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Problem with poo poo

Dear all

I'm new here so excuse me if I may be writing in the wrong space...

I'm experiencing problem with my child's not willing to do number two.

My daughter is 25 months old. At the age of 9 months old she severely constipated. It caused her a lot of pain when she tried to push and it was a total nightmare. From that moment on we have problems with her doing number two.

To make her poo in the potty I have to create the whole atmosphere when everybody is quiet and she is not distracted. Also I HAVE to give a puree of prunes, apple and pear every day. So, she will have enough fibre and the urge to go. She doesn't like that puree and it actually started to affect her eating habits in general now....

My problem is that she doesn't wanna poo poo herself at all. If I leave her without reminding about it she may not do it for days which can harden her stool again...She doesnt like doing it whether it is into a nappy or a potty unless I make her. The bizarre thing is that she does wee wee in her potty effortlessly. Its like part of her routine now. no questions asked. But when it comes to number two she resists strongly doing it.

i think she may feel pressure from my side that she has to do it. I wanna her to poo poo once a day or at least once in two days but cant wait for more than that because of the fear of constipation.

I tried to make it fun, I tried to put her favorite tiger on a potty too and different other things. It seems to work a treat for that time round and then back again to where i started. I'm at my wit ends. Ran out of ideas how to make her go. Pleeeease help me. your piece of advice would be sooo much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Kind regards Elly

Replies

  • Hi there Elly,

    Doesn't sound like a problem with potty training as it started  before all that.You say she'll resist going  in nappy or potty,so I'd get her to do it in the potty if possible.

    When my son was 2 he had a problem with constipation.Certain foods were a trigger.Bananas and eggs were the two I noticed,you might find there's something your daughter eats that sets it off.We have a history of food intolerances in my family,you may get some ideas off family members.I had to be very strict with his diet.He had weetabix or ready brek with brown sugar(less refined than white) on for breakfast and wholegrain toast,you could use a fruit puree.He had  juice (squash)mid morning.I gave him rhubarb puree with brown sugar or apple and raisin puree every day.Mid afternoon he had orange juice,not diluted.Dinner plenty of fresh veggies.Just the two cups of milk,morning and night.There was plenty of roughage there to keep him regular most of the time,but he did get to a point where he was holding it and it would build up and he'd become constipated.They then associate pooing with pain and hold it more.

    Our cure was Califig.It's a syrup of figs.It doesn't afect the bowel,it just loosens the stools so they are soft enough for them to go comfortably.I think we had to give it twice a day. After tea everyday I would sit him on the toilet and stay with him while he went.He needed reaasurance at first,he thought it would still hurt but once he realised it didn't that fear went away,and the going to the toilet at that time became routine.Once I knew he was happy with that I gradually reduced the Califig.I think we used it for a few weeks in all,till I knew he could manage without.He's been fine without for years now,and he can even have the odd banana with out any problems.He just has a normal diet now too.

    If that doesn't help I'd go and see your GP.

    Hope things get better soonimage

  • Thank you very much theoldwomanwholivesinashoe for yr reply!

    She hasnt constipated since that time when she was 9 months old. But probably my constant nugging abt it makes her to hold it inside.... I tried to be relaxed about it, pretend its not a big deal for like a day or two and if she doesnt go within those days, I get really stressed out and start to verbally force her to poop..saying she has to poop now or she will get a tummy acne. I know I'm accentuating on it but I just cant help myself.... Because if she doesnt go for 3 days it may build up there as you have rightly mentioned and cause her a costipation. Thats actually a constant fear of mine. So, probably my problem is not constipation but more like holding poo and resistance to poo...

    I do make sure she gets fruits and juices, water, milk (once a day) in her diet too. I even freshly squeeze her apple, pear, carrot juice  sometimes with a beetroot as I noticed that it helps her to go. She eats healthy a home made meal incl lots of soup to ensure she has enough fluid. We have excluded banana, broccoli, cauliflowe last autumn when i found out that it cause her constipation.I make her prune,apple, pear puree every day.

