Child Not Having Regular Bowel Movements

All 3 of my kids have/had BM issues, and prune juice REALLY does help! An easy way to get a little one to drink it is to mix it with apple juice - about 1Tbsp in a tippie of apple juice. Also, Graduates has dehydrated apple pieces and they help too. I have also found that fiber makes a difference too - lots of whole grains!! Good Luck!

Gerbers has an apple prune juice out but it is only in the small bottles and is hard to find sometimes but my granddaughter would drink it she would not drink the prune juice with apple juice if we mixed it but would the baby mix I think it was some weaker but it worked for her.

Have her eat yogurt. Any kind will do the trick. At first have her eat it a few times a day, then taper off to once a day to keep her regular. I get the go-gurt because they have flavors like cotton candy and strawberry banana. I call it blue or pink pudding. Then just wait it out. Yogurt is also good for her immune system. The probiotics do wonders. Have you seen the commercials for Activia? I would ask her doctor before using that stuff but from what I understand all yogurt has good effects. Then boost the fiber. Breads, and cereals. I would even go so far as to make "rice crispies" with a tasty fiber cereal. Fiber One bars are so delicious they give most people gas but you can use a children's gas x. I can't think of the name of it but they make the drops for babies who have a tendency to have discomfort after feedings. Hope these suggestions work.

Is she very active? The more running around will tend to get things moving. Also, does she like apple juice? That is one thing that would help with my son. One thing to consider, she might need an adjusment. You can get sublixations in your lower back which will cause stool to back up and not be able to go like your body needs it to. I have and my son have gone in to my chiropractor just for those kinds of adjustments and gotten the relief we needed.

Hope these thoughts help,
S.

Well I once thought that I wasn't going to give my kids any juice until they became constipated all the time. So we give them 50% juice and 50% water and that seems to help.

My oldest daughter who is 4 has always had issues with being constipated and she eats lots of fruit and veggies so it doesn't seem to be diet related for her. We give her Miralax in her juice. On thing you might try is to give her the yogurt with the probiotics in it to help her. My kids drink the Yogurt Smoothies with a probiotic in it that helps them also.

Good luck.
M.

Apple juice loosen's the stool...

I would look into adding more fiber into her diet... Maybe a higher fiber ceral mixed with the ones that she likes.

J.-
I just recently have had the same problem with our oldest daughter who just turned 4. She complained from early morning well into the night that her stomach hurt and she had not had a bowel movement. I took her to the nurse worried that it was something more serious and I didn't want to be hitting the ER on the weekend. The nurse said it was indeed constipation. She prescribed a stool softener and said that some women put 1 teaspoon of Kayro syrup in with some water or juice. At our local grocery store they had a laxative (chewable) for kids 2+. I went ahead and bought some, but I have not used it yet. The nurse said to be sure and encourage lots of fluids- water, juice, prune juice, apple etc. One internet site recommended having your kids sit on the toilet 10 minutes right after a meal, as the intestines automatically start trying to clean you out after eating. Of course this may not be ideal depending on if your 2 year old is potty trained or not. Our daughter eats some fruits and vegetables, but a lot of breads and cheese. Most sites said to stay away from dairy. I hope your child starts to feel better.
M.

She is probably constipated. You might try giving her some Miralax. It is an over the counter medicine that puts water in the bowel and helps her poop

J.,
It is very important to keep the bowels moving because when it sits inside of your body the toxins seep back into the body and into to the other organs. You can go to google and type in colon cleanse for kids and do your own research. The research I have done has led me to Dr. Natura. The web site is www.DrNatura.com it is all natural ingredients and they have one just for kids. The all natural ingredients is very important, I believe because if you use a synthetic stimulent types it can cause other problems or side effects. Good Luck.
C.

Switch her to almond or rice milk. Cow's milk is very constipating, because, well...its made for baby cow's not for human consumption. It has much too high a fat/ protein ratio for us anwyay and most of the calcium in milk isn't readily absorbed by our bodies. Check out this site for some more info www.dumpdairy.com

Also, make sure she is getting enough free water to drink. Fruits, vegetabls and whole grains will help keep her regular. Also, if she eats a lot of meat or processed foods those are other big constipaters, try to limit...or better yet avoid all together. Its never too early to instill good eating habits.

If none of these work make sure to make an appointment and mention it to your ped. Irregular bowel movements can be a sign of bowel disorders.
Good luck!! :)

I would try Miralax, it is an over the counter stool softner. It is not addictive and dilutes great into orange juice. My daughter gets a little each night in her milk at dinner. Our pediatrcian says she could use it for years and it would not affect her. Good luck.

Hi J.!

I saw you post and I just wanted to give you another angle on what may be happening. I am a pediatric trained chiropractor and have had a number of patients with this problem. Often times children have poor peristaltic motion (the movement in the bowels that pushes food along) so they do not have regular BM and they get really uncomfortable and cranky. This often happens around your daughters age when the diet really becomes one that is harder to digest and process. While mirilax and stool softeners may help you are not treating the actual problem and you dont want to have to give your child laxatives for extended periods of time because it can lead to some fluid loss. It is best to help your daughters body get through this because it will lead to better digestion and absorption of much needed nutrients. I would be happy to find you a chiropractor near you trained in pediatrics that have dealt with the issue before. The techniques are gentle and safe and as a mom I have been treating my two children since birth and have on a few occasions had to do some bowel work on my son. Feel free to send me a message I would be happy to help and answer any questions you may have.

Maybe she is a little lactose intolerent. Also the prune juice--which is very good for this problem, could also be causing some of the gas, (prunes do it for me! LOL) If she will drink it though, then SHE must be ok with the taste, even if you are not. It does have a different taste. There are milk substitutes and all that which could be made chocolate. I would not want that to be an all the time kinda thng though cos it might spoil her on sugar. But keep on trying and good luck!

