13 month old in movicol. Overwhelmed

[Movicolbaby23]

It’s the middle of the night and I’m overwhelmed. My breastfed baby at 6 months developed chronic constipation. He had covid, and other colds, was weaning and started on multivitamins with iron. Since then I think we’ve successsfully weaned (still breastfed) and now on multivitamins without iron. He was never impacted according to the GP but I was given a combination of bad advice and made mistakes like stopping it completely. Now I’ve lost confidence in myself to manage this. His diet has always been good with plenty of fluids and fibre. There are no red flags. He is on 2 sachets for 2.5 months and alternated between type 4 and 6 and now type 6 -7 fir last 3 weeks and sometimes going more than once a day with medium to large amounts. He also has a bit of nappy rash from this. The GP said to reduce to 1.5 and he didn’t poo then pooed a large amount type 5 and I started him on 2 sachets fir one day then 1.75 for 3 days. Tonight he wet the bed which he did at the beginning with constipation (before he was ever on movicol) because he feeds a lot at night when his tummy is unsettled. I am now increasing to 2 tomorrow. He is doing medium amounts of type 6 now.

I am beyond overwhelmed as I don’t think I’ll ever get this right. One step forwards and 2 steps back. I need better advice and I don’t know who to ask. I suspect I need the continuation of care from the right person but the continuity of care is so patchy from nhs professionals and it’s not the same person. We’re waiting for a referral to the bowel specialist nurse.

I’m worried we’ll need to go back up to 2.5 sachets and everytime I get this wrong I’ll have to increase his maintenance dosage. I feel like a terrible parent, have no confidence to deal with this and incredibly alone. I feel like crying

[Yaleamanda]

Contact the Eric charity for advice.

[Worriedmum222]

I hope that ERIC and the specialist nurse can give you good practical advice.

I just wanted to reach out as you describe yourself as beyond overwhelmed. Having had 2 children with encopresis and on going bowel and digestive issues since they were little, I know how overwhelming, scary, confidence-shattering, shame-inducing and isolating this situation can be.

If I could give any advice I would say.. don’t blame yourself- this is a complex and common problem and there is not yet enough expertise and support available for parents; there is no simple answer and it is hard to work out what to do, especially when balancing all the other aspects of your child’s life and family life. Try to get support for yourself- someone to talk to, if you have a partner make clear requests for them to be involved and take 50% of the responsibility. Having a young baby you need to be looked after too so that you have the resources.

Sending a hug to you. Remember you are not alone in experiencing this and it is not- it really is not - your fault.

[Researcheverything]

How is your baby now?

[Ellcee_79]

Please don’t blame yourself, our son is now 5 and we have only got a diagnosis of chronic constipation this week, (and I broke down in tear several times in that appt, it’s exhausting) my son soils himself over 7 times a day and is at school. He was on Movicol as a baby and then at 16 months we queried it as he was going so much, we were told to stop. We had no idea of the difference between Movicol and stimulant laxatives! I agree with the comments above, there is a lack of understanding even amongst medical professionals, ie: us being prescribed lactulose (stimulant) rather than Movicol when asking for a repeat prescription from our GP. (Again we had no idea)

ERIC was the changing point for us, I felt relieved that I wasn’t overreacting, there was something medical going on (after being told to undertake a food elimination diet and removing daily and soy for 18 months!) it’s tough for parents and I’m 100% commited to raising awareness both for parents and in schools!! (My son has had a rough ride)