2year old constipated - help

[Sarahekewley]

My 2 year old daughter has been constipated for 6 months, she has been holding on and not going. Have tried Senna, pico sulfate (??) and lactulose. Now on paed movicol. She has up to 4 sachets a day and still nothing. Sometimes she does go and I think we are ok again but mostly she doesn't. It's so hard getting her to drink the liquid and no end result so we have to start again the next day. I'm often resorting to a suppository for her, which is traumatic in itself.

I'm finding it hard to cope wth, watching my poor daughter in pain, holding on and clinging to me.

We are currently on day 2 of no poo, we had a few hours of pains saying she had a sort bum (which means she needs a poo). Managed to get gmher moving about which sometimes helps but nothing today.

She isn't eating properly, I'm worried she isn't putting weight on. Ive cut out dairy, she's drinking more...I don't know what else to do.

We see a paediatrician who isn't that concerned. I have another appointment with him soon and trying a chiropractor on Monday.

What else can I do? Help please, I hate seeing her like this.

Also willing to see a private specialist if anyone can recommend one.

Thanks for any suggestions and advice.

[Amanda-87]

If she won’t take the movicol try putting it in milk with a milkshake powder that’s how I got my 3 year old to take hers and the senna I added that to juice x

[Anacha]

I am having similar problem with my 2 and half year old girl. It's almost been a year of trial and error and pediatricians.

She had a stomach bug and was scared to poo after that and kept withholding. She could go for almost a week at times. And then it would be hard poo with pain and the cycle would start again.

I am now giving her flaxseed oil (2 tspn) on daily basis...and castor oil once in two weeks.

I don't let her go past day three at the moment

If she does not go on day three then it's infant suppository. Doing this since couple of months...along with lots of water,prune juice and other fruits /veg. Main thing is don't let her hold too long.

Hope this helps and sorts out soon.

[Sarahekewley in reply to Anacha]

I have added a teaspoon of flaxseed oil to a smoothie and not noticed a difference. Maybe I should increase it to two. How does she take castor oil? I would like to get her off movicol. I know they say it's safe but I hate pumping her with it. I try not to let her go too long as it only gets worse. It's a nightmare!!

[Anacha in reply to Sarahekewley]

I give her two teaspoons of flaxseed oil daily...and add some flax meal to her porridge.

But the main thing that helps clear is castor oil. The bottle that I have says two tspn for 2 yr old.

I too started with one tspn at first to check how it will affect her. I mix it in a bit of mango juice to disguise the taste...but sometime she even takes it plain on good days. Giving it without mixing is best as there is no wastage and you know they have taken the full dose.

And also make her sit for 5-10muns in her pot after every meal. Helps sometimes

[Amanda-87 in reply to Sarahekewley]

To take her off the movicol you’ve gotta speak to you’re doctor as they will give you a safer way to stop it x

[Frustratedmum1]

We use the plain movicol. The only way we found was to put it in squash. The other thing how you mix it can make a difference. Put the movicol in first and then add the water. Use the minimum water and she may find it easier to take. Then I add the squash. Perhaps giving the movicol 2-3 times a day may help. If we tried 3 sachets in ago my son found that difficult where he consumes one at a time easy.

Water intake is very important. I can't believe how much they should consume.

We have added flax seeds and prune juice to our son's diet.

The reason she is losing her appetite is because she is full and sometimes they can feel sickly. May be worth considering a discompaction programme and then hopefully it may be easier to maintain.

Perhaps you need to consider adding a stimulant to accompany the Movicol. They appear not to work if the dosage is not correct. Perhaps her dose needs to be increased.

Toilet routine we found crucial. After meals.

Don't be hard on yourself. What your feeling is natural.

We found a chiropractor beneficial. I have come to realise you have to tackle this problem from a lot of different angles at once.

Good luck. I am thinking of you. Sorry about the essay.

[Sarahekewley]

i ended up giving her senna yesterday. We weren't told to use it with movicol but she needed something to get her going as not even a suppository worked. Thanks to advice on here and seeing what others do I used it or I would never have thought about it. I was initially adding movicol to yoghurt not realising that you need to add it to water. Then realised dairy was making it worse. So it's all trial and error. The chiropractor says she can help but I'm a bit if a skeptic and it's a lot of money. But giving it a go in case it helps. Thanks for your help!

[Sarahekewley in reply to Sarahekewley]

Also, have you seen the anti-movicol articles? Accidentally stumbled upon one, wish I'd never read it, makes me feel worse

[giul8bruce]

unfortunately I sympathise with you but for us that. our kids are like this , this problem is not one that you resolve in 1 day, it takes dedication, fights perseverance change of habits however we are very lucky if when it happens to us the children are still young as it become much much more difficult later on. I have not yet managed to fully clear the block in my daughter colon.. but I m hopeful I had to change treatment as Movicol was not working for her because she has a slow digestive system so now I am on enemas micro lax and pico and Movicol as well and quite a lot is coming out.. I wish you can find right treatment for you but as the doctor suggest make sure you sit your child in toilet twice a day 25 mins after meal for at least 5 minutes