Need some advice.

[dharshana]

my daughter is 2.5 years old and having chronic constipation from March.she is on laxative daily (after disimpaction) for two months now.doctor asked to continue the laxative for 6 months totally. here are my questions

1. she poops daily with laxative. but whenever I give her milk I notice that she is struggling to poop even when laxative is given daily. does milk make constipation worse ?

2.will 6 month laxative treatment make her bowel work normally post treatment ? i am really praying she gets better in 6 months and doesn't need any medication later( hopefully I can manage her bowel movements with good diet). please share your success stories

3.While playing she doesn't give importance if in case she gets an urge to poop.she ignores her signals and continue playing mostly. so I have to watch her all the time and make her run/jump or do something actively so she can poop without controlling it.it happens daily.she never comes and says that she wants to.i by myself do something trickly so she poops.

please share your thoughts.

first time mother here.i highly appreciate any reply

[Yaleamanda]

Milk is highly constipating so i would remove all dairy from the diet. Secondly, you may need to be on the movicol for long period of time, there is nothing wrong with this, no different to any other medication being required. it wont harm her, damage the bowels or make them dependant on it as it does not work like that. Continue to use it for as long is necessary. Encourage regular toilet sitting after every meal, this will almost certainly help.

[dharshana in reply to Yaleamanda]

thank you for your reply.does giving laxative for long term really cures constipation? will they ever get back to normal bowel track if proper diet is given ?

[Yaleamanda in reply to dharshana]

Yes it can help long term. Even with a good diet constipation happens. It is not always caused by the diet in the first place.

[dharshana in reply to Yaleamanda]

yes I have made a huge drastic changes on her diet.but it doesn't even help a bit.

her body is working in a way that it can make only hard poops ;-( no matter how the routine is followed and how much she drinks water ..poop is just a same.

even a very small changes in her diet or routine makes things worse

[Yaleamanda in reply to dharshana]

What are you currently giving her to help her go? What laxatives do you give?

[dharshana in reply to Yaleamanda]

polyethylene glycol 3350 is the one I am giving . 8.5grams daily

[Yaleamanda in reply to dharshana]

Have you disimpacted her?

[dharshana in reply to Yaleamanda]

yes in March.after that she poops regularly on medication but I have to struggle to make her sit.she does not give priority when she gets an urge to flush

[Yaleamanda in reply to dharshana]

Add a stimulant to the regime to help stimulate the bowels.

[dharshana in reply to Yaleamanda]

okay

[Bambie83]

It’s definitely might be worth cutting or reducing dairy to see if that helps. And just try and get more water down her instead.

On how long it might take to get back to normal, will depend on your child and how much the bowel has been stretched. She’s so little so she may not have much control over it all anyway.

My daughter used to sit in a dirty nappy or pants and I would always be the one telling her she needed to go to the toilet. It’s really normal for little ones not to recognise they’ve soiled especially if they are playing or distracted. I think they don’t start getting the signals to the right body parts until they’re at least 4 or something.

Have you tried a toilet routine yet? I know she’s only 2.5 years so may not be completely toilet trained yet but it’s useful for getting their bowels used to emptying themselves regularly (normally 20-30 mins after each meal). I use a timer and get her to blow bubbles or a balloon or something and she reads a book or had the iPad for 10-15 mins. I’ve find 9 times out if 10 she’ll poo.

Your story sounds really similar to a lot of us here, so you are not alone!

[dharshana in reply to Bambie83]

my daughter is not ready to sit on the potty after meals.even if she sits she doesn't poop.it happens for 2 months now.she is just not interested in pooping . I have to make her run post meals so she poops without controlling it . any help for this