I think she needs more fiber - fruits and
veggies. Most kids like bananas and you could cut up apples, and any fruit that she would like. Veggies would be good also, but it is harder to get kids to eat them. Milk can be constipating. You might want to run this by your pediatrician, also.

If you would like to try something natural put flax seed, near yeast in our grocery store, in maltomeal, oatmeal, yogurt. It tastes a little nutty and has a texture, so my kids don't mind it as much if I put a little in oatmeal or m.o.m. Also, I haven't done any research on it cuz it's not an issue with us but my sister's baby has the same problem and she was told soy milk is hard on, or not good for little ones. Heard rice milk is better for them. You may want to check that out.

Try giving her apple juice and don't dilute it.I would also ask her Pedi to check her out to see if she is lactose intolerance.

Best advice: chew your fruits and drink your veggies (if possible)... so give her prunes/ real fruit instead of juice (too much straight sugar) AND stop the milk if you want to really do what is best for her. Check out www.milksucks.com ASAP (we are all actually lactose intolerant, but our bodies adapt when we are given homoginized milk from such a young age.) i used to love milk, but it is NOT good for us, and is easily replaced by almond milk (now available at Costco!) We are far from perfect here (we eat ice cream and have treats, etc.), but try to have balance and respect the basics and that goes a long way!

You got a lot of great comments - as far as giving kids laxatives, make it few and far between no matter how "natural" that they say they are, their little systems will become dependent on them. Milk is constipating, that is why in the "olden days" they put karo or molasses in it. Apple juice works like a charm and soy milk comes in great flavors. I am on child #6 and it is working like a charm for him too.

Not to alarm you, but has she been tested for Cystic Fibrosis? I have Cystic Fibrosis and several of the symptoms are loose, smelly stools and gas due to lack of good digestion (which causes children to be very small) and also very salty skin. I didn't have any symptoms until I was 5 months old and many have don't show symptoms til later.

I am 25 and almost 3 months pregnant with my first.

you have lots of advice and I will add it is about the fiber in the diet because we adults don't get enough either because it is my understanding we should get 24 grams a day as an adult sooo... with that said I actually give my 8 and 5 year old a fiber booster that is odorless and tasteless, you can add it to the choc milk or yogurt or virtually anything. The product is Arbonne Fiber booster and can be purchased only through consultant so if you want to give it a shot, send my an email - it works!!! ____@____.com Thanks for your time
K.

We battled with constipation in our son at this same age. We did the juice thing, but after a while it just didn't seem to help anymore. On his 3 year well check up I talk to his doctor about it and she said that this is a very normal problem given the diet that most toddlers eat. She had us put our son on Miralax every day. She said he'd need to be on it for at least 6 months.

What a difference it has made for him. He was having a BM every 3 to 5 days and now he has one every day. He seems much happier and is a much less cranky kid these days.

This website tells you all about how to give Miralax.
http://www.doc4kidz.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/site.content...

Now that I see how much better my son feels and acts, I wish we would have started it months sooner!

I had the same problem with my 2 year old son! he was
having problems with milk, but chocolate milk bound him
up so badly once we had to give him a suppository and
that was a nightmare! I'm not sure why the chocolate
milk was so much worse, I just know it was. and he was
really gassy too, doubling over or just curling up in a
ball when it got bad. since he'd been having more and
more problems with milk itself, I finally tried soymilk.
what a difference!! when I first put him on it I should
have eased him into it because it cleaned him out REALLY
well, if you know what I mean. but he loves it and the
soymilk has vanilla and chocolate flavors as well as plain.
if you try it, give her like half milk and half soy
for a few days just in case or else things might get messy!
and she might have a little gas at first, but it won't
be painful. at least it wasn't with my son. it was just
loud and being a boy he thought that was hilarious. ;)

oh yeah, the prune juice works, but it is nasty tasting
and in little kids especially it can cause bad cramps.
once you get her regular just give like 2 oz a day if you
think she needs it and dilute it in water.
a half a cap daily of Miralax works, too. it is safe-
my son's pediatrician put him on it awhile back.
but for him nothing has worked as well as the soymilk.
so good luck, anyway. I feel your pain, believe me!
I hope this helps.

Good Morning J., a lot of children go through BM changes, our gr son Corbin did and does. He will be 4 next month. What we do when he gets really constipated is give him a does of Fletchers Children's laxative. He does better then. He holds it in as he knows it will hurt since he has waited so long to go. He drinks lots of water, loves fruits also, so were not sure what causes him to be so constipated.
He tells us his tummy hurts too, so we take him in the bathroom and just sit for a while. Sometimes he will poop sometimes not.

Hope you can find some relief for your little one soon
K. Nana of 5

I see you've had lots of good advice, so I won't add much. I just wanted to say, if she doesn't like the prune juice, and who could blame her...LOL, white grape juice does almost as well. I know lots of toddlers deal with this problem. I hope she feels better soon.

My pediatrician told me to give my kids yogurt to keep them more regular. well, my son has a milk allergy, and they do now make soy yogurt, but I asked if I could just start giving them acidophyllis tablets. The best thing in yogurt, and the whole reason she suggested the yougurt, was because of the acidophyllis. She told me that it was completely safe to give it to them so now I give them 1 tablet every morning with breakfast and their multi-vitamin. You can buy it pretty much anywhere, but you have to refrigerate it after you open it. It says it on the back of the bottle, very small, and I know that I didn't notice it when I first starting using it and I have talked to a few others that say they hadn't noticed the instructions either. The great part about it is that it comes in wafers and tablets, and they are usually strawberry flavored so my kids think that they are getting something special with it. I hope this helps, I know it's not fun when you feel helpless to make them feel better.