21month son Withholding

[TwinMumm]

Hi, I just joined this forum, looking for advice... one of our sons has always had it tough with poo.

He hasn't had a poo in over 2 weeks almost 3 now actually!

They were born early, 31wks. When they are still in special care we noticed he kept getting bloated, his belly would swell and he just wouldn't poo, they eventually gave him a suppository, actually I think they gave him 3 before he let anything out. Then since then its been up and down really, sometimes he'll poo other times movicol would help him along... but recently I've given him movicol and ...nothing ... then gp prescribed Dulcolax, he's had some for the last two days and he's still withholding. I dont know what to do. He screams everytime he has the urge to poo but won't go ... it's so stressful coz his brother gets uncomfortable when he cries then both start crying. I have no idea what to do...

[Luella19]

Welcome to the forum. I really feel for you. I remember reading in the book ‘The ins and outs of poop’ that when dealing with withholding you need to give as much movicol (or equivalent) to make the poo so soft that it cannot be with held. I never got to that stage but I remember reading that. Maybe up the movicol dosage, how much is he having? Perhaps do a clean out with I believe is about 8 sachets a day (Eric can advise) and then keep his poo very loose for some time. I’ve no idea if this would help but just a suggestion.

I would also think that if your son had issues as a young baby then a referral to a consultant for further more specialist advice (that GP may not know) may be a good option.

[TwinMumm in reply to Luella19]

I will have a go at a few more movicol doses today. Thanks.

But I worry about movicol, does he get all his nutrients from the food or does it just flush everything out? Will he be dependent on it for the rest of his life? Has anyone else managed to wean thier little one off it...

[Luella19 in reply to TwinMumm]

From everything I have read or been told there are no long term issues with using movicol. It is an osmotic laxative, a softener, it acts to retain water in the poo. It isn’t a stimulant laxative like picosulphate or senna which acts to stimulate the bowel to push the poo out. They are different types of laxatives.

What you need is to keep the poo soft for a length of time to try and break the habit of holding it in. The hope is that once they get used to the feeling of pooing and don’t associate it with hurting or any other association they may have then slowly you can reduce the dosage. Eric can advise on dosage. But I would still press for a referral if you feel you are not getting far.

My daughter took movicol daily for about 3 years. She had no ill effect from it and doesn’t take it now.

Does he have a potty still? I found it easier to get my daughter to poo in the potty than the toilet and I kept it in her bedroom for a while until she got used to it. She poos on the toilet now.

Keep going and there is a good chance things will improve but it takes lots of patience, which is hard I know X

[TwinMumm in reply to Luella19]

'They' say they are a little behind in their milestones, they aren't talking probably yet so we haven't even attempted potty training.

We have an appointment with the doctors tomorrow so hoping to discuss it further there.

I'm glad your daughter doesn't need it anymore, makes me feel hopeful.

[MabelsMama]

Hi

Sorry to hear what you are going through. My 4 year old has suffered with stool withholding since she had a fissure at age 2 and has been on movicol for nearly 2 years in varying doses.

Last week she hadn't had a bowel movement for 19 days and was leaking soft poo so the GP referred to her to our local paediatric assessment unit where they tried a suppository with no luck and so they ended up giving her an enema which got the required result. We had been upping the movicol and giving sennashe had got impacted and couldn't shift it herself. It wasn't pleasant but she seems to have got over it now and is back at school, on 4 sachets of movicol which is keeping everything fairly liquid for the time being. I will definitely be stricter in enforcing she drinks her movicol, we put it in watered down innocent apple juice which seems to do the trick.

It's very stressful having a child that just won't go to the toilet because they think it will hurt, we hope to be off movicol one day but I have also heard that it's quite safe for long term use if necessary.

Good luck with your son, I hope things improve for you soon x x

[TwinMumm in reply to MabelsMama]

I know what you mean about the stressfulness but I'm glad to hear there's no long-term effects of movicol. And at least there's something to help our little ones along.

Our little one finally cleared out, hoping we can maintain some form of routine with the movicol.