Toddler not pooped in ten days

[alixxx1]

Hi

My 2 and a half year old hasn't pooped in ten days. I have been giving him laxido for ten days (even longer) as this issue has been going on since around February. He is holding in his poops.

I haven't even started potty training yet because of this ongoing problem. He is still in nappies.

Anyway, he just stands straining and whining all day. I took him to a and e the other day due to vomiting which I thought might be linked to this, maybe he was in pain? But the doctor felt that the vomiting wasn't linked to the lack of pooping and suggested he wasn't in pain.

He is now not eating (past 3 days), is miserable all day. The doctor said to continue says as normal, so yesterday we went out for a walk, which he'd normally love but instead he ended up standing, refusing to move and whining. The day ended in me actually shedding a fair few tears as I'm at a loss.

He has a poor diet. He doesn't really eat fruit or veg, I try blending it or hiding it amongst other foods but once he gets a taste that it's in there, he will stop eating. Ive had to resort to buying baby fruit pouches on occasion I.e. ellas kitchen prune pouches etc.

His diet consists mainly of toast, beans, weetabix/porridge, crisps, mushy peas, fish fingers and pizza. I know this might be making his stools hard and painful. The doctor suggested I make him eat fruit and veg, that I just 'make him' - but other than actually physically ramming the food down his throat and force feeding him, how do I make him?

I'm at a loss now and at my wits end, I'm sick of seeing him upset and in pain. I'm sick of the GP just suggesting that this is basically normal and that the laxatives should help - clearly they're not.

I just don't kkkw what to do to help him? He's leaking brown water - clearly this is the poo which is around the stool that needs to pass.

And when he eventually poops I have that moment of relief, almost crying happy tears but then the cycle starts again a few days later.

He is a very defiant child at the best of times. He is always the child having a tantrum or misbehaving when we're out. So I am challenged but I am absolutely trying my best.

I'm just sat here feeling miserable and useless and feel like he's never going to poo.

I’m no medical expert but this sounds dangerous. If this were my DS I would take him to A&E.

Call the Eric helpline if you can they're are experts at childhood constipation and will likely recommend you disimpact
If you feel your child is impacted do go back to A&e
Knowledge from medical professionals around constipation is awful and so hit and miss

Sorry your little boy is struggling so

It doesn’t need A&E. Jesus. It needs a good faecal disimpaction regime from your GP and some orange juice

I second calling ERIC.

How much laxido is he on? For full impaction I think you can have up to 10 sachets a day until it is relieved.

A friend of mine had this - ended up in hospital to have an irrigation and clear everything out. Then daily senakot and a stool softener alongside fruit and weetabix. You need to keep pushing to see a specialist.

Sounds awful, he definitely needs medical attention after so long! Hope you get it sorted.

Does he drink water or liquids that aren't milk? DD(2.5) is also very prone to constipation since birth and I find liquids work better than fibre. She's not a fan of juice so I've resorted to allowing full-fat Coke diluted with a lot of water (1:3 or 1:4). She drinks this every time and I think the caffeine helps with the bowels. It's only reserved for days when I can see she's struggling so she gets "Coke Water" and she thinks it's a treat.

There's a Peppa Pig shaped wholegrain pasta from Heinz that can easily trick toddlers into eating more fibre. Weetabix and baked beans are very good sources of fibre so his diet sounds quite reasonable.

Some toddlers don't like fruit because it doesn't taste the same every time. Sour, hard or out-of-season fruits aren't very appetising to adults either. I find DD is far more accepting of fruit if it genuinely tastes good, so anything that's fresh, sweet and aromatic. I try searching local farms or markets for fruit & veg because a lot of supermarket stuff is just too bland.

For those critiquing the fact I took my child to A&E the other day, this was as instructed by my GP as they felt there could be a blockage. This was 3 days ago (7 days of not pooping and vomiting) and A&E doctor said there is no blockage. But he is struggling more since we visited.

Thank you for the Eric suggestions - I'd never heard of this! This is helpful.

