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Constipation in 2 year old - HELP!

Hello, im nee here.

My 2 year old has constipation. She usually went no problems around twice a day then last Thursday (7th) was the last time she went normally. She passed 2 very small poops with difficulty on the Sunday and 1 on Monday no bigger than 10p piece each. Went gp on tues got prescribed cosmocol but my daughter wouldnt take it, i tried it in 25 different fluids, foods and cups, so gp gave us lactulose which she will take. Wednesday night she took 1 hour to pass a poo as hard as a stone and as big as a bouncy ball with a lot of tears and stress. She was in the bath I had to get in there with her fully clothed to help her through. We called 111 as we really didn't think she would be able to pass it.

Spoke to gp next day and was given movicol as well as the lactulose. One satchet went undetected so far so good apart from she will get the need and push and scream but then hold it in.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. I can feel how backed up she is in her tummy and can't seem to find any help gp said to manage her medication myself, medically nothing will happen unless she stops eating, drinking or pooing.

Surely the fact she hasn't pooed in over a week is a really bad situation that needs medical intervention since medicine isn't working? We are also having 2 warm baths a day to try and move things and I'm massaging her tummy and doing bike movements when she's asleep as she won't let me when awake. Her diet is good and very varied and im bugging her all the time to drink and she continues to breastfeed. I am drinking orange juice to try and help her go as well. She isn't potty trained and we haven't tried yet as she doesn't seem ready so she is still in nappies although they are mainly off in the house.

We have upped to 2 satchets today and then I can move to 4 from Monday but that's the maximum gp has prescribed but by that point it will be 10 days of she hasn't gone before.

She is pushing and screaming yesterday but then held it in. I keep explaining This is making things harder but in the end she's 2 so she just knows others and doesn't want to pass anything.

Thanks

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I would try 4 sachets and then go to GP if it doesn’t work, you can always go to a different GP.

Trampoline can help get things moving possibly, or bouncing up and down on a space hopper or something similar followed by a hot bath. Sometimes the movicol takes a day or two to work. It’s so stressful when they can’t go. Hang on in there and no results on 4 sachets, go back and ask about doing a disimpaction

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Thanks for coming back to me. The gp said I couldn't go to 4 satchets until Monday as I have to gradually up it every other day. I just don't understand how there is no issue medically when she must have a lot built up and no idea of how it's going to come out.

We do a lot of bed bouncing so hopefully we will do that before the bath this time.

Thanks for the advice ☺

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She’s only 2 so best stick with what the GP says I guess. Sounds like you’re doing loads, hot baths usually really help. I’m hopeful once you get onto 4 sachets for 3/4 days you will see results. I’m sure the GP said but once you have result, find a maintenance dose of movicol that keeps the poo soft so it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s such a classic to take them off the movicol too soon. Good luck and give us an update when you get some joy, good news is always welcome 🤗

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Thanks ☺

Yes they said to remain on one watcher until she's signed off by the doc he said it would be atleast 6 weeks after she is going normally again.

We have just had another bouncy ball sized poop that took around 25 mins to pass once again didn't think she would ever pass this one as it was wider than the last but she did it. It was an awful experience for us all though.

When will the really big rock hard poops stop do you think? I wpuld have thought the lactulose would have softened them by now as she has been on that for 5 days now.

These are the reasons she will hold the poops until she can't anymore which seems to be 3-4 days at the moment.

I will definitley share the good news when it happens. I'll shout it from the rooftops ☺

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Poor you and poor your daughter. It might be that the poo doesn’t soften until you get up to 4 sachets. She’s doing really well to get it out from the sound of things. Hopefully the combo of lactulose and movicol will kick in today or tomorrow. Would she be able to stomach prunes or prune juice or figs or raisins or dried apricots? Also porridge for breakfast? Look up soluble fibre online and get anything she will stomach into her tomorrow from the list. Good luck 😉

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Maybe, I'll call the gp on Monday to discuss it further.

