4 year old withholding -movicol advice needed

[Mjo1]

My four year old has been withholding for the last two years, although I’ve only realised (rather naively now) that it is a condition and not something she will just grow out of.

Looking back, she has always suffered with constipation (prior to potty training she used to go on all fours to do a poo and would sometimes cry due to the pain)

I have purchased the book that is mentioned in quite a few posts (child withholding stools) which really bought some things to light.

At the beginning of August, we started a routine of sitting on the toilet in the evenings and miraculously she started going every other evening. For many reasons (one being we’ve just had our second child), routine slipped and so did her regular bowel movements.

Last week we were at a point where she didn’t do a poo on the toilet for 10days but had 5 days of at least 3 accidents a day in her knickers.

As anyone that has/is going through this knows it’s soul destroying for both the parents and child. It is causing stress to us as a family and stopping us from doing things as we know she will have an accident and the drama that that causes when we are out.

I have contacted my local GP surgery and spoke to a nurse registrar who said that she doesn’t need medication because she isn’t constipated because she is “going” in her knickers. Because we had success with the routine before, in her eyes we can do it again. She told me to speak to our health visitor.

The health visitor was more understanding and said to be persistent with the routine for 2 weeks and if that hasn’t worked to call them again.

After reading several of the posts on here, it’s seems quite clear that I need to start her on movicol. Has anyone started this without being advised to by the doctor?

My concern with this is she only drinks water. She drinks a lot of it but is very particular about tastes and trying new things. Because of this I have no idea how I’m going to get it in her.

Has anyone tried adding it to porridge? It’s the only way I can think of to get it into her system.

I’d be so grateful for any advice anyone can give.

[JoPit]

Hi, my 7 year old daughter is on Movicol, this was prescribed by the Doctor. She only uses half a sachet a day to help keep things moving. They changed the flavour of Movicol a few months back and it tastes more lemony now which my daughter hates. We mix with half water and top it up with a milk, she’ll drink it this way.

[Mjo1 in reply to JoPit]

Thanks for this.

Prior to being on movicol how often was she going between bowel movements?

Did you do a disimpactation prior to the regular movicol?

[RuthRosetta]

You can request paediatric laxido in the plain version (same medicine as Movicol just different brand name) so it's tasteless. My daughter is a terrible drinker so I've added it to ready brek in the past as well as rice pudding and it still works. I started my daughter on some left over laxido she had from and old prescription before requesting long term laxatives from the GP on Tuesday. I felt I couldn't wait until the Tuesday as she was in such a state. I agree it's soul destroying. I've been in tears yet again today. After 8 days of laxido I was hoping it would stop the poo accidents but it hasn't, but I think from reading on here it could possibly be because my daughter isn't used to the sensation of not being constipated. Sending you a massive hug x

[Mjo1 in reply to RuthRosetta]

Thanks for your reply.

Sounds like you’ve had a awful time of it.

I got the prescription last week and it is actually laxido. It’s so funny you say that as I tried some earlier and didn’t think it really had a taste. I’ve been adding 20ml to her water and she’s been drinking it completely fine so I’ll up the doseage now!

It’s her 4th birthday on Thursday, so after celebrations at the weekend we’re going to start the impaction process. It’s now been two weeks (the longest yet) that she hasn’t done a poo on the toilet. We’ve had at least 2 accidents every day since the last proper bowel movement and have put a quite regimented toilet plan in place but it’s just not happening.

Have you impacted your daughter before?

It’s such a tough situation to go through, and one that people really don’t understand (although they think they do) unless they’ve been through it. This forum is such an incredible place for the support and just making you realise you’re not the only ones going through it.

I hope your daughter gets some relief soon and you can all have some accident free time x

[RuthRosetta in reply to Mjo1]

I haven't disimpacted my daughter but on the second day of laxido she did loads and loads of poo so I don't know if she actually needs to follow a disimpaction regime. I'm so tempted to book a private consultation with a paediatrician who specialises in constipation as I just feel at the end of my tether. I dread going out. I don't want to book a holiday. I feel like my whole life revolves around poo, wee and potty training. Do you use rewards when your daughter does a poo in the right place?

[Mjo1 in reply to RuthRosetta]

You poor thing. It’s terrible enough with a 4 year old but I can’t imagine going through it with an older child.

Have you called the ERIC helpline? They gave me amazing advice which I was armed with when going to the dr’s. Without it I wouldn’t have felt confident enough to disagree with the Dr who was trying to tell me she isn’t constipated.

I also bought the book “stool withholding: what to do when your child won’t poo” which is written by a mum who went through the same thing but is so informative and offers lots of great advice.

Yes we do a reward chart for when she does a poo on the toilet, it did work really well. But I think we’ve reached the point where she’s doesn’t know she’s had an accident (due to lack of sensation) so it’s a lot harder to try to reward.

I know exactly how you feel, it’s so demoralising. I really hope you get some help soon. Please let me know how you get on x

[RuthRosetta in reply to Mjo1]

Luckily the GP I saw is being really supportive and has put my daughter on long term laxatives. I haven't called the ERIC helpline, perhaps that should be my next move before booking a private paediatric appointment. Luckily the GP we saw is really supportive and has prescribed long term laxatives for my daughter.