After the bank holiday I will be calling the GP and asking for a referral to a paediatric gastroenteriologist - or whichever service is appropriate

Ring 111 and get an appointment with an out of hours GP. The ERIC website is really good.

Personally I find wheatbix makes the situation worse.

If that is all your toddler will eat then you also need advice from the HV about his eating. What have you tried so far to improve this? Tea party, grazing plates laying around the house, eating as a family with the same food with one of his ‘safe’ foods on his plate but also other items available but don’t comment on what he does or doesn’t eat can be helpful. Fruit pouches are often acceptable to toddlers.

Try to increase liquid, use different cups including real cup and sauce, straws, tea parties in the bath and lollies.

I don’t want to give medical advice on here but you need to contact 111 today and speak to an OOH GP/nurse about the movicol dose as it probably needs to be increased until your child has soft stools. But Sometimes the only way to sort things is a suppository. Constipation like this is really common in small children - the Eric website is good and so is the video “pop goes to pooland”

As a child we were regularly given dried raisins as a snack. Not great for the teeth but I do believe dried fruit is full of fibers and might help.

Poo goes to pooland - sorry autocorrect

Could you tackle it from the other end and use a glycerine suppository?

When my toddler was constipated we had to use a suppository.

Vomiting can be linked to constipation. I agree - call NHS111. Now not eating and miserable, not wanting to walk, sounds like a deterioration in symptoms. Are you giving the max dose of the medication?

@Sparky888 he has been seen by A&E since the vomiting it only lasted a day and has now stopped but his symptoms regarding the constipation, like you say, has deteriorated.

I have called 111 who have said our local wak in centre will call within the hour. Fingers crossed for a stronger laxative of some sort?

There is a lot of leakage in his nappy, poor thing. I don't want to change it just yet and disturb him or make him hold back even more.

Fingers crossed we get somewhere today.

The leakage is overflow when soft poo travels around the hard poo.

Get some dried prunes, put a few in water for them to bull up. Blitz them in a blender and spoon feed or top up with more water and let him drink it.
Put him in bath and keep him in there for half an hour. The warm water will relax his tummy muscles and hopefully he will poop in the bath.
The other thing to try is clockwise circular rubbing over his abdomen to try and get things moving.

Poor soul that just be so I comfortable

Bulk* up

A bowl of Heinz tomato soup worked wonders on my DD if she gets backed up. Instant results almost.

Try increasing the fat in his diet eg peanut butter, adding coconut oil / olive oil to his meals, stirring ground almonds into porridge, making smoothies with coconut oil and fruit in. Cashew nuts to snack on. Often it is lack of healthy fats that can lead to constipation.

Is Laxido the same as Movicol? I was told to give 1 sachet per day, then 2, 4, 8 and 12 on subsequent days until they physically couldn't hold it in and everything cleared out. Then reduce / use trial and error until going regularly, let them regain control and then continue treatment until withholding stops (could be weeks or months).

It sounds as if your son has over flow where there is hard poo stuck in his rectum and only fluid can pass around the hard poo. They may prescribe a suppository

DS2 had this at 18 months. He did eat fruit and done veg but the paediatrician kept going on about leafy salads which he would never eat. I was told the cause was too much milk. Movicol worked for us . I know how awful this is. He used to scream and cry, standing on tip toes , red faced after several days of not going.
Paediatrician first prescribed senna. That resulted in a late night trip to out of hours gp as he was screaming in stomach pain. GP expressed surprise that he had been prescribed it and changed it to movicol.

Meant some veg ...

My child had this age 3 and spent 3 days in hospital with the medication working to clear the blockage. It was very serious. Her bowel was extended so much it was crushing the pipes out of her bladder which nearly burst as she could no longer pass urine. Absolutely don’t struggle with this at home. She also had leakage and vomiting. She needed movicol for the following 18 months. The main thing to change to avoid this recurring is upping fluids. Fibre helps a bit but fundamentally it’s due to not enough water / liquids.