behavioural thing and is reluctant to prescribe any more lactulose or movicol etc as he doesn't think it would help. Has anyone else had the same problem? Please help!