Concerned Mom - Constipation/vaginal Area Question.

My Daughter fights us wiping her as well. To me that would fall into lines of looking at things.

:( poor kid..

We do pear juice to help combat that. My daughter has acid reflux and the meds help to block her up.

Good luck.

Does she eat a lot of fruit? If not, do that. Fruit is high in fiber and moisture (Except for bananas). Raisins, prunes, pears, peaches are great. Just fruit and protein for a week. It makes a difference. Fig bar cookies work well to replace cookies that are all carbs. My son had encoperisis where he was constipated for a while and it was leaking a bit into his underwear. He went on a no carb/no dairy diet for a week. Then only very little carbs after that for another week. Miralax after dinner and he would sit on the toilet for 15 minutes with the ipad so he could just sit and relax and not TRY to go - just let his body go on it's own time. It's been working very well.

Miralax isn't a laxative, but brings more moisture into the stool so it becomes softer. It doesn't make you go, it just makes the poop easier to move through. Cut out as many carbs as possible. Contact your pedi if you already haven't.

I urge you to take her to the pediatrician. This could be serious and may need medical care. She could have a vaginal infection. And the constipation needs to be assessed.

Do not continue to try to look when she resists. Seeing the site is not worth the trauma of your fighting her to look. You could try coaxing her ahead of time by explaining why you're doing it. Have this talk before you even take off her diaper and give her time to decide to let you look.

I agree that her reaction could very likely be a reaction to the painful poop extraction. She will forget about that with time.

My grandchildren, including the nearly 2 yo, gobble up fruit. You could try giving her cut up fruit and berries a couple of times a day. I know, they're expensive this time of year but eating them does help with bowel issues as well as provide needed nutrients.

Yup, this is my two year old exactly.

What measures are you taking to prevent constipation? The entire process of retraining her to believe that pooping doesn't hurt needs to be vigilant, and can take a long time. I have had her on and off Mirilax for the last few years, but my doctor finally convinced me that I need to actually just leave her on it until she's potty trained. Okay, I gave in, and she's no longer afraid to go...

...unless I miss a day or two, and then she is immediately constipated.

If it gets so bad that it's hurting to go, and you can tell she has a large piece there, you can try magnesium sulfate. You can buy a bottle at Target, WalMart, etc, for about a dollar, and half an ounce to an ounce is enough to really soften that up and produce a good movement within hours. I'll warn you, though, that it tastes like SweetTarts x1000 and it's hard to mask the flavor, so be prepared. I mix it in with a 10 oz. glass of water and attempt to mask the flavor with large squirts of MiO.

It's possible that with the constipation she has truly injured her anus, with fissures, etc. My toddler has had several, and they are TRULY painful. She is also lactose intolerant, and if she has even the smallest amount of lactose her poop will become so acidic it burns the skin around her anus. Also tremendously painful.

Sorry if I seem to be all over the place with this one, but this is something we've been working on for years and it's hard to really get it all under control. Just when we think we've got it, something else comes up.

Plenty of water, of course...and if you can get her to eat prunes, great. My toddler actually likes them, so I try to push them on her...but not too much, because then she'll refuse to eat them for a month.

You might want to cut back on the tomatoes and lemon juice. These things are highly acidic, and her poop might literally be burning her skin. Also, check your diaper cream to make sure it doesn't have citric acid...I was shocked to find, after reading the ingredients on one, that it was one of the first ingredients. Well, no wonder it seemed to be making things worse!

are you spreading it to wide to look? kids are pretty sensitive when it comes to that area. It might be sore and she may associate her last episode of you helping her get her poo out, with you touching around down there, and thinks its going to hurt again if your spreading her cheeks apart. if your changing her diaper, let her air out before taking a look down there, sometimes its red because of the heat and wet of the diaper. Fresh air will help you see what is truly going on in the region. Try not to be rough or impatient. She could be picking up on your concern, and worried something more and painful will be coming.

I agree with Marty Momma about the being gentle 'down there', not that I think you are roughing the girl up! Is she getting enough fiber (fruit, veggies, whole grain)? I see you mentioned limiting her dairy intake but have you tried increasing produce? We had the same issues so we would increase her produce intake but not reduce the dairy. The increase proved to help her and back when she liked drinking juice, that would help, 'Blow her out' as we jokingly put it. We make sure she has appropriate servings of dairy each day along with fruit/veggies/grains with every meal and that had helped maintain regularity. Hang in there K..

Sorry your are dealing with this! I would start pureeing veggies and fruit and putting them in smoothies or even your dinners at night. Have her drink warm water throughout the day---it helps~As for her constipation, take her to a gastroenterologist. They can help you and tell you what to do for it. GL

Make a juice drink w half cup prune juice, ice, little oj, some pineapple, 5 strawberries, an orange and an apple w half cup oatmeal (optional). This makes about 6 servings. It works.

Poor baby! She apparently remembers the trauma/pain of the extraction, and she could have an anal fissure, not uncommon in young children. This is exquisitely painful (I have recent personal experience), and littles just can't understand or know how to cope with that much pain. I'd want her doctor to examine her, just in case.

Try using Miralax. Ask your pediatrician if in doubt. It's quite safe, not a laxative, and isn't likely to cause a dependency. It will keep the stool softer and moister, so she can pass it more easily. You don't want her to begin withholding poop out of fear, which can lead to bigger problems. Also, Miralax has no texture or flavor and mixes easily into foods or beverages. Keep her as hydrated as possible, especially if you're giving her extra fruit. That's good stuff for constipation, but can actually compound constipation if enough water isn't also given.

Handle her as little and as gently as possible. Always wipe front to back when you're cleaning her. If she seems to get badly "stuck" again, try a glycerine suppository first and wait a bit – that usually helps. I hope this all passes quickly.

Try feeding her baby food pears once or twice a day. You could always ask the doctor too if she could have a bladder infection as well as being constipated.

First I would change her diet to gluten free no gluten no wheat? No parsley! No rye! Try that I suffer from severe ibs syndrome and I can have gluten modestly but not daily. It helps tremendously. Gluten is something that they use in wheat rye and parsley to hold things together like bread pretzels goldfish Oreo cookies chez its cereals. Seriously.! She probably says it hurts because of her poop hurting I would try it see if gluten free works she's little this is the time to make her diet better n healthier. If it helps awesome. If not or even after it does work if you want her checked to see if there's a blockage or something the pediatrician can do less evasive buy you looking or feeling they can just ex ray or scan her nothing will touch or hurt her n she won't even know there checking her. Your pediatrician should refer you to a pediatric gasternologist.