Coconut oil for constipation in toddler? Any advice or experience?

[1organicmomma]

Has anyone ever tried coconut oil for constipation in a toddler?  We are currently battling annal fissure & constipation and its a tough battle for sure.  We have everything right in her diet...yogurt, fresh fruits and veggies, no bananas apples breads and plenty of water and breast milk.  So now it seems to be a holding because it hurts problem, weve tried prunes but she doesnt eat enough of them, I'm thinking prune juice next and have been giving her one teaspoon of COconut oil in the morning.  Any ideas if I this might work or if I should give it to her twice a day?

Its so frustrating and sad to see her hurt when she poops.  I dont think its a food allergy since the constipation started before we introduced her to yogurt and nothing else is new in her diet and she doesnt drink "Milk" just BM.  I have been putting some pressure on her to poop though which I am going to try and make sure I stop since it doesnt help.  I just want her fissure to heal atleast.  We have been back and forth with this for a couple months now.  It started right around Thanksgiving.  UGH! 

[Snowflower]

i don't know for sure if it will help, but it couldn't hurt. i think coconut oil is a cure all. love the stuff.

[Snapdragon]

I suggest apple juice- and apple juice mixed with water- give them as much of that as they will take on a regular basis to increase liquids. So not as a one time cure but as an addition on a daily basis to increase fluids and soften the stools

[mom61508]

How about in a smoothie? CO does seem to help DD for sure actually just including lots of fats daily in her diet does help but we still battle constipation. If her diet is right have you considered a bacteria imbalance in her gut? This I believe is DD's issue. I'm starting a protocol soon to help with this. I would try prune juice and what about magnesium? 

have you tried ferments? Kefir, homemade yogurt, fermented pickles, etc?  I have yet to try this but I've been told from our homeopath that castor oil packs really help with the constipation becuase anytime their plugged up there's inflammation in the gut and the castor oil pack draws white blood cells to the gut and helps it heal.  You soak a cloth in castor oil, warm it up and put in on the area for about 45 minutes. You can saran wrap it to them IF you have to. For DD I will just put on a show for her and she will sit there long enough.  I hope you can find relief for her. 

[1organicmomma]

She eats yogurt daily so I think her gut flora should be good.  I wonder if teething/molars could be contributing to the problem somehow.  but right now it looks like the Coconut oil is helping and I juiced this week and gave her some organic pear/apple/kiwi/mango/lime juice and she LOVED it.  She licks the coconut oil right off the spoon in the morning she loves it so much so I dont have a problem getting her to eat it.  I keep updating as I find what works so any moms that might be out there with the same problem can take a read.  Oh and the fissure I have used organic raw honey on it and last time she pooped no blood on the tp!  So lets hope we keep that up!

[1organicmomma]

Oh and badger balm is great for the hiney too!  She loves when I get it out and wants me to apply it unlike other creams.

[tzs]

is cocomut oil a laxative?!?

that totally makes sense. i ate some as a spread one time at a friend's house and almost didn't make the 3 block walk home! now i don;t feel so bad.

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by 1organicmomma 

She eats yogurt daily so I think her gut flora should be good.  I wonder if teething/molars could be contributing to the problem somehow.  but right now it looks like the Coconut oil is helping and I juiced this week and gave her some organic pear/apple/kiwi/mango/lime juice and she LOVED it.  She licks the coconut oil right off the spoon in the morning she loves it so much so I dont have a problem getting her to eat it.  I keep updating as I find what works so any moms that might be out there with the same problem can take a read.  Oh and the fissure I have used organic raw honey on it and last time she pooped no blood on the tp!  So lets hope we keep that up!

I'm glad it's helping.  Unfortunately constipation generally = unbalanced gut flora which can happen so easily. I guess you will know for sure in time hopefully it doesn't return!!! :)
 

[Greenlea]

Yogurt doesn't have as much probiotics as one would think, depending on the brand.  Have you thought about giving her a probiotic?

