help with constipation

[quietmim]

Hi,
My best friend has a son who is about my daughter's age, sixteen months. I have been reading a lot of these boards lately and have been telling her about the sheer amount of knowledge, and how much I am enjoying reading them, ect..

Well, today it occurred to me that I have to ask everyone about her problem. Her son breastfeeds three times a day. She works hard to give him a balanced diet of whole foods, whole grains, vegetables. He is vegetarian. He does eat some goats milk yogurt and the occasional egg.

He has a huge constipation problem! He strains and cries when he goes for eight minutes and sometimes doesn't have a BM for over a week. She stopped giving him the miralax the doctor gave her, and now the doctor only gives her a sad smile when she asks about what she can do. They would only consider it more serious if he strained for tn minutes! The doc actually says diet has nothing to do with it! She pushes fluids and has tried all of the common food recommendations for this problem.

Are there any food recommendations we haven't heard of? Any herbs or supplements? Anything? TIA for any help you may have. I have heard this is a common problem, but this kid is really suffering. My friend did look into a consultation with a wellness practice that does a lot of allergy testing. She has no insurance and this was well out of her price range. Is this something that she should pursue if at all possible, even if it means borrowing money? Even the consultation is more than she can afford....
E.

[MountainMamaGC]

This is such a frustrating problem, especially if the toddler is withholding stool. For us I had to give my DD a mild laxative (milk of magnesia) for a few months to get used to pooping everyday. It also taught her that pooping doesnt hurt. He must be withholding and ignoring urges until he just cant anymore, if he is only pooping once a week.

I understand the complete frustration.

Here are the herbs and supplements I used to keep her regular.

Flax oil. I put some in yogurt.
I cut out milk completely.
Probiotics.
Benefiber.
Figs/prunes
Fruit like grapes and watermelon.

SHe also has a high fiber diet and was constipated inspite of eating lots of fruit and prunes. We were even vegan for about 9 months. Even with all the above she will still get constipated occasionally.

Try cutting wheat and dairy to see if that helps.

I also take her to the chiropractor on a regular basis.

I found this to be helpful.
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/condi...l/aa081200.htm

[fruitfulmomma]

Gluten (wheat, rye, barley) is our problem. She could try an elimination diet and see if that works. She would have to cut it out of both of their diets as it is passed through breastmilk.

[danipoppins]

My first suspect with constipation is always dairy so I'd have MOM cut out all dairy in her diet for at least two weeks (because he's nursing) as well as his diet. Gluten is also a common culprit.

[JaneS]

Bifidobacterium probiotics, one that's designed for babies, up to 3x per day. Miralax is criminal to px for longer than a few days in growing children... it doesn't heal anything, there is something the body is trying to tell you! (Mainstream peds really make me mad.)

Ditto wheat and dairy elimination if probiotics don't help.

[quietmim]

Thanks so much for your responses. Now, if the problem started before she introduced wheat into HIS diet and didn't seem to get worse at that point is it still a likely culprit? She has always eaten gluten.

Also, she tried probiotics for about two months without improvement. I don't know which ones. Is it possible she didn't give it long enough? Maybe she didn't use the right ones, she is reading this thread and for sure thinking of going back to that.

I think that, for sure, there is a fear of pain/holding in situation here. We hadn't talked about that before and I'm not sure she realized. Even so, she wants to get to the root. This is such a difficult problem!

E.

[Llyra]

Increasing dietary fat is what helped DD1-- at that age, and older too.

[onegirloneboy]

Our problem was gluten also. Once we got all the backed up stool out, cleared her of gluten we still had to give her something to soften the stool so she wouldn't hold it creating the cycle again.

we used intestinal Cleanse #3 as recommended by our chiro. It worked great!!

Ingredients: California Fig Concentrate, Vegetable Glycerine, Senna leaf & pod, Cascara Sagrada bark, Anise seed, Clove Bud and Tangerine oils.

This cleansing formula is used for infants, children, animals. It is a much milder liquid version of Intestinal Cleanse #1, and is made in a very delicious base of organic California Fig Syrup.

Start with 1/4 teaspoon for each 50 lbs of body weight once daily. This can be increased to 1/2 teaspoon for each 50 lbs if needed to obtain desired results. Works best when taken with food. In addition to the base of organic California Fig Syrup, very gentle doses of Senna leaf & pod and Cascara Sagrada bark stimulate the muscular contractions of the digestive system (peristalsis). Anise seed and Clove Bud oil give relief from cramps, indigestion, nausea, stomach aches, colic, and digestive gas. Tangerine oil adds a final note of extra special flavor, and is also anti-bacterial.