How do I stop a 3yr old from stool withholding

[Stresseddad79]

Has anyone got any tips on how to help my 3yr old with her stool with holding? We have given her stool softeners and adjusted her diet. But she still isn’t relaxing. She is constantly running to a corner and crossing her legs whenever she gets a stomach cramp. This is making her very reluctant to potty train really don’t know what to do

[Ronniesmum]

Hi stresseddad79

My little boy was exactly the same and started due to a severe case of constipation when he was around 2 years old.

I found the stool softeners i. e. Lactulose, senecot, actually made him worse as it stimulates the bowel muscles making the cramps in the tummy much worse but it also makes the consistency of the poo very sticky and harder to pass. the best thing that actually worked for us was movicol, carrying out a disimpaction routine using movicol to clear him out first and then a daily maintenance dose to keep him regular and soft enough to not cause another traumatic passing incident that caused the issue in the first place.

I found getting our local continence service involved was a massive help, they would visit us at home regularly and they would encourage him with certificates, charts etc for small successes but we're very very empathetic to his fear and didn't push him too much.

Happy to chat privately if you would like to. We are 2 years clear of movicol now so I promise there is light at the end of the tunnel