My 4 year old holds in her poo - any tips?

[SunshineAndFizz]

My 4 year old has been potty trained since about 2 and a half, initially all good.

About a year later she then started to hold her poos in - she gets the feeling that she needs to go but purposely holds it in. We can see on her face when it's happening and despite lots of encouragement from us she just won't do it. This in turns leads to her going a few days without pooing, and the inevitable large/sore poo when she eventually does go.

When we ask her why she holds it in she either says 'I don't know' or sometimes 'it'll hurt'.

We've tried calmly explaining why she needs to poo, that it won't hurt if she does it straight away, we've tried using a potty reward chart again, we've brought the potty into her play room so she can go quickly if she needs to, we've got her to sit on the potty/toilet for a while to try,,.the list goes on.

Anyone else been through this? Any ideas?

Should add we've tried stool softener too - although she's not constipated exactly, not initially anyway. It's in her mind rather than a physical thing.

This charity has loads of helpful information:
https://eric.org.uk/

My DS did much the same at 3.5 and he did become extremely constipated over time. In the end he started pooing in the loo regularly, though there wasn’t any reason why that I could put my finger on. I would say keep on with the stool softeners and do keep on explaining that it really helps to poo regularly, but try to keep low key and not blame. Perhaps big her up and stop reminding her and encourage her to use the actual loo rather than a potty.

Thank you!

Good to know it sorted itself out for you eventually.