Chronic Toddler Constipation Support Thread. - Page 2

[NevadaMama]

I'm afraid to say that we may have to join the ranks with you mamas as well. DD has been having an increasingly tough time pooping since she really got going with her solids at around 9 months. It's to the point now where she needs a suppository every other day or so just to go - her poop isn't all that hard, just huge!! This morning we had a full-on meltdown when she was trying to go, DH had to run to the store to get the Pedia-Lax enemas so she could finally have a BM. DD will be one on Thursday.

She eats very healthy, LOVES yogurt, veggies, fruit, etc. I am afraid it's the fruit that's doing it, her constipation always seems to be at it's worst if she's had a lot of fruit within the last 24 hours. She had issues when she was 3 - 4 months old as well and we had to switch her formula and also give her prune juice in her bottle once a day to keep her regular. I am going to try her on a GF diet soon if things don't improve - DH has major gluten intolerance, but he has the opposite of constipation when he eats it!

I hate the idea of giving her anything "chemical" to help her go, but I don't really know what else to try diet-wise. I will try prune juice again I suppose, even though I hate giving her juice too, and I don't really think a probiotic would work since she's already eating at least a cup of yogurt a day. She does have a piece of toast (whole wheat) with organic butter daily, as well as the Earth's Best brand of cheerios, but that's pretty much it as far as wheat products go. Oatmeal seems to help about half the time.

I will keep checking this thread to see what other mamas come up with. Good luck everyone!

[carmen358]

My DD was sick with a bit of a stomach flu (we think she had a mild case of what my DP and I had) and was off solids pretty much for a few days. She's eaten more in the past day or so but she hasn't pooped in 3 days :( She still nurses on demand...day and night. She's having lots of wet diapers, seems fine except for being very gassy at night...but she's always gassy at night.

How long is it "safe" to just wait for her to go? We've tried pears, prunes, water, she gets probiotics everyday....

[justKate]

Can I revive this thread?

We're really suffering here.  Long story short, DD holds it, and nothing is working.  It's been four days now.  Prior to that it had been seven.  Waiting for a nurse to return my call, and terrified that she's going to suggest Miralax.  We have lactulose in the house, so I'm going to suggest that....

Ugh.  My poor baby.

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by justKate 

Can I revive this thread?

We're really suffering here.  Long story short, DD holds it, and nothing is working.  It's been four days now.  Prior to that it had been seven.  Waiting for a nurse to return my call, and terrified that she's going to suggest Miralax.  We have lactulose in the house, so I'm going to suggest that....

Ugh.  My poor baby.

What have you tried?

[justKate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

What have you tried?

Offering her a diaper to poop (she doesn't want the diaper)

Talking through it, then ignoring it, showing her poop (very interested, but doesn't want to do it)

Cutting waaay back on dairy--only giving her milk when she cries for it.

Prune juice and plum juice mixed, about 16 oz./day

Encouraging her to drink lots of water (although she doesn't like to)

LOTS of exercise

Only whole wheat bread/pasta/crackers

Oranges, apples, raisins, pineapple, apricots

Chopped prunes (she refuses these)

Karo syrup (this worked when she was a baby)

Last week, after holding it for 7 days, I gave her tiny tummies (senna) laxative twice and a suppository, which made her go immediately.  She felt better right away and went 3 more times in the next 24 hours after that.

Since then, it's been 4 days.  Last night I gave her a suppository and it didn't do anything.  This morning she had "leaked" a little in her diaper--probably just the suppository dissolving.  I gave her the tiny tummies laxative and another suppository, but nothing happened.  I waited about 45 min. before taking her to daycare.  Still waiting for a call from the nurse.  I think I'll call her daycare and see whether she's gone.

We do have a bottle of Lactulose in the house (FIL left it behind) so depending on what the nurse says, we may go that route.  I'm really afraid of letting her go another 7 days.  I don't want her to damage anything.

ETA: I went to the store yesterday and got some flax seed bran to put in her food, but haven't had a chance to try that yet.  I was looking for flax seed oil in a dropper, but they only had it in capsules.... 

[Snapdragon]

I post this idea on here a lot and people don't really seem to take to it- maybe because people are relctant to give their babies regular juice due to cavities/sugar/teeth issues-- but when ds was about 9 months or so he had some pretty bad constipation issues and we tried lots of things. what worked is we give him regular apple juice mixed with water. We still give it to him- probably too much at this point as we want him to drink more water and he mostly only likes it if we put some juice in it- but it seriously works for constpation- not as a one time thing but if you do it twice a day for a week or even regularly- it increases the fluid intake which is a huge help for constipation, plus the apple juice helps.

[sapphire_chan]

One thing to remember, too much fiber can also stop things up, so if a high fiber diet isn't working, maybe cut back on the fiber and up the liquids.

And if she's holding it she might need something to assist with pain. My friend's ds had that as a major side effect of long term constipation, it hurt when it finally started to come out, so he'd hold it more, so it got worse, so it hurt even worse, etc, etc...

