Poo Withholding
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It’s so so horrible isn’t it Chloe, I’m at breaking point with it all! I may try potty training again then, see if we can at least master wees and let him figure the poos out when he’s ready! He’s just got a really bad stigma against the potty because of what happened but that was around 6 months ago now! Thank you, it’s reassuring just to know that he’s not the only one x
It really is! I had a good read of the Eric website to help us https://eric.org.uk lots of great advice.
Yes, we're currently in the exact same situation, on laxido which works but we stopped as he then started doing 3 huge runny poos as day. However as soon as we stop them or do every other day he is holding it in again and we're stuck in the circle. I don't have any advice sorry but we're not currently potty training either as I fear it would make it worse.
Bless you, it’s really tough isn’t it! 😔
He spends most days walking around holding his bum and nappy saying poo but not going, clearly holding it in. It looks like bad when we're in public 🙈 When he does finally go and it's hurting I sit with him and sing him some nursery rhymes and get him to pick and give him a cuddle and that distracts/relaxes him to go but he has been bright red screaming and shaking in pain before😩
We are the exact same, my little boy asks me for a cuddle whenever he can feel the poo coming out but he always manages to stop it! It really effects his behaviour too as he’s constantly on edge and he’s started to tell me his tummy is sore 😭
We’re exactly the same @Laura the doctors just prescribed movicol, we haven’t even attempted potty training yet as we want to sort the poo holding issue first. It all started when he got constipated and did a really painful poo, since then every month at least he goes 1 week or longer without pooing and he just screams and cries when it finally happens.
I had 7 weeks of this! It’s honestly the worst thing. We started giving our little girl lactulose and pear & prune purée and told her it was to make her poos “come out easily” as she was once constipated and it hurt coming out & she was scared after that. It took a while but what helped for us was almost starting to ignore her when we could see her holding it, rather than being all hands on ready to try to convince her to go. Good luck! It’s honestly just time & praise ( and maybe lots of P fruits 😀)
Yes - it was awful! I’m sure some wouldn’t agree, but he’d get a little car when he went and it was the turning point for us. He concentrated on that rather the fear of going. We used movicol too anyway and once he realised it didn’t hurt and he got a present it’s been fine!
Thanks Emily! What is Movicol? Good idea about a little present! X
My little boys been a with holder since he was one and is on CosmoCol ( same as movicol, just different names) he used to be in a sachet a day, sometimes 2 for the days he was really constipated. We are down to half a sachet at the moment and I’m trying to reduce that too! We’ve seen it all, him screaming in pain and the bloated tummy it’s had me and him in tears may times. We tried potty training about 6 weeks ago and he then started holding his wee in 🤦🏻♀️ going to try again soon. Best things for us are drinking plenty, books on going for a poo and reward chart. U really have to make a big fuss when they have managed a poo and just be chilled about it when they seem worked up. It’s the hardest thing with holding and potty training hopefully it will just click one day.
Movicol is just another brand name for laxido I believe. Like Vicky says I try to incorporate lots of prune, I cut big prunes up into small pieces and tell him they are giant raisins, put prune puree into banana oat pancake mix etc. Also we have been telling him if it's coming to let it come out as the more he holds it the more it will hurt. He does seem to understand this aspect as when he does finally go he will say "I let it all come out" but he still holds it 😬
Yes it’s the same thing I think! We do mix it with apple juice as it works even better!
We are going through the same thing 😢 she was so grumpy and crying saying her tummy hurts so I’ve put nappies back on her as she started holding wee in too and she’s done a poo a day so far. Going to retry potty training towards the end of the week when all the poo is out!!! Never thought it would be this difficult.
When we were potty training, yes! But we persevered with training because he was basically there with wees and we didn’t want to go back to nappies- although I did offer him a nappy to do a poo in (he didn’t want to), but would that work for your little one? It’s totally normal for them to be weird about doing poos during toilet training, but I know the worry! Eventually, after a few difficult weeks, he just started going like it was no big deal at all- and I was having full on melt downs about it before, emotional days when he needed to go but was scared, refusal to sit on the toilet at all, leaks and full on accidents from where he was holding it for too long. It wasn’t pleasant at all!