Daughter with cronic constipation refuses to use toilet, or potty

[boodolly]

My little girl is 2 and 1/2, she's aware now that she's weeing and pooing, but she will not go on the toilet, or the potty. She screams no and says she wants to do it in her nappy, think this is a security thing as she's on strong laxatives to get her bowel to retract and these make her stools extremely loose. I've tried bribery and pleading, but she will not budge. We even have a 9 month old who sits on her potty and wees and poos, but this has no effect either. I honestly do not know what to do next, any suggestions at all.

[boodolly]

She's very stubborn, so bribery doesn't work.

I can back off and I'm fine to do that, but what signs do I wait for? She already knows she's weeing and pooing and those are the signs, plus i have a pushy mother and she really nags me and she brings the constipation and potty training up every time I see her, which is virtually daily and makes me feel like I'm not doing enough to help my daughter, but don't see what else I can do.

Stool softeners don't work, we've tried, only laxatives get this little girl's bowels going, tried everything believe me, every juice, food you can think of.

[ummmm]

Ignore your Mum...or lie to her saying the consultant told you to give it a rest for a while. She's only 2 1/2....you have loads of time.

[B00]

I'm not quite sure how you'd go about this one to be honest...

Well firswt off I guess I'd tell your mum to get stuffed! You can do without her interfering (sorry!)

With my little one, I simply stopped using nappies, and went straight to knickers. She began to really hate being cold and wet whenever she weed in them so persuading her to use a potty was a breeze by then! Not sure how you'd go about it with a child on laxatives though?

Does she now poo alot? Or is it simply a case of when she does poo, it's loose?

[Canary42]

Tell your mother to get stuffed - the last thing you need is nagging when you've got this on your plate.
The poor lamb (your daughter that is, not your mum) has probably been quite traumatised by the pain of earlier experience and it can be immensely difficult for such a youngster to realise it's not due to the potty/loo if she already associates it with that from experience. Utmost patience and no pressure is the answer I feel, and hopefully she will come round. Good luck, and I hope things improve soon (and don't forget - send your mother packing - tell her she's part of the problem).

[pjp1951]

Give her pumpkin seeds. No side affects. My grand-daughter was exactly the same. We could not fathom why she would/could not go to the poo. She stayed with me and ate some pumpkin seeds (I just love them) and the next day my son rang to say she had filled her potty. He asked what the green husks were and it all fell into place. She is 6 now and quite frankly never looked back. Her doctor wanted her on laxatives too. They are little miracle workers. We think she may have had a small blockage and it hurt to poo. She had no choice with the seeds and it totally cleared her. Try not to worry though. These things have a way of taking over your life. Get some seeds and just a handful a day will keep her regular.

[boodolly]

lactulose didn't work at all, waste of time.

her pooing is random, for instance she pooed twice yesterday, they were like melted choc and massive, but not pooed at all today, yet she's had three laxatives and ate lots. She tends to poo after she's had her laxatives, but she runs off and hides to do it and if she's not got her nappy on she'll panic and cry till I put it on and hold onto her poo, which she's an expert at, so I couldn't run after her with a potty, just in case.

Her diet is really good, i cook all her meals, lots of fruit and veg, she's a good eater, unless she's not pooed for a couple of days, then she goes completely off.

[brenda]

Sort your Mother out first boodolly, you can do without her meddling. The other problem will sort itself out in time as others have said.

[zzxxee]

if its any comfort my youngest daughter was in pull up type pants till she was 3 and a half try inviting kids round for her to play with if she sees them useing a potty toilet and being rewarded it might encourage her to do the same