Pooing anxiety

Our eldest daughter has been on quite a journey with her poo anxiety. We tried giving her more fibre. Three things have started to crack it for her - Movicol as prescribed by the gp, an adults size portion of dried fruit with two of her meals per day and lot's of patience along with settling her nicely into lot's of home routines plus more exercise. She is three today and we are relieved that she is much more relaxed finally. Look up the charity Eric for advice and support and badger your gp and health visitors for any support and resources. It will get better eventually 🙂

Castor oil belly rubs, strong Epsom salt baths, look at food sensitivity to dairy or gluten, vitamin c supplementation (powder can go in drinking water), mineral drops like trace minerals - a few drops in drinking water. Encourage sitting to poo. Sounds a bit young for potty training but sitting has really helped my daughter. Make poo chocolate out of 50% coconut oil and 50% dark chocolate. Melt together and freeze into ice cube moulds. A couple a day can really help to soften stools. Consider filtering drinking water and ensure adequate intake. Coconut water is also helpful as it’s full of electrolytes. Good luck!

We have been struggling for months to the point where I have taken her to a&e for the pain she has been in due to her not pooping! She cries and screams and almost goes purple in the face whilst ‘trying to poop’. We were given lactulose and didnt work. Then ‘fevicol’ which is meant to clear her out completely. We were give an xray which showed us how much poop was back up! It was INSANE! Still awaiting an appointment with her paediatrician ☹️ its so sad to see them struggling and also in pain! Sometimes she can go upto 3 days without pooping, and when she eventually does it, she will be screaming the house down whilst pooping. Drinks and eats as normal. Has more than enough liquids to ‘not be constipated’. Tried the old prune juice hack, did the salts, did the massages, the bicycle legs… nothing has worked for us. So any advice, i am also in need 😞😫

This sounds so painful!!! I am a momma who went through this myself. It is horrible! I tried lots of different things myself, and finally figured out something that works for me! Praying you find a solution!🙏

Hi Rujena, my now three year old was exactly the same as yours with this. It's hard but we really found that a combination of things have eventually helped. a few plump juicy dried fruits at breakfast plus breakfasts such as porridge helps. Dairy products such as yoghurt and ice cream appeal and seem to also accelerate digestion more comfortably. My partner and I have worked hard to create a really relaxing environment too.

The specific charity for this issue is called Eric (well worth looking up). Apparently, environmental factors can cause stress and create the fear of digestion as well as bad experiences pooing and diet in particular.

Exercise is helpful and you might find that relaxing routines at home like quiet time looking at colourful sensory lights and massage help.

Oats for breakfast, fibre helps, corn in some meals, check out if he is lactose intolerant, that was my sons cause

Thank you all. We have been watering down his milk reducing his milk intake and that seems to be helping, hopefully it's not coincidental! Xx