Parents of Constipated/Bowel issues kids tribe

[KatWrangler]

Okay, I need support. I believe we have some other Mamas here with kids with chronic constipation. So I am making an attempt to start a support tribe.

:

As you may or may not know my daughter has a neurogenic bowel. I need help.

I am going to our local community natural foods store today after I drop my son off at pre-k. What high fiber foods/ingredients should I be looking at?

Second question - how much fiber should a almost 3 year old have?

Third - She is also super skinny. I need to help her gain weight, yet avoid constipating foods. Suggestions?

Anyone care to join me?

[aja-belly]

i'll join you. seems like we are back here with marvel. she has been super picky about what drinks she will drink (used to drink a green smoothie / kefir mix every day) and it is definately causing her some issues again. plus she is not nursing anymore .

it's so unreliable what she will and will not eat. for right now she eats lots of barilla plus pasta which is high in fiber and protein so that is helping get her through the day. i've also been making alot of pumpkin stuff cause (i've been told) pumpkin is a natural laxative. yesterday we had a real struggle with her pooping. when she finally did it obviously hurt badly and she was mad at me about it and shouting 'no!'.

right now we're depending mostly on commercial products that are high in fiber (like fiber 1 bars and boxed cereals) but would love some more ideas.

[2bluefish]

What is a neurogenic bowel? I've heard this term, but don't really know what it is. Juju gets 1/2 a capful of Miralax daily. As long as he gets that he goes. If it is at all formed up - even a little bit - it bothers him. We give him flax oil, fish oil, fruits, veggies and grains, but those don't keep it soft enough for him. He likes his stool loose. Don't really have any advice to add, sorry.

[loraxc]

Us! I need ideas for nonconstipating finger foods. DS is starting to refuse purees. I know to avoid white flour and dairy (I do give him a little cheese and yogurt), but I'm a little stuck for ideas and not quite clear on what other foods to avoid. I have been wanting to get some high fiber pasta.

We are so far avoiding Miralax through our daily routine of apple juice, prune puree, and whole wheat bread with tons of flax (I make this in the bread machine). However, it's touch and go from day to day. If he gets too backed up, he starts vomiting, but we've gone a month without that with the help of the new routine.

[KatWrangler]

Okay, I went to the Merc today. Got Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal. Now what?

:

Here is Bob's Red Mill site for recipes;

http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by 2bluefish

What is a neurogenic bowel? I've heard this term, but don't really know what it is. Juju gets 1/2 a capful of Miralax daily. As long as he gets that he goes. If it is at all formed up - even a little bit - it bothers him. We give him flax oil, fish oil, fruits, veggies and grains, but those don't keep it soft enough for him. He likes his stool loose. Don't really have any advice to add, sorry.

Here is the definition of Neurogenic Bowel:

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/s...y/glossary.htm

Neurogenic bowel
A loss of bowel function caused by damage to the nerves that control the ability to eliminate stool from the body

Here is a great link on Bowel Continence.

http://www.asbha.org.au/BowelContinence.htm

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by aja-belly

i'll join you. seems like we are back here with marvel. she has been super picky about what drinks she will drink (used to drink a green smoothie / kefir mix every day) and it is definately causing her some issues again. plus she is not nursing anymore .

it's so unreliable what she will and will not eat. for right now she eats lots of barilla plus pasta which is high in fiber and protein so that is helping get her through the day. i've also been making alot of pumpkin stuff cause (i've been told) pumpkin is a natural laxative. yesterday we had a real struggle with her pooping. when she finally did it obviously hurt badly and she was mad at me about it and shouting 'no!'.

right now we're depending mostly on commercial products that are high in fiber (like fiber 1 bars and boxed cereals) but would love some more ideas.

Is she getting enough liquid? I know the hospital told me to be careful about increasing fiber and not enough liquid. That would stop her up even more.

[aja-belly]

kat - pancakes might be a good idea to make with it. we have multigrain pancake mix that is (i believe) red mill brand. blueberry or strawberry pancakes are often a hit here.

[pumpkinhead]

nak, add me! Lots of issues here and I'm starting to suspect possible motility issues due to infant reflux.

