Advice for chronic functional constipation

[Mishamoo2]

Hi this could be quite a long post but bear with me. My 6yr old soon to be 7 has been struggling with functional constipation since potty training. We are lucky in that he takes the medication well (senna 15ml and movicol three sachets a day). We are now at a stage where we feel he is clear of poo but he still refuses to go himself to the toilet. Some days he will by himself the next he won’t even when asked to sit and try. We are under the care of a paediatrician but I don’t always feel he is very effective. We are told to just up the meds. I feel we now have a psychological habit and am not really sure how to help with this. The doctor asked me to ask the school for support from school psychologists but the school nurse said there was no point as she is an educational psychologist. I am due back to the paediatrician in 2 weeks. Does anyone have advice as to what to ask for next. My son is in year three now and I feel he has maybe given up ever getting better with this.

We are all a bit sad about this situation so any advice of similar situations would be greatly received. Thank you.

[CN4321]

Goodness it’s so hard isn’t it and I wish I had some good advice for you.

My son is 8 nearly 9 and although he will go by himself now sometimes we still see him desperate and refusing to go. The only thing I would say is to try and take the stress out of the whole thing by maybe changing your expectations. Maybe you just accept he needs reminding and do it rather than feeling worried that he isn’t choosing to go on his own (easier said than done I know), everyone will feel a bit better about it all.

I have definitely in the past been so worried my son isn’t doing things the other kids do that it has exacerbated the stress in the family.

As he starts to get older he definitely won’t want to be reminded all the time at which point you say to him ‘if you don’t want me to remind you then you have to go on your own’

Good luck

[Mishamoo2 in reply to CN4321]

Thank you for your response. We are willing to try anything. The longer it goes on the more concerned for his mental health I get. It seems though that once they get it they just move on with life.