2yr old was constipated but laxative seems to make it worse now, advice please

[Steffiriley]

Good evening,

I have a 2yr old boy who has never been a frequent pooer. He was breastfed for the first 4months pooing once every 2-3 days if not longer between, onto combination feed and it was once every 2-3 days. On to solids and he still goes once every 2-3 days again if not longer. He seemed to be having difficulty passing poo and was straining for hours before going so our doctor prescribed movicol. Great this seemed to help and it became easier to poo but not always more frequent. This was nearly a year ago.

Since January he has still kept his irregular pattern of not pooing everyday and having gaps of 2-4 days between. He is no longer in pain or straining to go and he doesn't complain of tummy ache. The doctors advised me to use movicol as I saw fit, once a day or once every 2 days or even come off it completely. So the real questions is what should I do? If he has it once a day he has progressively less formed poo. He does the same thing if on one every 2days but it takes longer to 'deform'. Without the movicol the gaps are getting bigger between bowel motions. He does have smelly wind and poos and I can normally tell when he needs to poo as he has a decrease in appetite.

I am confused as to whether the movicol is helping and wondering if I need to go back to the doctor with him. Apart from never sleeping a full time without waking he is a happy and bright young man.

Thanks for reading

[Georgina1475]

Hi I would suggest going back to your GP and getting him check his tummy over and to possible add in a stimulant too such as senna or such like.

Having poos every few days can be seen as normal but he shouldn't need to strain to go. The issue with constipation is the damage it does to the nerves and eventually the body doesn't know when it needs to go as the messages don't get through, this takes a long time to mend.

Where you advised to do a disimpaction when first put on movical? As he has smelly wind it could be that's there's a blockage which the softened poo escapes around but has never cleared. I would ask the GP about this too. Once a full clear out has been achieved then a maintenance dose like you been taking will be enough to help him go more regular. As he's young it's a good time to get this sorted. If you do a disimpaction I suggest that you really cream up his bum as the poo that comes out can be very acidic and my son really suffered with bum sores.😕

Have a look at Sandra Henson YouTube channel about constipation. Have a look at Eric.org.uk as they have great info and professional advice. Best wishes keep in touch here.

[squizita]

You can give parts of sachets, if he's not straining and poos well on movicolbut it's too soft on 1 a day, you can use half a day?

[Steffiriley in reply to squizita]

Thats a good idea, i think i shall ring and speak to the doctor but that is worth remembering. Especially as they say they last 24hrs in the fridge once made.

[Hidden]

Your 2 year old is a 'bright young man'.............? Is he getting enough fruit in his diet: mango, peaches, plums ? These all work wonders softening poop naturally. Is he getting enough water/fluids? I think some kids have a different poo cycle and going everyday is not normal for them.

[Steffiriley]

Not sure about the question mark for bright young man but yes he has plenty of fruit especially those supposed to help and he drinks plenty of water.