My toddler is scared to poo

GP Rob replies: Children make links between different experiences and it's common for one painful experience to trigger a fear that doing a poo will be painful again. In fact, not going invariably results in the next poo being painful so your daughter's belief is reinforced.
The key is softening the bowel motion so it slips out easily, then your daughter will relearn that it's not painful. Try adding extra fibre to her diet in the form of wholemeal bread and rice, water or diluted fruit juices, and puréed fruit and vegetables. You could also ask your doctor to recommend a suitable stool softener such as Lactulose, which you can try to get her to open her bowels and stop her from holding on. Although the initial
lowest dose can work, you may need to increase it, within the recommended amount, before success is achieved.

Start a discussion :: Print this article ::