Ugh, we went through this with my youngest son from birth till about 3 years old. He's now 5 and no constipation problems. 'His was caused by dairy intolerance, but now he's able to eat small amounts of cheese without problems, but no milk.
Oldest ds just turned 7. He's had occasional issues with constipation for a few years now. But for the past 4 or 5 months it's been horrible. All of the sudden he would go running for the bathroom with his butt cheeks clenched together and sometiems he would claim he didn't have to go anymore. We started a nightly routine where he would HAVE to sit on the toilet for 20 minutes before bed. Still he would sometimes go 7, 8, 9, 10 days without a bowel movement. We never really knew because he would go to the bathroom and wipe on his own. The few times we did know for sure about were because he plugged the toilet. His poops are seriously 3 inches in width. I cannot believe he can poop something that big.
About two weeks ago we had suspected he was quite constipated. He kept telling us that he had pooped in the morning, but we noticed his tummy getting harder and bigger and he wasn't eating much. One night when he went to bed I felt his tummy and it felt snakey....the same way my youngest sons tummy felt when he had a bowel obstruction. So I gave ds a dose of lactulose and he went to bed. Woke up the next morning and claimed to have gone poop, but the bathroom never smelled, no plugged toilet, etc. So I sent him to school and I got a call a little while later that he was really sick. Went to pick him up and he had thrown up. I brought him home and got him changed into his pajamas and his tummy was SUPER hard. I was getting scared at this point because I didn't want him to go through the same thing as youngest ds when he had his bowel obstruction. I gave him a full dose of pico-salax (bowel purge). Within a few hours ds had pooped a HUGE plug, followed by a LOT of formed and loose BM. I explained to DS how that BM being in his tummy for so long makes him sick, he understood and said how much it hurt and he understands now that he needs to go to the bathroom at least once a day and he needs to drink more water.
You'd think that would make him reazlize the problem...but he doesn't. We are back to the same problem. His tummy is soooo hard and he claims he's pooped, but I know 100% that he has not. I have to CONSTANTLY nag him to drink water. If I don't remind him to drink, he will go all day without a single drink. I've even tried doing 1/2 fruit juice and 1/2 water and he still won't drink. Only thing he will drink lots of is sweetened iced tea but of course it's so full of sugar. He does milk in his cereal, but we don't do glasses of milk. I've tried giving him almond milk instead but he hates it, refuses to eat anythign with almond milk on it, etc. I'm honestly not sure if he has problems with dairy anyways.
He eats plenty of fiber. Breakfast is always either oatmeal with some added flax or mini wheats. I buy whole grain bread. We could do more raw veggies, but he eats plenty of fruit.
I'm so frustrated and sad for my son. I don't want him to be sick. I want him to be healthy...but I'm just not sure how to approach it.
Oldest ds just turned 7. He's had occasional issues with constipation for a few years now. But for the past 4 or 5 months it's been horrible. All of the sudden he would go running for the bathroom with his butt cheeks clenched together and sometiems he would claim he didn't have to go anymore. We started a nightly routine where he would HAVE to sit on the toilet for 20 minutes before bed. Still he would sometimes go 7, 8, 9, 10 days without a bowel movement. We never really knew because he would go to the bathroom and wipe on his own. The few times we did know for sure about were because he plugged the toilet. His poops are seriously 3 inches in width. I cannot believe he can poop something that big.
About two weeks ago we had suspected he was quite constipated. He kept telling us that he had pooped in the morning, but we noticed his tummy getting harder and bigger and he wasn't eating much. One night when he went to bed I felt his tummy and it felt snakey....the same way my youngest sons tummy felt when he had a bowel obstruction. So I gave ds a dose of lactulose and he went to bed. Woke up the next morning and claimed to have gone poop, but the bathroom never smelled, no plugged toilet, etc. So I sent him to school and I got a call a little while later that he was really sick. Went to pick him up and he had thrown up. I brought him home and got him changed into his pajamas and his tummy was SUPER hard. I was getting scared at this point because I didn't want him to go through the same thing as youngest ds when he had his bowel obstruction. I gave him a full dose of pico-salax (bowel purge). Within a few hours ds had pooped a HUGE plug, followed by a LOT of formed and loose BM. I explained to DS how that BM being in his tummy for so long makes him sick, he understood and said how much it hurt and he understands now that he needs to go to the bathroom at least once a day and he needs to drink more water.
You'd think that would make him reazlize the problem...but he doesn't. We are back to the same problem. His tummy is soooo hard and he claims he's pooped, but I know 100% that he has not. I have to CONSTANTLY nag him to drink water. If I don't remind him to drink, he will go all day without a single drink. I've even tried doing 1/2 fruit juice and 1/2 water and he still won't drink. Only thing he will drink lots of is sweetened iced tea but of course it's so full of sugar. He does milk in his cereal, but we don't do glasses of milk. I've tried giving him almond milk instead but he hates it, refuses to eat anythign with almond milk on it, etc. I'm honestly not sure if he has problems with dairy anyways.
He eats plenty of fiber. Breakfast is always either oatmeal with some added flax or mini wheats. I buy whole grain bread. We could do more raw veggies, but he eats plenty of fruit.
I'm so frustrated and sad for my son. I don't want him to be sick. I want him to be healthy...but I'm just not sure how to approach it.
