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Toddler bowel movement help

4 replies

Toddlertroubles00 · 03/04/2025 11:43

My DS is 2 years (25 months) currently passes a bowel movement every 3-4 days. He is currently in nappies. He gets a bloated tummy and cries when trying to go because it hurts him. The poo seems normal and not hard.

We have a consultant appointment in a couple of weeks to review this.

Does anyone have experience of this with a young toddler?
Could it be a dietary condition?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Pinkelephant66 · 03/04/2025 19:45

Is he drinking enough and having enough fibre, fruits

nocoolnamesleft · 03/04/2025 19:47

Constipation is incredibly common in toddlers, and it is extremely rare for there to be a significant underlying condition. Have a look at www.eric.org.uk

ScaryM0nster · 03/04/2025 19:56

The ERIC website is brilliant.

It’s worth a good read through that and use their diaries etc before the consultant appointment to get the most out of the appointment.

Also, interesting piece of research done in Italy. In >50% of chronic constipation issues in children, a dairy free diet resolved the majority of the issues. So while the more comments symptom of a dairy sensitivity is diarrhoea, it’s a common cause of chronic constipation.

May be worth a try of a week or two dairy free and see if get a difference.

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EveryLidlHelper · 03/04/2025 20:08

Fits the bill for functional constipation - there is a backup of hard poo, but newer soft poo goes past this and is passed. The old dried backed-up poo can cause bloating and stretches the rectum, and the hard mass can put pressure on the bladder.

It’s not always well understood or treated in the UK - many other countries X-ray for it.

If it is functional constipation he will need a disimpaction regime - this is a big dose of something like movicol, not a small daily maintenance dose as can be incorrectly prescribed.

Hope you get a good practitioner. In the meantime, fill him up with tonnes of fluid, fats and fruity fiber - coconut milk, peanut butter, olive oil, butter, prunes, pears, kiwis, baked beans, ice lollies, smoothies

Warm drinks are AMAZING - hot chocolate, hot lemon honey, warm juice - they will really move things.

Go easy on milk and bread and other wheat products.

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