Battling Constipation

My daughter have this problem already and the pediatrician give me BENEFIBER is powder non thickening and dissolve completely without ad flavor to the food. Also LACTULOSE SOLUTION is like a syrop and work perfeclty. She need to use it daily but is working and she dont suffer when have to go.

I had this issue with one of my daughters several years ago. I mixed equal parts of applesauce,bran,and prune juice and kept it in my refrigerator and gave her 1 tablespoon every morning. (I mixed up 2 cups of each and kept it in a sealed container.) She never had any more issues after a couple days. Hope this helps.

Hi Rachael!

My name is Karen B and I have dealt with your situation with my own children. I have 2 kids, now ages 12 and 17. I have found that not drinking enough water regularly can cause constipation; Eating too many bananas, as well. Apple juice tends to work like a stool softener if you haven't tried it already. That would taste better than prunes for a 2 year old, anyway. My kids did not like them. I hope this helps.

My daughter has been having the same problem. Her pediatrician recommended that I use MiraLax (over the counter) 1/2 capful every day. This has helped a lot and has not caused diarrea. It is tasteless and I usually mix it in her juice or in applesauce. She doesn't even notice. It is harmless to her but helps tremendously. My daughter is 4 years old so you may need to check with your pediatrician about the dose. Best of luck.
K. D

My pediatrician prescribed a powdered stool softener that I gave my son daily in his juice. It really helped. It is called GlycoLax. The medicine did NOT cause diarrea. I only used half the bottle, before the "problem" disappeared.

The especially good part was if my son did not see me add the powder, he never tasted it....

My youngest has similar problems at a younger age than yours is now. His original peditrician kept treating the constipation and then when he developed diarrhea they wanted to "constipate him up" After this went on I switch peds and they almost immediately referred me to a ped gastro which the gastro did a rectal exam and found that he had a stricture that they did surgery on - it continued awhile after the surgery and they continued to run tests until we finally had to call it behavioural because the period of time he had gone through it he developed very good muscules to hold it in to keep from having the pain while he had the stricture. Not sure if that would be what your child has or not but something to look into. I would request a barium enema (done by radiologists), a rectal exam (with a finger)

You can increase his fiber instead of giving him things that will give him the runs. i give my toddlers the weight control oatmeal ( the generic is at Target for $1.50 per box). It has like 9 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protien. It's sugar-free and tasty. It always helps get things moving. Include lots of fresh veggies and fruits, smoothies, etc. If you have to allow him to have a pull-up for poop for a few weeks to get him regular, you can, but i would just go stark naked and he will have no choice but to use the potty. Go with him to the store and find something really great, matchbox cars, stickers, candies, and let him know that he gets a little m 'n'm if he potties but he gets the big prize every time he poops. Even if it means he can watch his favorite video, have a sweet drink and get a special prize. You have to go into party mode for pooping, especially for boys. Pretty soon he will realize that it didn't hurt to go and he got lots of rewards. Find his currency and make him feel it was worth it. Good Luck

hey after going through this same thing with 3 boys i have found that yogurt works good to get rid of the diarrhea and any kind of juice is good to regulate if a child is constipated. i do believe that apple juice is the best though.

roughage in his food. So Southern and gets some greens, watermelon also will help

Hi R.,

Good sources of fiber and water are the healthiest way to go. They will naturally cause his body to "want" to excrete. It would need to be an everyday habit to promote regularity, though, helping to prevent "awful" bowel movements. Plus, taking probiotics every day will help to keep the good activity going smoothly in his digestive process. If you'd like to know more about this kind of information, give me a call or reply to me personally. I'm in the process of becoming a dietition for health consultation.

C.
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The exact same thing happened to my first son when he was about that age. I won't try to sugar-coat it and say it went away after a short time, because it didn't. We gave him 2 Tbsps. of Milk of Magnesia every day. One Tbsp. in the morning and one at night. (On the advice of our pediatrician and after a barium enema.) After awhile he got really tired of taking that stuff but we told him that he really needed to take it until he was not longer afraid to go "insert your term here". He was quite stubborn about it, but so were we. It's almost heartbreaking to see them struggle with this, but eventually they get over it. My son is 13 now and although he isn't quite regular, he knows that he can't pass up the opportunity to go when the urge strikes. Otherwise he'll suffer.
Good luck and hang in there.
S.

Please ask your pediatrician about MiraLax. You buy it over the counter at Publix or CVS or wherever. You add it to ANY drink (ask your ped how much powder to how much liquid) and stir, then wait a minute or 2 and it will 100% completly disolve and be undetectable. It is NOT a laxative, but a stool softener. You may need to experiment with the amounts so you can get it how you want it-- too soft will cause diarrea, but if you can get it just right his bowel movements will be a tad thicker than pudding-- this will make it difficult for him to hold it in and he will see that he can poop without the pain, and retrain his little brain that pooping doesn't hurt so there is no longer a need to hold it in. Nip this NOW because I can tell you if you let it go too long the hard stools will enlarge his colon and get to the point where the muscles in the area will be stretched out so he won't know when he needs to go until it's already coming out-- and you'll end up with a trip to a gastroenterologist (who will basically tell you to use MiraLax!!) Actually, she also suggested Milk of Magnesia for my daughter, but she wouldn't drink it so we went back to the MiraLax. Now that her poops are back to normal and she gets it that holding it in will cause a horrible cycle that lasts YEARS (yes, years), we only use MiraLax now occasionally when she hasn't gone in a couple of days-- then she goes within a day and she's fine

I agree with Tammi. Miralax worked great for my son too. Just make sure you ask your pediatrician about the specific dose.

