Constipation - Gresham, OR

Juice,juice,juice. Try white grape if he doesn't like the prune. It really does work, some time it just takes a lot of juice. Once he's a bit older miralax is ok too, half a cap full mixed in.... (you guessed it) juice!

how long did she try the prune juice for? it may take a week or so for his body to co-operate. i have had this problem personally and i had to give myself an enema every couple days for 2 weeks and finally i was completely clear and became regular again. maybe his fecal matter is compacted.

I have to give my daughter prune juice every, single day or she will get hard bowel movements. Since she is still in diapers, when she gets constipated (I have learned the hard way by stopping prune juice because she seemed okay), I have had to either hold her in my lap straddling me or hold her on the ground with her legs pried open. The poop is just so big and hard at that point, that she will clamp her legs closed when she feels the urge to go because she is scared and knows it will be painful. It she is in my lap, I can whisper encouraging things in her ear and help her through it, since she cries the whole time. So, I really advocate for prune juice EVERY day. I was hesitant to do juice at first because I didn't want my kids to drink juice (bad for the teeth), but it is really necessary for her. Get the regular prune juice, not the baby kind. It is expensive, but it last a long time.

Add some prune juice to his daily water or other juice, most kids don't like it straight. My Grandson was the same way, I swore he'd have hemorrhoids before he was one! Makes potty training very difficult when it's painful to go. Another thing that helped is pecans, a few every eve seemed to help. My husband discovered this one for his problem! But I don't if at 10 months you want to be feeding nuts.

J.

S.,

My family has found that if we drink too much apple juice we get the runs. If we eat too much cheese we get constipated. That goes from my husband, who is 28 down to my daughter who is 1.

Try the apple juice, see if that works.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

I'd offer him mandarin oranges and make certain she's NOT giving him bananas. Mandarin oranges have always made my boys poo like geese. (Our house policy is that anytime they eat mandarin oranges, they also have to have banana to try to counteract the explosive mandarin orange poops!)

Hi S.,

This could actually be yeast related as I struggle with being constipated and have for years. I found out my issue was related to overgrowth of parasites. We use a product called 3LAC which is very helpful. Our whole family takes it and it is slowly but surely getting our bodies back to normal. We are so grateful to God that we found this product. We all did stool testing to check and see what parasites were in our bodies and how to treat them. Even babies can take this product, as well as women who are pregnant. I would seek a naturopath, as a regular MD may not aknowledge the yeast issue. The websites we use are www.candidafree.net and www.globalhealthtrax.org

Blessings,

K.S.

Oh, poor little guy.

My advice is to change doctors, seriously.

It doesn't sound like this doctor is able to help, does not practice / promote wellness, and is not addressing the child's or mother's concerns.

Hopefully the prolonged constipation is not damaging the colon, GI tract or esophagus (from throwing up).

There is no shame in seeing another doctor, even in the same clinic. We switched doctors in our same clinic, it's a little strange at first, but worth it and I did it only because I wanted a different tableside manner from the doc, we hadn't come in with any serious medical troubles.

My grandson was constipated as a baby and toddler. He's 4 and is rarely constipated now. The doctor suggested that his body hadn't developed enough to make bowel movements easily. She said to treat the condition and he may grow out of it. She was concerned because constipation does get worse when the baby avoids having them to prevent the pain. She prescribed a high fiber diet and eliminated dairy products.

I might not remember all of the list. This is what I do remember. Give him lots of fiber and water. No more than 24 oz. of milk, no cheese.
Avoid all the foods on the BRAT diet. That diet is for diarrhea. Bananas, rice, apples, ???? Ican't think of what t stands for now. And I think we were to avoid all forms of apple. But I'm not sure about juice. She did say to give him lots of prunes, vegetables, cereal and crackers high in fiber. I've found several that have 4 or 5 grams of fiber. At first we tried stirring Metamucil into his liquids. That didn't help. Then she prescribed Miralax. He was some better but we had to be strict about the right foods. That was difficult becuase he loved everything on the BRAT diet as well as cheese.

Watch for any signs of a bowel movement coming and help him to eliminate it then. Otherwise he may be holding it and the longer it's in there the harder it gets, both in texture and in passing it.

During this time I did a lot of research on the Internet. I learned that there are some medical conditions that cause chronic constipation. I don't know if the pediatrician is able to eliminate them as the cause. If the diet doesn't work after a couple of weeks of consistent use I'd advise taking him to a specialist, probably a gastroenteroligist.

I don't remember hearing the term "lazy bowel" but if that's what he has he needs medical intervention. Having a "lazy bowel" would mean to me that his intestines and colon aren't pushing the feces thru. I doubt that diet would help that condition. It would mean his body isn't working.

