Hi, my friends daughter had exact same problem with her daughter. With her it was a control thing I think. Make sure your daughter eats plenty of fruit and/or drinks lots of fresh fruit juice, once she gets into the routine of passing soft stools and it doesn't hurt she will most likely settle. Try not to get stressed about it yourself because your emotions will be passed on to her and be picked up. Try to give her a book etc while she is sitting on the loo so that her mind is taken away from what is going on underneath her. She may have a 'kean' which may be making it painful for her, perhaps she could use some vaseline to help heal it. Good luck.
We are having a similar problem with our 21 month old daughter. She doesn't hold it in though...she just can't go! The doctor finally put her on a laxative. We're still having some problems. But anyway, before we tried the laxative, the doctor gave me some ideas for her diet....which I will pass on to you. Maybe some of this will help with you. You want to definetely give her pear juice. Pear juice is like a stool softener for kids. Anything with bran in...raisin bran (raisins will help too), bran muffins, broccoli, graham crackers, pears, peaches.
I really wish you luck and hope that some of these foods might ease some of your problems. Take care!
