Constant constipation

[cmnewbs]

My 2 yo dd can not/ will not poop. It's been going on for a while and started out by her holding it but now i think it's a combination of that and...? she goes long periods of time 5-6 or 7 days sometimes. I reallyt don't like to give her suppositories but we have had to about 4 times in 6 months. She is on fish oil and 100grams of magnesium daily. I have tried to change her diet, tons of fruit and veggies lots of fluids and avoiding cheese and dairy. she loves pasta and rice, which i am sure aren't good for constipation...So what else can i do for her? I am kinda a lame cook...and really just do the basics...What can I give her to replace the pasta/rice? What else helps move things along? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[zombie_bride]

I know how you feel my DD has been holding for a long time now, very common. We just keep her poop really soft, fruits veggies and whole grains are best. You shouldnt cut out rice and pasta because she needs fiber and bulk to be able to go as well, just stay away from white rice and get whole wheat flax pastas. My daughter has flax oil and seed daily, smoothies with fruit and kale, as well as magnesium. You can mix 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in some water to cause a diarrhea episode, that is what we use when we get desperate.
Hugs mama I know how stressful it is.

[zombie_bride]

Also I find the less I stress the better she gets...

[ann_of_loxley]

I actually have my son on Lactulose. It goes into all his drinks. Keeps him...smooth lol

This is because he got constipated and the poo was so big it gave him anal fissures. These really really hurt! - So that added to his fear of pooping cause pooing=pain. So we had to do something! He has to poo and it has to be smooth and easy so those anal fissures can heal. The rest is pycological so that will just take time!

Do they have something like that in the US - Lactulose?!

[GoJoJo]

Ugh, I can relate. My 18 mo is pooping every 4-7 days and the act itself is a real ordeal. Her last b.m. was 6 days old and she spent 20 min being rocked in my lap while I mopped her sweaty brow and offered encouraging words. So we're in the same boat, but here's what I'm trying -
Her diet is pretty awesome. For over a month I've ratcheted up her fiber intake and avoided white taters/rice/bread, doing 2 tsp flax oil mixed in yogurt per day, lots of hummous, dried apricots, oatmeal and other whole grains, fruit, etc. I offer water constantly and make sure she's doing plenty of running around.
I had given suppositories a few times, but I stopped b/c I didn't want her to become reliant on them...and administering them was just too traumatizing.
The tricky thing is it's a self-perpetuating problem b/c of 1) stretched colon and/or poor muscle tone resulting from holding 2) not wanting to poop to avoid the discomfort.
I found Dr Sears site has lots of useful info -http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T081100.asp
Good luck!

[Marsupialmom]

1. Make sure she is drinking water through out the day.
   
2. Keep dairy at dietary minimum-- find substitutions. We found yogurt to be less constipating but having more calcium. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/calcium.html - there is a list with alternatives that can also be "friendly" fiber.
   
3. Keep away from Apple juice and move to the "p" juices, prune and pear.
   
4. Keep away from the things on the B.R.A.T diet (bananas, rice, apples, and toast). These are constipating. I found that other sources of fiber was better. Also, I found the fiber foods my son craved the most was having bad reactions to his bowels.
   
5. There is such a thing as too much fiber. If she is sensitive it is easy to have to much fiber
   
6. Add flax seed meal to her diet.
   
7. If she is on a stool softener wean off slowly. If her bm is really hard think long term. My son was on for a long time to retrain his bowels.
   
8. Encourage to sit on the potty after meals, when her intestines are naturally moving. Some people do better waiting a 5-10 minutes after a meal. Others are better of getting up from the table and sitting on the potty.
   
9. Grazing might be counter productive. You want to establish a potty routine. My son is 15 years of age and he knows that his body will react bad if he doesn't keep a routine. We found that trying to have a BM at night was more better for our routine. He wasn't some place like play group which causes more forgetful bowels.

My son had issues. Your naturopath is not helping you and can cause more problems later on. Our doctors did not help and this created a larger issue in the long run. It will only get worse if not watched.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t086200.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t086100.asp

[cmnewbs]

I am so sorry that all of you mama's are going/have gone through this, but i am relieved to hear all of the help and similar experiances. Natalie broke her leg recently(a whole other story with pressure ulcers and 3/wk Dr appts going on) so she isn't walking right now. we are trying to keep her crawling/ moving / doing yogaish move with me. but sitting still and being carried around isn't helping her situation. Also I have my mother, who wants to be helpful and really is looking out for Nat's best interests, stressing me out so much about the situation by sending emails every 1/2 hr and calling me if I don't respond! On top of all of this I am preggo, tired and nausous...but elated about this!! There is way too much going on right now.

This too shall pass.

I think that our meals and routine needs to be more consistant, which is difficult we're always on the go. We need to slow down for a bit and get ourselves back on track and feeling good. Thank you all so much.

~Catherine

[cmnewbs]

Originally Posted by zombie_bride

You can mix 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in some water to cause a diarrhea episode, that is what we use when we get desperate.
Hugs mama I know how stressful it is.

I haven't heard of this, I'll tr it next time we're on the verge of a suppository, I really don't like to give them to her.

Originally Posted by ann_of_loxley

Do they have something like that in the US - Lactulose?!

Not sure but will add that to the list of things to check out.

Originally Posted by GoJoJo

Ugh, I can relate. My 18 mo is pooping every 4-7 days and the act itself is a real ordeal. Her last b.m. was 6 days old and she spent 20 min being rocked in my lap while I mopped her sweaty brow and offered encouraging words. So we're in the same boat

GoJoJo- it's so terrible to see them in so much pain and discomfort. And the suppositories are awful .

[cmnewbs]

Originally Posted by Marsupialmom

1. Make sure she is drinking water through out the day.
   
2. Keep dairy at dietary minimum-- find substitutions. We found yogurt to be less constipating but having more calcium. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/calcium.html - there is a list with alternatives that can also be "friendly" fiber.
   
3. Keep away from Apple juice and move to the "p" juices, prune and pear.
   
4. Keep away from the things on the B.R.A.T diet (bananas, rice, apples, and toast). These are constipating. I found that other sources of fiber was better. Also, I found the fiber foods my son craved the most was having bad reactions to his bowels.
   
5. There is such a thing as too much fiber. If she is sensitive it is easy to have to much fiber
   
6. Add flax seed meal to her diet.
   
7. If she is on a stool softener wean off slowly. If her bm is really hard think long term. My son was on for a long time to retrain his bowels.
   
8. Encourage to sit on the potty after meals, when her intestines are naturally moving. Some people do better waiting a 5-10 minutes after a meal. Others are better of getting up from the table and sitting on the potty.
   
9. Grazing might be counter productive. You want to establish a potty routine. My son is 15 years of age and he knows that his body will react bad if he doesn't keep a routine. We found that trying to have a BM at night was more better for our routine. He wasn't some place like play group which causes more forgetful bowels.

My son had issues. Your naturopath is not helping you and can cause more problems later on. Our doctors did not help and this created a larger issue in the long run. It will only get worse if not watched.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t086200.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t086100.asp

This is great help, the kellymom link is perfect too because I am pregnant and still nusing Natalie. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.