I didn't know coconut oil was a laxative - I did know coconut water was though.  Good to know.  I'm glad you did the honey too, that works wonders doesn't it?? :)

[1organicmomma]

I'm am now giving her a probiotic as well and her poops seem good.  I don't think that CO is really a laxative I think it just improves digestion etc.  Now I just need to keep her from straining so hard, the poops don't seem to be hard so I don't know why she turns so red and pushes so hard, Maybe it has to do with her position she sits on the big toilet without anything under to feet?  I dont know but Ive read that can be an issue.  Any experience there?  Jumping to conclusions here!

[~cassie]

Imight have to try this coconut oil.  Ds has on and off constipation for a year!

[1organicmomma]

I highly recommend Nutiva and its on sale right now at soap.com http://www.soap.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=67566.  Right now DD has stopped taking it off the spoon so if we want to get it in her diet we will have to use it as a spread or on top of veggies etc.  It also is great to use as a foot massage oil after baths, I figure she is probably absorbing some in the process and I try and work the parts of her foot that are suppose to stimulate digestion etc. 

[likemorning]

Hi there -- sounds like our little ones were going through very much the same thing!!  Such a similar story: our little guy was constipated, with very painful and difficult poops, for close to two months -- we did all the right diet things (no BRAT foods, lots of high fiber foods offered like beans, fruits, veg, increased probiotic foods, tried to increase liquids).  He refused some of the most helpful things (like prunes and pear juice). I'm pretty sure it was a holding issue too -- he learned it hurt to go, so he didn't go, so water in his poop was reabsorbed into his body, which made it harder to go -- what a rough cycle!  We did learn he loves green smoothies!  And we're lucky our pediatrician, even after all that time, didn't want to jump to anything too strong, really wanted to just give his body a little gentle coaxing.  What seemed to finally work was 2-4 oz daily of aloe juice (George's "Always Active" Aloe tastes just like water! we still had to give it with an oral syringe, though, but he seemed to think it was fun) plus a magnesium supplement (a berry flavored powder, which we tried getting into him in several ways -- mixed with water, mixed with yogurt, mixed into smoothies, mixed into peanut butter -- he did NOT like it!) plus magnesium via nightly Epsom salt baths.  The nutritionist at our pediatrician's office told us the aloe can be very helpful with tears and fissures too, because it helps heal the intestinal lining.  I feel like that plus the Epsom baths probably helped most -- and have now allowed the diet to help keep things flowing.  We're only a little over a week back into regular pooping, so we're still doing all this -- keep your fingers crossed!

[1organicmomma]

Ok I have found two things through all my anti-contipation searches that seem to work and wanted to pass it along in this thread...

#1 Culturelle for kids probiotics (give this 2 weeks to see true benefit) wonderful!

#2 badger balm for the fissure and hiney to heal all the cracks and crevises!  Great stuff!

[roxievp]

Hi, I know this is from last year, but I have a 2 year old that had constipation since she turned 1. She was given an over-the-counter medicine to treat it by her ped, but she would get really bloated and uncomfortable. Her constipation also was causing her to get UTIs. Finally after a year of that medicine and lots of food changes, I decided to buy organic coconut oil and give her 2 teaspoons around mid day. She loves it. I put it in a ceramic bowl, sit it in a pot with water over the hot stove- only until it begins to melt- quickly remove it- it will continue to melt. I scoop a teaspoon almost full- blow on it to make sure is not hot and feed it to her & I repeat. Her poop is still thick, but not hard. She pushes a little bit. If I'd give her more, I am sure it would be looser. I also leave a sippy cup with water at her reach at all times. Coconut helps her with constipation, but also with a myriad of other things. Coconut oil and lots of water- your baby will be very healthy. It also adds a good fat which is needed for a healthy brain and calories. I use coconut oil for lots of things for me and the baby. I also consume it, 1 large tablespoon daily. I use it as her chapstick, moisturizer and a tiny dab to smooth out her hair tangles, sometimes. It's really great for so many things. I also make my own deoderant, with coconut oil as a base, with baking soda. - it works great- I walk 3 miles a day so I know it works. Good luck, Roxie