Ok so this isn't your typical case of constipation. My 3..almost 4 year old son will hold his poo in for days!! He holds it in so long that after a couple of days he says "its pokey" then he is too scared to go because it will hurt. I have tried prune juice, lots of fiber rich foods. We have even used the chewable childrens laxatives and suppositories for kids and believe it or not, he can still hold it in!!! He is in pain because he cries and says it hurts his butt. But when we tell him to go and try to get it out so the poopie wont hurt him, he says its too pokey to come out and it hurts to much. So basically, he is then scared to go. Eventually, after about 4 or 5 days he will go because I'm assuming he just can't hold it in anymore. He has done this on and off for a few months. There doesn't seem to be anything in particular that sets him off to start holding it. Has anyone else run into this situation? And what can I try to get them poo to be soft enough so he doesn't even really think about it and just goes?? Thanks moms!!!! :)
I give my daughter Aloe Vera Juice. I buy it at Sprouts and it comes in flavors. She drinks 2 tblsp. twice per day, so you will have to experiment and start with 1 tblsp. and see what happens.
Have him eat lots of popcorn every day. It is fun and they like it. Also you can use flax seed oil in his drinks. Sprouts has some in the vitamin section.
From personal experience this is what we do. Have him drink 1/2 cup of prune juice every morning. Add about a tablespoon of dark corn syrup to his cereal (or something else) (especailly foods that can cause contispation) every day (you can do this for all his meals... it is a natural stool softener) and if this does not work talk to his doctor. This worked for us.
Two of my daughters have had the same problem. I try to avoid the miralax but it takes a many-fronted approach. I always add prune juice and a tbsp of dark karo syrup to her milk. We also hide ground flax seed in her food wherever we can. She takes the fibergummies by pedia-lax and finally what we find works best of all is a powdered probiotic called culturelle (it's sold at Fry's and says it is even safe for babies). As long as we do all this, we do not have to resort to the miralax. I do feel your pain though- there's no easy fix!
My 2 1/2 yr old daughter has the same problem. Apparently this is common and there are several ways to help. My suggestion is to work with your pediatrician on solutions. My daughter uses Miralax with a high fiber diet, low dairy diet. It is important that your child gets a balanced diet and the pediatrician can help. I hope this helps.
I have a daughter with somewhat the same problems. We use Benefiber everyday hidden in some food or liquid we know will be eaten. It dissolves quickly and is flavorless. Lots of water-or watered down juice is essential. Also as a last resort we have had to use infant suppositories. They are not fun, but help when it is so painful they don't know what to do. Good luck-really work on paying attention to the diet and liquid intake.
Will he eat yogurt? Buy some berry flavored Activia. It worked for my 2 1/2 yr old. My 5 yr old did the same thing and it got so back hehad to have Miralax- an over the counter laxative that his pediatrician recommended. When my 2 1/2 yr old was potty training a few months ago, she started to do the same thing after several days of Activia she started going regularly again. She loves the blue berry & stawberry ones. Good luck!
Go the behavioral route. Tell him if he tries and goes poo every day, he will get a sticker every time. When he gets 5 stickers he will get whatever he likes, a car, an ice cream date, McDonalds.
Take the whole milk out of his diet and try soy milk. Also use miralax thats what the dr prescribed for my son and it does work. It helps soften up their stools.
I went through this exact same thing with my son when he was 3. You could be describing my situation here. I talked to his doctor about it. It was so stressful for me!! My doctor reccommended giving him some mineral oil every day. It doesn't make the poo softer, but it does coat it and make it slippery. (gross, I know). So basically, when he finally had to go, the poo would slide out. It stopped the vicious cycle of holding it because it would hurt and then it would hurt because he was holding it. Give it a try. It might work for you too.
My daughter was about that age when we experienced this too. I took her to the doctor and he suggested "medicine juice". We took mineral oil and mixed it with her favorite juice. It gave the hard part a softer edge and helped a lot. After she was more regular we had her drink it just once a week. You could even make him a smoothie with ice, juice and the oil. I think it was one tablespoon.
Hope that helps,
L.
Simply Apple...juice and Kellog's Fiber Plus Antioxidants bar...it will not fail...you try it first...will not be able to hold it
My now 3 year old daughter went through this for months while potty training. We eliminated dairy from her diet, put her on toddler safe pro-biotics, mineral oil, slippery elm powder (mixed into her drinks), maintained a high fiber diet and used Miralax ONLY if it had been over 3 days since she had gone. Within two week we were completely off Miralax and to this day keep up with the no dairy and high fiber diet. We have had no problems since. The foods we were told to avoid because they have a binding effect or constipating effect on the bowels are: Bananas, rice, apples/apple juice, and toast or white bread (basically the B.R.A.T. diet you are told to follow when you are throwing up or have diarrhea).
My daughter started with that right around 3 years old and I found out she wasn't drinking enough water... so she drinks lots of water... Apple juice and I started giving her Arbonne's Figure 8 Go Anywhere! Fiber Booster... I put it in water, tea, juice, cereal, spaghetti, applesauce etc., I call it magic powder and she's been GREAT ever since I started!!! OMG! she used to cry and cry poor baby! I promise this WILL GET BETTER!!!!
My daughter went through this at times as well. It is a horrible cycle. My Dr. also suggested the mineral oil approach, and I learned that when she started complaining about it hurting and I could tell that she needed to go, I would give a dose of Tylenol, and get her in a pretty warm bath. She would go almost every time the bath was used. Sometimes I would even put a swim diaper on her even though she was potty trained b/c she couldn't wait to get out of the tub- it helped that much. It helps to relax all of those muscles and was fun and distracting. There were even some midnight baths! But it really helped, and the Tylenol helped with any pain, so she would not be so anxious the next time as well. I hope you find something that works! Good luck!
My 5 year old daughter has this same problem. After trying many things, including mineral oil, her doctor prescribed Miralax. It is now over the counter. We give her half a cap-full in juice every day. The doctor said that one day she should outgrow this but so far she still needs it. Good luck.
