4,5 yo withholding poo

[JSchmitti]

Hello

My 4.5yo is withholding bowel movments and I don't know how I should get her to go. We had some issues with constipation in the past and had to use a suppository to get things moving but only once and then she was fine. However, this time is different (I guess also because she's older now) and she says she's scared it will hurt and she keeps holding it back. In the last 2 weeks I had to give her a laxative 3 times (even then the last time she managed to keep it in 1 day after the laxative). I'm getting very desperate bc I know it can cause a lot of issues if we don't solve this but tbh I'm at my wits end. Even though the last 3 times it wasn't painful to pass stool she still uses it as an excuse. I tried to distract her (with a fun game or a book), encourage her, bribe her but no success. I'm torn between to not say anything anymore and let her decide if and when she wants the toilet or enforcing some kind of routine in the hope that this will get things moving. Anyone and advice? We've also been prescribed Movicol but I'm a bit sceptical as I've seen that she's even managed to not go with a laxative.

[SallyCal]

Based on our experiences I would say use the movicol! My 4 year old started to withhold after a painful constipation episode and we tried to deal with it without medicine and use reward charts, toilet toys, sitting routines and improving her diet and despite thinking it was getting better it was never really sorted and after 18mths we were in a very desperate situation. She would then withold for a week at a time and our life would be dictated by the toilet and she wiuld get very moody. The Movicol was a life changer for us. She still withheld for the first 4 days of taking it but you have to remember that in their short lives all they can remember is that it hurt to poo so they don't want to go. After a couple of cow pat poo accidents because she tried to withhold but the laxative won she then started to go more regularly and she is now not scared. We have been on the Movicol fkr 6 months slowly reducing the amount down to 1 sachet every other day now and instead she now knows she must drink lots of water instead of medicine. Please don't go through 18mths like we did. Good luck and let me know how you get on. xx

[CN4321]

I also found the book: Constipation, witholding and your child by Anthony Cohn really helpful in understanding what was going on (not really a poolside read, but quite quick to get through and with sections you read to your child)