Constipation problems in 3 yo what to do?

[MoMo's Mama]

My DD has been having some constipation problems lately. I think it mostly has to do with fear of pain when going. I have increased fiber in her diet, give her a prune daily, and a fiber supplement. She drinks plenty of water and we stay pretty active. Even with all that I have had to give her a stool softening suppository to go sometimes. We are in the process of potty training and she is embarassed when she goes in her panties so she won't do that anymore, but trying to get her to sit down and poo when she needs to go is a real battle. We read "Everyone Poops" quite frequently, and I make comments like "My tummy hurts, I think I need to go poo poo." when I need to go.

If anyone has any other suggestions other then what I've already been trying it would be much appreciated. I don't want her body to get used to having to take stool softeners to go.

[pbjmama]

My dd does well with a probiotic. Does she have a little potty so she can squat to poop?

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Fresh fruit helps a lot.

How often is she pooping? Does it always hurt?

My ds poops 1-4x a day, but two of his friends poop just a couple times a week! And they are not constipated, they just don't poop that much.

Some kids also have a harder time going sitting. Ds's bff will still ask for a dipaer when he needs to poop and has only poop in the potty 2 or 3 times, something about standing seems to be more comfortable for him.

[mom61508]

I second a good quality probiotic like pharmax.

Sometimes fiber can do the opposite it makes the poop bulky which in turn can make it harder to poop.

I would also try more fruit, prune juice, aloe vera juice is very good for the digestive track, castor oil packs and perhaps epsom salt baths(which would be good for her anyway) Maybe avoid BRAT foods?

[gretelmom]

On top of these mamas good suggestions:

UNfiltered, NOT from concentrate Pear Juice. The only one I've found is RW Knudsen ... in a glass jar. It works wonders. And don't be afraid to give him like six ounces.

The pear juice from Gerber or whatever did nothing for my son. The Knudsen's works in a day.

[MoMo's Mama]

Thanks mamas for the good suggestions, I will try a probiotic and maybe cut down on the fiber a bit She hasn't pooped since Sunday but when I felt her tummy tonight it didn't feel hard or distended at all, and her appetite was normal. Those are the two big indicator's for her that something isn't "moving" right. She eats lots of fruits and veggies and amazingly enough is ok with eating prunes and lettuce. I think I worry because she had dairy and wheat allergies when she was 6 mos-2 years old and I wonder sometimes if now its going the other way around for her digestive track with these foods. Thanks again mamas

[porcelina]

We've been struggling with this since before he was a year old. He got in a cycle where it hurt, so he kept it in, it got harder, so it hurt more, kept it in, feared going, etc. To this day, at 2.5, he still has a hard time. We tried everything -- he would only eat whole grains and lots of fruit (especially prunes) and would still have trouble. For a while it was only meat and fruit, and still had the problem. Finally, gave into doctor's recommendation of a tablespoon of miralax in his food/water/drink per day. This helped a ton when we first started, around age 18 months I think. It continues to help now, but we still need lots of prunes and fiber to keep him regular. I think he's finally old enough to understand when I tell him it only gets harder if he fights it, and he has to let it out.

Anyway, he never went for prune juice, but that works for some, and another recommendation I heard is chia seeds. You can mix them into a smoothie or something to get them in. These are supposed to be great. Also, DS won't eat a dried prune, but he'll eat the baby food pureed ones, so I try to give him that regularly. I have not had to resort to a suppository except maybe once in the past year. There have been times, though, that it has been hard for him to go, and I believe it's because he didn't have his full dose of Miralax. Miralax is supposed to be safe and have no long term effects according to doc.

[ASusan]

Epsom salt baths before bed. The magnesium is absorbed through the skin and draws water to the bowels.

She is now on wheat and dairy, despite having earlier problems? Have you tried taking them out again?

[Neera]

We had some on and off constipation. This went on and since it wasn't really a serious issue we never went to a doctor. She did have an episode or 2 of really hard poops which scared her. But, it was difficult for us to know if it was constipation because it would clear up and she would start pooping again either daily or once in two days. Finally when she was constipated for the like the nth time, dh ordered Dr Shculze's all natural concoction to help with it. At first it worked well and then suddenly stopped; the poop wasn't able to come out (I'm sure if it was soft enough she'd have been able to push) for about 3-4 days although we continued to give her the medication. We then showed her to the doctor. She found her v. bloated and asked to see a specialist, start her on Miralax and Pedialax (fruit flavored gummies) and to do an enema. We had done enema on dd once before and she was terrified of it. The 2nd experience was doubly traumatizing to her although it helped release a lot of hard, stuck poop.

2 months later, Miralax and Pedialax are working and the specialist who we met after a month of her being on the above two, found her to be fine and said Miralax didn't have any side effects. Not sure about the gummies.

Well, I wrote this long post to say that had I known I wouldn't have waited to see the doctor. Dd is terrified of her poops and is going to stay in pullups for a while. She refuses to use any other method to poop than the one she is comfortable and familiar with - in her diapers.