Poo refusal please help

[Mytime2shine]

Hi my 3 year old ds was going great with potty training he's amazing with wees takes himself to potty and stays dry most nights our issue is with poo. So in the beginning he'd poo on potty no issues every other day. Then suddenly, beginning of this month he just refused to go and poo on the potty or in his nappy. I noticed he's grunting and laying on his front wanting hugs all the time and clenching his bum so he's withholding the poo. He held his poo that first week for 5 days and ever since then it's been every 5 days. But he is miserable and irritable from the third day. His tummy is bloated he's refusing to eat, were now on day 5 of poo withholding this time and he keeps clenching his bum laying on his front and crying out. We've increased his fibre by loads since he started but it's not really helped I'm gonna try to get him into a Dr tomorrow to see if they can give me anything to help him go back to being regular. He won't even poo in a nappy. I've held out this long as when I contacted health visitor they said he's probably frightened of the potty and it's a phase but I think he's actually in pain from holding it, I'm worried the Dr will just say it's part of potty training and fob me off. I wondered if he maybe has trapped wind aswell. But any advice of anyone whose gone through similar. He can say a few words but not loads so can't communicate how he feels and struggles to regulate his emotions. TIA x

We did have something similar with eldest DS, he’s at university now so it was some time ago. Sounds like going to dr is a good idea, just to check there is nothing more serious going on- I think if they get sore it can hurt to poo and that makes them try and avoid it. If there’s nothing physically wrong we found going for a walk in the woods armed with a selection of nappy bags and/or a travel potty and some toilet paper actually did the trick on several occasions and that helped normalise things and get into a routine- the exercise and thinking about something else just made him need to go suddenly before he could avoid it. I recommend woods so there are trees to dodge behind and you can hover him over the open bag 🤦‍♀️ Mostly though be reassured that this problem feels massive right now, but in 6 months it will likely be a distant memory and there will be new ones instead.

DD did this. I took her to GP who suggested she was likely constipated- they gave some movicol to get things moving. No problems since. Her poo was impacted and she literally couldn’t go - poor thing, I wish I’d gone sooner.

Thankyou I've taken him for a walk in our local woods and will make it a weekly thing. He's had a drs appointment they said they can feel a little blockage in his tummy and have given him lactulose to get him back to being regular. Still no poo yet last time was Sunday morning. But he's had a teaspoon of laxative so should be better soon.

My DD did this when she was appalled by poos. Date juice and lots of it got it moving. Think the more they hold it the more the bowels can create pockets from withholding and build up then creates blockages. Date juice overpowered the ability to hold back.