    Its just its been continuing for more than a year now. i mean that I have to cook her all the time and make all those purees and juices. She doesnt like them anymore, so i have to give them to her by making a little play. She Does eat other food fine. only the ones that she feels I want her to eat she resists sometimes. I'm just so tired of tiptoeing around her. I want her to eat certain stuff, so she wont constipate but she would make tantrums over exactly that food.

    We have been to GP with regards to this matter. She has adviced us lots of fruit, veg and plenty of fluids... 

    How long did your son been on a special diet? how old is he now?  and what do you do if for instant he refuses to eat the wholemeal food with roughage? 

    Is Califig similar to Lactulose? we had the latter more than a year ago when she had been constipating.  i might give a Califig a go. Thanks again for sharing yr experience image

  • Also could you tell me pls where did you buy those fruit puree (what brand) or did you cook it yrself too? If you did, could you tell me how? thanks in advance
  • Yes, she does do it into a potty image
  • My son is now 11,we haven't had any problems since he was about three.

    Once we had cured the constipation,he began to realise there was nothing to fear.I just sat him on the toilet before his bath and he'd go.At first he was still scared it would be painful,but he soon realised it didn't anymore thanks to the Califig.I just told him this was the medicine that "made his poos not hurt" and he understood that.When he was sat on the loo I said to him it was going to be okay cos he'd had that medicine and he did go,and I said to him the medicine was working,which he agreed with.He needed to go without pain to realise there was nothing to fear.Once he had the same positive experience the next day,and the next day,the fear,and the holding it went away.Going at the same time everyday just became habit and that kept his bowels regular.We gave it a few weeks a then reduced the dose a little each week,just keeping an eye that things were still working,till we didn't need it anymore.It just helped us through that difficult stage.

    I didn't know about Lactulose at the time,so I used Califig,but lactulose would work.From what I understand it increases the amount of water in he stools,increases their volume and softens them,making the whole thing easier.The califig used to have a version for kids, now there's just one version for both.

    I think also your daughter is probably picking up your worries.Of course you're worried but try not to let her see you're worried.Hide the things you need her to eat,and have a wide range of disguises,so they just become part of her diet.Fairy cakes or traybake cakes made with wholemeal flour,brown sugar and dried fruit is just one way,and they think they're getting a treat.Fruit salad with ice cream.fruit juice jellies,fruit and custard,pasta sauces,you can whizz up all sorts into a smooth sauce to hide all sorts,soups and stews,smoothies and fruit sauces for icecream.I'm sure you do a lot of those already,but it's useful to have as many tricks up your sleeve as possible,because they get bored of the same things.Don't tell her she must eat this because she needs to go to the toilet,or anything like that,just be offering her something yummy to eat,and have some yourself too.We changed the whole families diet,so we all ate wholemeal bread,although we're now on Best of Both because they prefer it.We all eat weetabix,we used to all eat porridge.We certainly all eat the homemade cakes 

    The fruit purees were homemade.Just tinned rhubarb with brown sugar or custard because it's a bit of a sharp taste without.Apple and raisin the same.

    I hope you can find something that works soonimage

  • THANK YOU!!!! You gave me a ray of hope again image I'll certainly try yr recipes (sounds very appetising) and try to be relaxed image God bless you and yr family  xxx

  • Hello there

    i know this reply is a bit late (havent been on here in a while!) i have a two and a half yr old boy and he has suffered from around 4mths from constipation and he used to be in absoloute agnoy with it.i must say though that my doctors have been brilliant - she has a 3yr old herself so i guess knows how i feel- and she first perscribed me lactulose (this didnt work and apparently it will on soften the stools its not a laxative) then sfter two wks and still irregular patterns he was given Movicol,a sachet of powder in 60mls of juice a day and hey presto he goes!i was wary at forst of using this medication however the doc has told me its best to get them going to the toilet without having to think about it so it becomes more of a natural thing some children stay on it for yrs...we'll see hes been on it for 4mths now (with supervison of my doc) and hes doing well.

    perservere with the docs and keep going back if u need to give laxatives not perscribed.i told them that harvey was already on a very well balanced diet (i have to hide the meat in the veg not the other way around!) an he loves his fruit drinks like a fish....its sooo very common for children from 2yrs old to become constipated and its often a vicious circle.if your lo needs help get ur GP to give it!dont  take no for an answer because there are meds they can give!xxxx

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