We were very frustrated and concered because of my grandson's pain. Once he screamed and screamed so loudly that his aunt called an ambulance. They manually helped him push the feces out. I don't know how they did that but perhaps a nurse or emt could teach you.

My mother helped my brother to eliminate feces. I think she put vaseline on her finger and went up and pulled it out. You do have to be careful that you don't puncture the bowell by pushing on the wall or with a sharp finger nail. Drs don't recommend doing that any more.

I seriously recommend getting another medical opinion. If you're on OHP you can make an appointment with a different doctor.

I hope that the mother can get this resolved soon. The condition only gets worse with time.

We have dealt with this real bad with both of our children. We tried Karo, juices, Miralax, gram crackers...this list goes on but the only thing that worked was getting him into the chiropractor. I can give you the name of a great one if you live in my area. We have taken our children in after being constipated for over a week and had them adjusted and within minutes they are pooping. It is wonderful!!

When my second was 5 months old, he was suffering from constipation really bad also. (he still does, but now we know what works!) It had been almost a week since he'd pooped, when I called a pharmacy to see if there was something over-the-counter that he could have. The pharmacist told me that sometimes apple juice can have the OPPOSITE effect you're going for. She recommended prune juice (which didn't for my son either) and karo syrup. For almost two days, we mixed 1/2 teaspoon of karo syrup in with EVERY 4 oz of liquid he drank during the day. It took a little while, but it DID help. Now, if I notice that he hasn't pooped in 24 hours, I mix karo syrup in his bottle and that does the trick. Keep in mind that it's not instant. It will take a little while to work.
Good luck!

We had to do a weeks worth of enimas and 2 table spoons of mineral oil daily. Once we were able to clear up the blockage the doc wanted her to continue 1 TBS of mineral oil every day. I would suggest she switch doctors. Pain a child experiences can cause long term issues and he should be concerned with at least easing the pain. We used the smallest enima kit we could find with luke warm water and Ivory soap(no other brands will do), just enough to cloud the water. The mineral oil can be mixed with juice to try and get it down. You will need to check with the doc about what kind of enima to use and if they have any special instructions.

Is the mom nursing or bottle-feeding the baby? If nursing, change the mother's diet. Mabe something the mother is eating is efecting the baby this way. They both should be eating whole grains and fresh vegetables. If bottle-feeding, change formulas.

Make sure child drinks water too. Many children don't like water because they weren't given it when they were young. They don't need a bunch of high sugar juice, even 100% juice has a lot of sugar. Then, the child only likes to drink sweet drinks. Except in cases like this when it is medicinal to give certain juices, like prune juice. Senna works well. Talk to your doctor about that for such a young one.

I have found that if I eat an apple in the evening after dinner, I have no problem going in the morning. You can mash up some raw, or cooked lightly, apples and feed that to him.

Maybe if you wipe the area with a warm washcloth, it will inspire the muscles to move. Not to be gross, but animals lick their young to stimulate a movement.

Hi, My son who is 7 months also seems to have problems with bowel movements. I was told that Pineapple juice will help, spinach, and camilla tea... mixing it in with foods will help. I was told that carrots, potatoes, apples, bannana's, and a lot of other foods will hold him up. I also find that for me, if I have an infection of some sort-- he is more backed up. It sounds crazy probably-- but if I have an ear infection, tooth ache, or any type of pain-- he won't go for a couple days, and it is much harder. Thankfully the suppositories help for my son really well. Does this child still breast feed? Could there be allergies involved?-- or just trouble digesting foods? Maybe she needs to watch what she is eating more for the childs sake. I have heard that sometimes it is normal for them not to go for a week or so at a time (for breast fed babies)-- but in my mind it is really painful for them. Also baths, and inserting in a gentle manner with a thermometer going in circle motions to help them go and open up their little area-- my mother in law showed me how to do that-- but I was advised kinda against it by my childs doctor-- he said the suppository-- gliceren or something along those lines. Hope you guys can get a handle on it-- it is really tough and very painful! I would also recommend checking out this online-- I ran accross something on babycenter.com once.

Take care,
S.

I would try Activia yogurt. Works great for my daughter. (She would stand in her room, push till she turned purple, cry, and still nothing would come out. It did get better after she was potty trained, but she still has hard poops if we don't stay on top of things.) There are probably kid yogurts out there with the same ingredients but I'm not sure. It says it takes 2 weeks to start working but it actually works quicker in my opinion. Her poops are softer and she goes everyday. It's an easy fix since most kids like yogurt anyways. If not, it can always be hidden in a homemade smoothie with strawberrys and other fruits, all of which just help the whole poop process anyways! This usually works better for older kids though, unless he can sip from a big cup with moms help( sorry just noticed he is 10 months ).
I would also consider swithching pediatricians. It is a doctors job to help with problems not just blow them off.
Good luck to her and I hope she finds something that works quickly!!