[justKate]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I've been giving her a TON of juice--1 part plum, 1 part prune, and 1 part water--but she refuses to drink just water by itself.  The max I'm letting her go is 3 days now, because that's how long it takes her to get really grumpy.  I've been giving her a baby senna laxative (oral) and then another dose about 12 hrs. later, and that seems to make her go. I can't do the glycerin suppositories anymore (although I prefer them) because if I get anywhere near her rectum, even with cream, she becomes hysterical.  My poor baby.

Talked to the doc, who basically said to keep doing what I'm doing for a few months, and if it doesn't improve on its own, she'd suggest Miralax.  Which I'm not doing.  Fortunately we'll be moving soon and getting a new doc.

So do you all think this is a reasonable approach?  I'm just at a loss for what more I could possibly do....

[hilary549]

What do you all tell your kids about the holding it in? I think my son (28 mos) is not severely constipated, since he DOES poop at least once a day or more, and the poops are firm but nothing crazy... but he definitely holds it in sometimes. we give him probiotics daily plus he eats yogurt, he has some magnesium in his juice/water combo, we cut back on dairy, try to limit refined carbs... it is as some of you describe a roller coaster; sometimes he is fine for awhile but then will be fighting the poop again, and spending a long time "making the poopoo" and crying. clearly they are sometimes painful. we took him to a naturopath but haven't discussed with the pediatrician since he does actually poop. but i'd love for it to go back to being a non-painful event for him.

[MyZoeJane]

I am curious what others think about my scenario.

My son is 20 months old. He is still regularly breastfed. It is the only milk he drinks. He eats what we eat, though not voraciously. He only drinks about 4 ounces of diluted apple juice from a sippy each day, but has PLENTY of wet diapers courtesy of breastmilk. Despite his hefty size (28 pounds), he doesn't eat a lot. Since introducing solids at 7 months, he has regularly gone many days between poops. At his longest, 10 days. But three to four days is more typical. Sometimes his poops are pellet like, but mostly they are "normal", smooshy poops.

I am curious, given this information, if you would consider him "constipated" if he never displays any signs of discomfort? He never has difficulty pooping or acts in pain in any way.

Is it possible for it to be "normal" to only poop every few days?

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by justKate 

Thanks for the suggestions.  I've been giving her a TON of juice--1 part plum, 1 part prune, and 1 part water--but she refuses to drink just water by itself.  The max I'm letting her go is 3 days now, because that's how long it takes her to get really grumpy.  I've been giving her a baby senna laxative (oral) and then another dose about 12 hrs. later, and that seems to make her go. I can't do the glycerin suppositories anymore (although I prefer them) because if I get anywhere near her rectum, even with cream, she becomes hysterical.  My poor baby.

Talked to the doc, who basically said to keep doing what I'm doing for a few months, and if it doesn't improve on its own, she'd suggest Miralax.  Which I'm not doing.  Fortunately we'll be moving soon and getting a new doc.

So do you all think this is a reasonable approach?  I'm just at a loss for what more I could possibly do....

Why won't you do Miralax?  I would honestly choose Miralax over senna any day because senna stimulates the colon and one can easily become dependent on it.  So senna is a very bad long term solution IMO.  Miralax is just a stool softener so it comes out easier and without pain.
 

[ladybuggsmom]

My DD has been constipated since she started solids as well...at 6mo.  Shes now 2 1/2.  We have tried EVERYTHING.  Juice, tummy massage, yoga, flax, fish oil, fiber, no fiber, increase in hydration, no dairy, no gluten, probiotics, prunes, pears, raisins, suppositories, liquid glycerin, little tummies, NOTHING worked.  We had a REALLY bad bout that caused vomiting, required xrays, bloodwork, MRI, etc etc and caused weight loss, really painful clinging-to-me BMs, and loss of appetite.  THE ONLY thing that has worked has been Miralax.  

I was EXTREMELY hesitant to start it, and did so only as a last resort.  But after EVERYTHING else, I would MUCH rather have her on Miralax and pooping normally, regularly and most importantly NON PAINFULLY than to endure any of the other stuff.  And as PP said...Miralax is non-stimulant, non-habit forming.  Hopefully someday she'll outgrow it, but for right now, we HEART our Miralax!

[asmal]

hello, i feel u i have the same problem with the 3 year old. she doesnt go for days i have to force her to sit on toilet n spend so long tryin to make her go but she totally refusing. i have tried everything as well milk of mag, karo sycrub, pedilax pills and supposotriy yes the supp. works but she is soooooo much in pain i wanna cry. n i totally feel when u say how we feel so bad but wanna get mad coz they r holding it on purpose. my little one will just cry cry n keep sayin i cant go poop i cant go poop. just need lots n lots of patience.

[12345]

I tried many many treatments for this with my almost 3 year old. The dr. recommended miralax to which he previously had a very distressing adverse reaction. I browsed the stomach remedies aisle in search of something I was comfortable with and came away with chewable probiotics. Not only does DS LOVE the tablets, he has gone from chronically constipated for 2+ years to completely regular (every other day) in a matter of two weeks. It's like a miracle! Such a relief! I wish that every doctor would suggest this natural, safe, and healthy treatment for this issue. On a side note, his twin has the opposite problem--frequent and often runny stools from a wheat intolerance, and the probiotics helped him even out as well.

