Toddler constipation -please help

[Autumn2019]

Hi all. I am really really stressed and I am looking for some advice please. DD is 2 yrs and 3 months. Despite wanting to exclusively breast feed her she was combination fed as i was unable to get her to latch onto one side. Anyway, since she was a few months old she has always had poo issues. For example since she was about 2 months old she would poo about once in five days. I was told by GP and HV that this was not uncommon and not to worry about it. They said that she was not constipated. I also saw similar stories online. When she was weaning she was constipated and would try very hard for a poo and her poo would be hard and pebble like. Eventually we sorted it out by giving prune juice, peaches etc. Since then she was pooing normally (between 1-3 times a day -soft stools etc). When she turned 1 i tried to switch to cows milk (in addition to whatever breastmilk she had) but seemed to me that she was starting to get constipated again. So i switched back to formula. She obviously can't be having formula indefinitely so i tried switching to cows milk again since two days ago. She had a bit of a hard poo yesterday but then shortly after had a normal poo. Today she has had only two small pebble like poos (sorry for tmi). I don't know what to do, i dont think i should or can keep giving her formula but then i dont want her to get constipated again either. Atm DD has two feeds of formula (am and bedtime) and i have only switched the morning feed to cows milk. Grateful for any advice. Tia

I am not a professional but this happened to my daughter with cows milk. I kept going to the gp and was consistently told ' well she has to have milk'. I persevered and I wish I hadn't. This started a 3year long period of her being terrified to go to the toilet because it had hurt her when I first changed milk. she used to scream like you would not believe when she needed to go to the toilet.

She used to withhold poo for as long as possible, could be up to 10 days. She was given laxatives but it did not stop the terrible fear that she had.

If I had my time again I would have gone to a different gp and kept on until they heard me. My dd went through absolute hell for years because of the change to cows milk.

I had to stop my DD drinking milk and limit her dairy intake altogether.
She takes lactulose & laxido daily even with limited dairy.

@Yogafairy Thank you for your reply. I am so sorry to hear what your DD went through. It's terribly frustrating when one's gp doesn't listen to you. My GP said if anything, formula would constipate DD as it had iron and cows milk should not constipate her. Well it seems like cows milk has constipated her so far. It's only been two days since i switched so i don't know if i should change back to formula or try cows milk few more days. There really is no professional support when you need it..

@Clangus00 Thank you for your reply. At what age did you stop your DD drinking milk? If you don't mind me asking - did your DD have any formula milk when she was a baby and if so did she have any issues with formula? My DD seems fine with formula now but has issues with cows milk. Sorry for asking so many questions

@Autumn2019 I would not accept that answer from your GP now. If I could go back i would be much more difficult than I was back then.

My daughter had to see nurses for this for years. I have since been told by a consultant that my daughter drinking cows milk has damaged the lining of her bowel.

Your gp needs to help you find answers. Don't be put off from fighting for your child.

Also my daughter was absolutely fine on formula.

She was premature and had donor milk for 3 weeks then formula until 1.
I stopped her milk at almost 3. She’s 4.5 now.

Alpro do a fortified toddler soya milk that might be worth trying? It's called Alpro Growing Up.

I would try cutting out cows milk and soya for 6 weeks and then reintroduce both separately and see what happens. If you do decide to do this you will need to make sure she gets enough calcium (350mg a day), enough vitamin D (toddler supplement) and enough iodine (haddock and forfeited milk).

The ERIC website is good too. Is she drinking enough water?

You've probably tried this already but have you tried gently introducing cow's milk?

So 2oz CM and 5oz formula in a 7oz bottle, the. 3/4, 4/3, 5/2 etc

We did each one for a week.

Thanks all for your replies.

@Selfsettling3 I will check out the ERIC website tonight, thanks. DD is not much of a water drinker so i have to sit with her at regular intervals and feed her water. I have started giving her warm water now and it seems to help a little. She had two pebble like bowel movements today and after nearly a full cup of warm water she had a normal bowel movement.

@Si1ver Thanks for the tip. I haven't actually tried that. I've only just switched her morning feed to cows milk two days ago. It didn't cross my mind to introduce CM gradually esp as GP said " Just switch it". If DD's pebble-like bowel movements continue i think i will try this.