I was sneaking prune juice into normal squash before the movicol and she won't eat prunes. She does like dried apricot/raisins though but she will only have a little bit.

I will have a read tonight. Im willing to try anything and everything if it means she gets better.

Honestly thank you for chatting with me, It means a lot. We are a little lost in this whole thing and not got much guidance as yet.

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Mate, we are all in the same boat, desperately looking for people who understand!!! You’re not alone 🤗

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We have had a traumatic afternoon but she has just the biggest hardest poop I've ever seen in my life. I'm hoping the medicine has worked it's magic and all the blockage is clear now. Thanks for all your help 🙂

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Oh awesome!!! Poor thing, but I’m so glad she’s got it out! It could take months for her bowel to return to normal so I’m pleased the GP has said about continuing maintenance dose of movicol. From my own personal experience best to taper down extremely gradually when you are reducing the maintenance dose, like teaspoon reduction at a time, but really well done, what a relief all round 😁

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Thank you so much. Long way to go but if we can see the last of the rock solid ones then it's one milestone cracked ☺

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My daughter got constipated just after she turned 4 and it was a result of a sickness bug and the constipation that followed after. Well done for getting early help, we tried to manage it ourselves at first with diet changes and Lactulose (which I don't think did anything for us) so it didn't get better until we got the Movicol. It took a good few days for the Movicol to kick in so keep going. I know what you mean about large poos getting stuck, we had some horrific moments. Vaseline helped if it got stuck and hot baths and exercise helped get the poos moving. Also think long term as after the medicine you will need to manage diet to keep everything soft. So lots of water and high fibre food, our daughter luckily loves Raspberries (really high in fibre more so then any other fruit) popcorn is a good switch for crisps, Shreddies for breakfast, and Ryvitas or 50/50 bread. Once our daughter passed enough soft poos she got over the psychological fear of going and stopped withholding. Hold on in there sounda like you are doing all thw right things. xx

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Hello, thanks for your reply. Yes my daughter is definitley struggling with the fear now, she's been walking odd and getting in her 'poo position' but then holding it in all day today. So I think the medicine is working but she's withholding. It was a big surprise for us as her diet is amazing very varied and balanced. Lots of fruit and veg and plenty of fibre, she's also a big fan of raspberries. I think it was her fluid intake that has affected her so I'm working on this. Im working on ensuring she drinks about 15-20oz of fluids then has her breastfeed on top of that, rather than letting her drink whatever on top of breastfeeding.

We will go to 4 satchets tomorrow. The next challenge is I have to go back to work tomorrow but I can't leave her in case she has another hard poop like the past 2 as she will need me there and I will need to get into the bath with her to get it out. In the end my daughter comes first though.

I'm glad your daughter is ok now. And thabks for the tips ☺

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We have had a traumatic afternoon but she has just the biggest hardest poop I've ever seen in my life. I'm hoping the medicine has worked it's magic and all the blockage is clear now. Thanks for all your help 🙂

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Glad to hear your daughter has been today. You do need to wait for her to pass very soft poos for her to get over the fear and pain so stick with the medicine for some time. We never had to do a disimpaction but had cow pat type poos for a few days and then slowly reduced the amount of Movicol until we got to soft sausages. We then stayed on one sachet a day for a while and have just reduced it down to one every other day now. A couple of tips for helping them to drink more water - straws with cups and also play tea parties as my daugher drinks loads without even thinking as she is playing! Keep going. I am sure after a few weeks the pain will go and then once she has had a few pain free poos she'll be much happier about the whole situation. Let us know how you get on. xxx

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Yes most definitely we are no where near out of the woods and medication won't be decreased until she has regular soft poops then we will decrease. I'm just hoping there will be no more rock solid poops to come. We are going to see the gp tomorrow as she had blood when passing the last one so just want to get her checked over.

I love the idea of the tea party. Frustratingly for me she loves drinking bath water but at the minute I'm lile atleast it's extra fluid lol.

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