Poop drama: anyone else had a poop holder?

[iheartwren]

For about 3 weeks now my 2 1/2 year old has been holding her poop.  She had a bout of constipation and 2 hard poops and that was it.  She is afraid to go- so she holds it 1,2 or even 3 days..  Then of course when she does go it hurts some because she has been holding it  We can tell she is holding it- she always trying to lay down or run around and won't stand still to go. She constantly asks us her to change her diaper but there is nothing there.  It seems impossible to help her learn to use the potty and it is so hard to watch my daughter be in pain and be so sad and I feel like there is nothing I can do.  We have really been working on her diet- we over lots of fruits and vegetables, she gets some flax seed and flax seed oil.  We have limited her dairy (she does still drink some milk) and tried given her prune juice and pear juice (she is not a big fan so we mix into smoothies).  She will eat pureed prunes so we giver that most days but none of that really seems to matter because she is afraid to go and she is one stubborn little girl with a great memory.  We have had to resort to using a suppository once which was traumatizing .  We have also given her miralax once both worked but I hate to do it.  We have an appointment with our pediatrician next week.  I guess mostly I needed to vent and I am hoping to hear other folks who have gone through and made it to the other side and their little ones were able to poop again without so much drama.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

My DD went through this at about 4 - it lasted about 6 months. It was awful - we had a couple of nights where she was so uncomfortable she couldn't sleep, but couldn't/wouldn't poop. She did develop encopresis, where liquid stool leaks around the solid stool, and lost sensation in part of her colon/rectum which made it very difficult to pass the stool.

We got past the very worst bout with a dose of Milk of Magnesia, and then at the doctor's recommendation, started her on a course of Lansoyl (jellied mineral oil). She took it daily at bedtime for a couple of months, and it kept everything very soft and she was able to poop without drama. After a couple of months, we started backing off on the Lansoyl and continuing to push liquids and fruit, and we've been okay ever since. A few times things have got backed up, and we've used the jelly again just to keep things moving, but no further drama (yay!).

I have a couple of friends whose LOs have gone through this - it's not that uncommon - and they have all come out fine the other end (so to speak). It's a horrible thing to deal with, for everyone, but don't worry - it's very possible to overcome. Hope it resolves quickly for you!

[Comtessa]

My 2 yo was doing this a few weeks ago -- I started a thread on this forum about it, you can probably pull it up on a search.  It was exactly the same behavior as you describe.  I think it was connected to potty-training anxiety.  It resolved on its own, very suddenly -- it was like a light switch flipped for her.  One day she just "got it."  We haven't had any trouble since! 

I suspect that part of the issue was developing conscious muscle control over her sphincter -- she was freaked out because she felt like she wasn't in control of that function.  I think it helped to say to her, on the occasion when she would poop, "see?  you're pushing all that poop out.  Doesn't it feel good?"  Focusing on how she was doing it helped, I think.