This sounds remarkably like my daughter (about to be 3). We have struggled with her for two years and finally have her regulated. We used Kyro syrup in the beginning, but after a while that no longer works. You see, the reason that the syrup works is that an infants system can't break down and process all that sugar - so it causes loose bowels as a result. But after a while, the child grows and their system matures, it will no longer take any effect. So you are probably just giving your son super doses of sugar, with no benefits. As for the prunes, I suppose they will always work, as long as you can get enough of them into your son. My daughter was never a fan, so that never worked for us. I wonder if your Ped. is taking this seriously enough. My daughter had to be put on a medication called Lacalose and it worked wonders, but again her results faded, so now we are on polyethlene glycol. I have to tell you, I cringe a bit every time I can't find a natural fix for something. I am not the type to give or take meds unless there is no other way. But, in the case of my daughter, she'd become so constipated that she would stop eating as well. I don't know if you have encountered that or not. But FINALLY a company came up with something that has made our lives SO much easier. Activia yogurt. It is natural and it has worked wonders for her. They have all sorts of flavors, but my daughter prefers the plain vanilla. I only have to give her a half dose of her meds now and some days, none. It's a great relief. She gets some yogurt in the morning as, or with, breakfast and she's set until the next morning. Also, I wanted to mention that this had stopped our progress with potty training, but now we have gone a full week with no "accidents" and big girl panties all the way. :) Good luck to you.

PS - Lots of fluids are a must as well.

R.
my son had the same problem exactly when he was 3 &4 , which lead to a full week of no poop & an emergency room visit , during which he got an adult enema which held held in for 20 mins! If this is a chronic problem your son needs to be on stool softener medication & laxatives for a long period of time. My son was on medication for a year. If your pediatrition won't help you need a new one & do some research on encopresis which is the diagnosis my son was given! Good luck, it will be better!
I just read the responses & please check with your dr before you use mineral oil, your child will need to take a multivitamin at a different time of day, (that's what they said 10 yrs ago at least) & we were told apple juice was constipating. At some point all the fiber in the world won't help if your child is intentionally holding in the poop. Which a 2 yr old will because no matter what they say they don't get it that you need to poop!

PS we actually also had to relearn sitting on the potty & letting poop come out. We did potty sits for 10 mins everyday after dinner, just practicing sitting & relaxing on the potty, I read him books - to start out he needed a special treat each time.

Hi There
well, you must find out what is causing the constipation. Rice, potatoes, starches, cheese. Take that out of his diet. Put into his diet, bananas, oatmeal, tomato sauce, greens, apples. That will make him regular. More water in his sippy cup.
Good luck

Hello,
I used to give my daughter the apple-prune juice in the baby food section. They only sell the little bottles, but they like to drink it and it works. Also I would try just giving him apples, raisins and more fluids (juice). And if your in dire need they have new laxatives out for 2 yrs & up. Good luck, I know it is frustrating for you, because you want to help your child. LynnZ

My little 21 month old daughter has struggled with constipation also for much of her life. At first, we tried to treat with dietary changes only...more fruits and juices. As she has gotten older, the dr. has told us to use Benefiber and Miralax. We have used Benefiber every day for about 8 months now and it really helps keep her regular although her stools are still hard at times. The Miralax helps with this though. Hope this helps!

My daughter does the same thing! I was really worried at first, but from what I've heard, it's pretty common. I try doing prunes or prune juice daily, but I also worry about giving her diarrhea because her bottom gets so irritated. I'm not sure what to do, so we're in this together I guess:) The advice I've been given is to continue with foods like prunes, to keep everything soft, and they'll grow out of it. Some friends of ours did suppositories when the constipation seemed to get really bad, and their son seemed to outgrow it in a couple of months.

Same situation with my 14 month old. My doctor told me the same thing, do purnes and kayro but it didn't work. He finally told me to buy I think its called Fiber one. Its over the counter in a green bottle it is a white powder. The bottle says of course not to use on babys but he told me to do a 1/2 teaspoon a day to regulate him. so I put it in his sippy cup or you can put it in anything, it dissolves and they never taste it. It started working in just a few hours. I did it for about three days straight and he is regular again. I stopped for awhile because he is sick and now of course has diarrah from the antibiotics. But it is something you can do everyday and it will not effect them. Fiber is good for everyone. Good luck :)

My son has had a lot of constipation too and he is 2.7 years old. Other things I've tried is half apple juice and half water mixed together. The doctor has said prune, apple, cranberry, orange juice are good. White grape too I think. Mineral oil at night before bedtime. Read the bottle on the dosage. Baby suppositories. There are certain foods that are good for constipation. Fruits are good. No banana. Check with your pediatrician on the food selections. Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be.

My 2.8 year old daughter has been dealing with constipation since she was a couple of days old. I took her to a specialist about a year ago and he told me to try MiraLAX. I tried everything with her and nothing has worked as good and as easy as MiraLAX!!!! I was giving her about a teaspoon a day in her juice/water sippy cup once a day. I did that for about 6 months. I found that during potty training her, I didnt need to give it to her as often. You can find MiraLAX over the counter at any grocery/retail store. Good luck getting this problem under control.

My daughter has battled constipation since she was little. The dr. I took her to told me to give her mineral oil 1 time a day every day. She is 10 and is taking 2 tbsb a day so with a smaller child I would maybe give 1 tsp. You can mix it in with juice and he won't even notice it.