Is my 3 year old impacted?

[Helelelee]

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to get in touch with ERIC this week but haven't got through to the helpline yet so posting here.

For the past year and a half my 3 year old has been withholding - although I had no idea it was that- I thought his cadence for pooing was just every 3 days and he was scared of the toilet for poos. However the penny has dropped and it all makes sense now as a withholding issue. We've been prescribed Lactulose and he's been on it for a week and we've made some progress but he can still hold it in even on the laxative.

I've read the book 'Stool Withholding- what to do when your child won't poo' and I have a question about Encopresis.

My son's withholding has never gone beyond 3 days, in which instance he will usually get the urge and do a massive poo in a pull-up. He's never soiled his pants. Do you think we need to disimpact him (i.e shall I push for Movicol and clear him out)? I've got a hunch that his withholding has desensitised his bowel a bit but I really don't know whether he's got a build up in there or not.

Any insight or thoughts greatly appreciated.

[jennyp8]

Hi there, sorry I dont have any advice but im following as this is pretty much exactly the same situation as my 3 year old girl. I thought we had turned a corner a few weeks ago and she was pooing every other day and was going herself on the potty no problem. We have since been away for a few days over half term and now feel we are back to square one as she didnt go at all while we were away and we have been home a few days now and she still hasnt gone. We are giving her lactulose and making sure she is drinking. Hope you get some answers soon x

[Helelelee in reply to jennyp8]

You too! This is so frustrating. Fingers crossed we can get them sorted quickly.

[ERIC-Charity Partner in reply to jennyp8]

please see my reply to Helelelee above ^

[LB1234]

Hiya, this sounds similar to what we went through with my daughter. Disimpacting seems to be a common suggestion here although we managed to resolve without going down that route and being really consistent with routine. Took several weeks but got there eventually. I'll see if I can find my post about it...

That said, it's worth speaking to the GP again if worried - every situation is different so follow your instinct.

[LB1234 in reply to LB1234]

This was what we did, soiling had been going on for several months and got a lot worse after we moved house....

started off witholding as she doesn't like pooing in public toilets or at nursery but her body naturally wanted to go in the middle of the day so it led on to constipation and lots of soiling and wee accidents. No amount of encouragement or rewarding was working and I was worried she had actually lost the ability to control her bowels.

We started on movicol (1 sachet per day in the morning) and after about 10 days her stool was soft enough for her to pass without any straining (almost a paste/mousse consistency). We rigidly stuck to a routine of sitting on the toilet/potty after every meal and before bed and gradually she started having bowel movements at these times. We give her plenty time - it can often take 20 mins or more for her to go even now - so lots of games, chatting, books and laughing.

Initially she was still having accidents but we stuck with it and have been without a poo accident now for about 6 weeks, and only a couple of wee accidents. She'll pretty much always poo during at least 1 sit now, but generally at both the morning and bedtime sits.

Also keep her diet really varied and lots of water to keep things moving.

Hope you find something that works for you - it's really frustrating for all involved!

[Helelelee in reply to LB1234]

That's a huge relief to hear. I can't bare the thought of disimpacting him if we don't necessarily need to. I'm going to push for Movicol because Lactulose just isn't cutting the mustard right now. Fingers crossed we have similar success to you guys. Thanks for sharing!

[LB1234 in reply to Helelelee]

Yeah I also wanted to avoid disimpacting if possible as I wasn't sure if that would put her off using the toilet even more. We've gradually come to the realisation that we'll need to stick to this routine long term which is fine, we just need to give her plenty time.

Just noticed the bit about using a pull-up - no advice on that as we weren't in that situation - I'm sure you'll find something that works though, even if it's not straight away. As I said, we were at it for several weeks before we properly saw improvements so keep going 💪🏻

[ERIC-Charity Partner]

Hi just to let you know that you can join our free online workshop with our Continence Nurse THIS Saturday, and then a workshop on poo problems with our Helpline Advisors next Wednesday evening. eric.org.uk/Event/mancheste...

[Helelelee in reply to ERIC-Charity]

Thanks so much, I've just signed up

[EmilyH85 in reply to ERIC-Charity]

I missed this event - is there a way to watch the recording?

[ERIC-Charity Partner]

Great, I hope you find it helpful, Sarah