Potty training an already constipated child

[fionnthedog]

DS is 2.4 and beginning to show some signs of being ready to potty train (e.g. He tells me when he is weeing in his nappy) but I have not done anything about it because he's really struggled with constipation ever since he was weaned and I just can't see how it'll be possible to train him to poo on the toilet / potty when he already finds it so hard to go.

I've been to and fro to the doctors and (so far) resisted laxatives but he's regularly taking lactulose and daily prune juice and we work hard at getting him to drink lots of water and eat a good amount of fruit and veg. This usually keeps it at bay but recently we've had another flare up (didn't poo for a week ) and even when things are better he still often strains without producing a poo.

I keep thinking that I'll potty train when we've sorted the consolation but now I'm beginning to think we'll always struggle with the constipation so I'll have to train around it.

Any tips? I know I have a good while if necessary but would be good to have some insight / help if possible.

He's pretty young still. I'm not an expert but I'd be tempted to wait until the constipation is under control, and his language improves. Our daughter struggled with constipation during potty training (lots of very tiny poos, movicol, etc etc). It was the hardest bit of parenting I've done so far.

Have you contacted ERIC for advice? They might give more evidence based advise than we can....

Thanks both. He doesn't have any known allergies though I am beginning to wonder if there's an intolerance there somewhere - but until he can tell me more about how his tummy feels I can't really be sure.

I think I will contact ERIC for some advice though - good idea xx

My friend is having a similar issue and has to put her DD in a nappy for a poo as she is the same as your DS and regularly goes for up to a week without going as it is.
They are not sure if it is more of a withholding issue with her though but the GP has recommended trying to get her more regular with lactulose / movicol and only thinking about potty training once she has been regular for a month.

My Ds wasn't out of nappies until he was 4years 3 months. He had constipation and was on movicol for 18months. He used pull ups so if he needed a wee he went to toilet/potty fine but still had the protection of a nappy for the poo's. With Ds he was with holding which caused a buildup, once he started preschool he started to with hold less and we weaned him off the meds.

Ds1 struggled with constipation for a few years from age 2. We were under the care of a paediatrician initially who told us not to push the potty training until the constipation was under control.

You may want to ask your GP for a referral too, but also if he's been struggling a while then he may really need something like Movicol for a while.