[Blessed37]

I haven't read through all of the responses so forgive me if this is a repeat. I have heard of apple cider vinegar being a good natural remedy for toddler constipation. Just a small amount (maybe research for a good dosage) added to some water or a smoothie. Breastmilk is also great for constipation.

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[Jennems18]

I have been battling this chronic constipation with my daughter since she was 2 months old and she will be 4yrs old next month.  She received her 1st dose of apple juice at this point and a piece of pedi supportory.  I have been battleing this non-stop since then.  She would receive apple, prune and pear juice almost weekly.  By the time she was 18months and chronic vomiting from undigested food and milk that had been in her stomach for 10hrs would come out thru the middle of the night.  This went on for about 6 months until I finally got a referral to a pedi GI specialist.  That was interesting to say the least, oh she has reflux and have her take this $100.00 month medication and I will check back in on you guys via phone.  Well, let's just say it didn't help so I took her off milk and put her on soy milk.  The vomiting quit, yet the constipation did not.  At that point, she was placed on Meralax on a daily basis. 

From that point to  know, she has been on a constant dose of Meralax, which has been increased from 1 capfull to 3 a day and a dose of milk of mag in the AM.  She still cannot get "cleaned out" and in the end of Sept her colon was signifantly enlarged and continues to remain this way, with the GI specialist shrugging us off. I have asked for her to be allergy tested and a colonscopy be completed with being told there is nothing wrong to perform this procedure.  She constantly eats grapes and a variety of other fruits and veggies all day long. 

We have completed so many x-rays to this point that I have the check made out to pay them when we leave.  We have also tried probiotics with no success and fiber gummies (which also have pedi-lax in them) still with no success.  She is constantly trying to move her bowels with no success and it leaves her crying more because she can't go and her tummy hurts her.  Any ideas to try to help would be greatly appreciated

[sassyfirechick]

My nephew (good friend's son) just turned 11 - he poops once every 1-2 weeks, and has his entire life.  They are so large he cries and clogs the toilet every time he goes.  His mother is nurse, and while we are friends I do NOT at all agree to how she does just about every aspect of parenting.  None of her 4 children eat fruit or veggies, this particular one doesn't eat dairy either - just meat and laxatives.  Super healthy, right?! Anyways, I've spent years listening  her and her kids issues (they all have multiple) and not once will she listen to my advice, but here is what I would do were it my child:  skip the western medicine and traditional doctors and xrays and colonoscopies and head right to a Naturopathic doctor.  We just had DD tested by our ND and it confirmed my suspicions for food sensitivity - dairy and oats.  Now what threw even the ND off was she is NOT sensitive to any glutens, it is exclusively a severe oat sensitivity (but thankfully not an allergy).  The regular pedi has dismissed me everytime I mention food issues insisting that DD was fine.  Worse was when she had a full body rash after eating oats, and I called the 24hr nurse since it was afterhours and the nurse said to me 'it's a non-specific viral rash, she's probably getting a cold'.  Not pooping regularly is a stomach problem and the only way to figure out that probelm is to first identify and eliminate the thigns causing the inflamation and stressing the body.  THEN you can wrk on healing the gut with probiotics, herbal tincutures, and homeopathic remedies.  And then things will start to become regular.  DD has only had a few bouts of constipation when starting solids that were cleared with either prunes, bananas or pumpkin.  But if it was become a regular occurence I would imediately seek out my ND for the most natural fix possible.

[Aegis]

I'm just going to toss in this suggestion since it's probably not one often considered, but I read in What's Eating Your Child? by Kelly Dorfman about the possibility of low muscle tone in the intestine preventing strong enough contractions (peristalsis) to move the waste through. In the book, she shares a case where she was able to help relieve constipation in a young child using L-carnitine. I recommend checking it for that and for the information about constipation and laxatives. GNC sells capsules which lists only the L-carnitine and gelatin for the capsule as ingredients (that's what we use).

Another option could be trying the intro diet for either the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) or the GAPS Diet and see how they go. The foods included in these diets are supposed to be some of the easier foods to digest because they don't need to be broken down as much. DH suffered from horrible constipation since he was a baby, and after being on the GAPS Diet for a year (we're still on it), he's finally regular. In theory, a child may recover quicker than an adult because they are young and growing still, opposed to an adult who has lived 30+ years with this condition and has finished growing. I should probably give a heads up that these diets can have a massive impact on aspects of every day life because you can't really stray from them and still expect good results. I was listening to a fascinating podcast by Beverly Meyer (Primal Diet Modern Health) about the SCD, and she described a client she was helping who was doing better but still wasn't completely "moving" the way he should, and it turned out there was a teeny amount of a disaccharide in a medication of his. They took out the medication and the diet was able to help him heal fully. Personally, as taxing as the diet can be, it has been absolutely worth it for all of us on it.

I found the intro to SCD to be more kid-friendly than GAPS, so I'd probably lean toward that if you're interested in taking this approach. Here is a good link to get you started: http://pecanbread.com/p/how/introdiet.html

Best to you and your daughter!