Strawberries. grapes and dried cranberries are big hits here. More when hands free .

[aja-belly]

she drinks ALOT of water. all day long. she plays with water and drinks it for a big chunk or her day. she is peeing in a little potty right now so we can pretty pretty good tabs on how hydrated she is. she used to drink other stuff besides water though (plum juice, veggie/fruit smoothies, kefir) but now she will drink water, capri sun, or this pink v-8 "smoothie" stuff - blech.

[workjw]

Count me in! So far Lizzie is doing much better with the high fiber diet. We're still having to use Miralax some, but not everyday.

As for fingerfoods, Lizzie loves dried peas, she eats them like candy. We also get the dried fruits (mostly apricots, berries and raisins).

We also eat tons of potatoes (it's our family's largest farm crop ) so I try to find ways to leave the skins on. I also tried switching to the whole wheat pasta, but the family was none to happy about it. I'm doing 1/2 and 1/2 now, so it's less noticeable.

[pumpkinhead]

Our issue has less to do with constipation and more to do with stool with holding. I never could have imagined what an all consuming, mind numbingly frustrating, ordeal this could be. When Kieran won't poop, no one is happy, least of all him. He has always had trouble even as an EBF baby. I was told it was normal and he was healthy and fine. We both became very ill last year, all he'd eat were crackers and juice and BM and he got constipated. It hurt him to go so he started holding it for days and freaking out when he couldn't hold it anymore.

He was on Miralax straight for 4 months (after trying stool softeners, fibre supplements, high fibre diet etc) and right now I'm trying to find a balance only occasionally using the miralax and balancing that out with a high fibre diet and Benefibre supplementation. Unless the stool is really, really soft, he freaks out and holds it.

I don't know really what else to do at this point.

THe only piece of advice I have is that GPs don't seem to know a lot about this. I had to fight pretty aggressively to be sent to a ped gastro. It was a turning point for him, but I have a lot of guilt that I let my self be led around so long before insisting.

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

I'm here with you all. Can't post much now, but, I'll be back.

[KatWrangler]

High Fiber Recipe Links!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hig...ecipes/RE00099

[KatWrangler]

High Fiber Food Links!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hig...-foods/NU00582

http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutriti...ion/fiber.html

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/FOODNUT/09333.html

http://www.cecostomy.4t.com/custom2.html

[chann96]

You can put flax meal in all kinds of stuff by substituting it for oil in recipes. You substitute 3 parts flaxmeal for 1 part oil. For example I made banana bread tonight (ok not good for bowel issues, but I have the recipe in my head right now) and the original recipe called for 3 tbsp of oil. I use 1 tbsp oil and 6 tbsp flax meal as a sub for the other two tbsp of oil. It's very yummy if I do say so myself. I've even subbed it into chocolate chip cookies (although I don't think I would give them out to anyone else I think they taste pretty good).

If she eats cereal you can sprinkle some flax meal on top or on salads (LoL as if Charlotte would eat a salad).

make sure to keep the flaxmeal in the fridge. It stays good for a long time that way.

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

Okay, I went to the Merc today. Got Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal. Now what?

:

Here is Bob's Red Mill site for recipes;

http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes.php

[pumpkinhead]

Oh, I have an awesome recipe for flax seed cookies somewhere. I'll dig it up and post it if anyone is interested. It calls for something like 2/3 c flax seed, but I usually sub 1/3 of that for flax meal.

[KatWrangler]

I need ideas on replacing her animal crackers and pretzels. I need snack ideas.

[KatWrangler]

Here is a great fact sheet on Bowel Continence as it relates to Spina Bifida:

http://www.asbha.org.au/BowelContinence.htm

[aja-belly]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

I need ideas on replacing her animal crackers and pretzels. I need snack ideas.

yeah, us too. i'm gonna start adding more dried fruit. she is not eating nearly as much fruit here in tx as she was in ca. there were days in ca where her poop smelled like strawberry jam .

when we were doing weight watchers last year we found alot of good high fiber recipes. all of our pancake/muffin/bread recipes are from then. they are usually really low calorie and really low fat though so i get nervous watching her fill up on them. she's doing well right now, but in the past she's been able to go from chunky to super skinny in a few weeks.