my daughter is having issues passing a stool

my 2 year old daughter is having issues passing a stool her stool is as hard as a rock, i have been giving her activia and it helped a little bit i dont know what to do my doctor said give it a little bit and then they will run testes what should i give her?

[underpants]

Hi
I'm a nanny and I've looked after many girls between 1 and 3 and you wouldn't believe how common this is. I used to think it was something to do with premature toilet training but over the years have just got more and more confused as there doesn't seem be any rhyme or reason behind it. I've not once seen it happen to boys. The reason the stool is  hard though - in my experience  - is nothing to do with diet, but purely to do with thier holding it in and not wanting to pooh. It's a viscous circle once it starts because it becomes quite painful to pass a motion once it's been kept in and gone hard, so the whole process becomes unpleasant.
I've found it's best not try to talk about it to her about it too much as they seem as confused by the whole thing as we are. Let her know that you know she's having a little problem with pooing and that you will give her some medicine that will help her to go easier. Make sure that when you know she is filling her nappy that you tell her she can take as long as she wants and it would be good if she could let you know when she's finished - this'll give her a little more control of the situation. If you give her glycerol baby suppositories it''s very important that you explain to her whet you're going to do and not just go ahead and force it - no matter how traumatic this is it's much better that she knows what, and why this, is going on. But if you can avoid this all the better - it depends on how well the medication by mouth works for her. I have used the natural products such as the obvious stewed prunes ( very reliable and taste lovely), senokot syrup and syrup of figs - both available over the counter and quite palatable, and have had other prescription products given by a doctor, which include lactulose - all of these are very gentle and basically do the same thing - which is make it impossible for the child to hold it in. They can all cause some pain as they work through wind etc, but it' not too bad. Try one method at a time as some work better than others with different children. The next step is suppositories - but as I say this is a last resort.
This condition doesn't seem to have much effect on potty training  - the fact being that the poo is going to come out in the end, regardless of how hard they try to hold it in - so hopefully before she's 3 she will probably be using the toilet, and then the problem miraculously disappears. This isn't a reason to start the process earlier than you would have done though - it's a confusing period for them at the best of times, but look out for the signs that she may be old enough to deal with it - it's usually around the 2 1/2 yr mark.

I hope this helps and don't worry too much - as I said it's much more common than people think and will soon cease to be a problem.