Constipation in 1 Year Old

My two-year old has the same problem. He refuses to eat anything but carbs and often ands up with a really nasty case of constipation. We usually get him Bolthouse Farms "Green Goodness". It is in the produce section at Target and most other grocery stores. It is one of those "yummy" looking smoothies. My little boy will refuse to eat or drink a lot of things, but he likes his "poop juice". The other thing you might try, just to get here going is getting some Mil of Magnesia and putting a teaspoon in with the juice. Good luck!

They put my little guy on Miralax when he was a little less than one. Now it's over the counter, and you can stir it into any drink. My guess is that the dr will recommend that. Also, you can do a pediatric enema to clear her out until you hear.

Dairy turned out to be the culprit for my daughter. I didn't cut it out completely, especially as the docs recommend whole milk from age 1-2, I was too nervous to eliminate it all together. But I did watch how much she had. Between the milk, cheese, and all other things dairy I didn't realize how much she had.

So I made sure she got the minimum amount of whole milk recommended. But I limited cheeses. I also mixed oatmeal with ground flax seeds and baby food prunes and applesauce (you said your DD doesn't like fruits, but even if you can add tiny enough amounts that she won't notice throughout the day, it's something).

Same with Karo syrup. It was more work, but I added tiny amounts into lots of things that she ate, even her milk.

Mostly, I encouraged her to drink water, as much as she wanted. I will have to add that eventually I had to make sure she ate first before drinking water, otherwise she felt full from the water and didn't eat enough. Always something!

I would suggest Miralax. Not 100% sure if you can use it on a child that young, but it worked wonders for me when I was pregnant (and was okay to use when I was pregnant). It's good because it actually adds water to the existing stool to soften it up. See if you can get ahold of anyone at your Ped's office... surely they have a resident in the local ER or someone you can talk to? Good luck!

You can add Miralax to her milk or water. Since the doctor's office is closed until Monday, try calling your pharmacy and see if they can help you with the dosage. My daughter had the same problem and our pediatrician recommended it and it worked like a charm. Good luck!

ADDED:.. shoot I just re-read your post and saw that she's only a year old... skip the celery ;), I'll leave this post but it probably doesnt pertain to a one year old, darn... sorry bout that!
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You just need to figure out how to sneak more fiber into her diet. Pulverized flax seed in cereal and sauces is one way to do it. Does she like oatmeal, it's great in oatmeal.
Google "high fiber foods" and see what she likes in the list and make sure she gets enough each day. It's a shame she wont eat fruits and veggies. Have you tried celery or apples with peanut butter? Most kids love that. Maybe you shouldnt give up too easy and get more strict with what she eats. When they get hungry enough they will eat some of things that you want them to, you just have to be a little tougher and not let them call the shots. Dont forget that you are the MOM, sometimes it hurts to make them do what is necessary for their health and safety.... but you have to.
Adults need 16 grams of fiber a day.... it takes a lot of food to get that to happen, but it REALLY is the ONLY way to get regular bowel movements, coupled with plenty of water.

These are food ideas to help you in the short-term:

Can you cut actual prunes into small pieces? My daughter ate tiny slices of dried fruits at that age. Or have you tried the actual packaged baby food stewed prunes? Those have worked on my daughter when she's had issues, and she actually thought they were really good.

I also have a strong bias toward legumes. Lentils, black beans, and chick peas have tons of fiber, neutral flavor so you can make them taste how you want (as opposed to green veggies), and are soft enough that almost any age can eat them. Black beans from a can are pretty easy to prepare, using whatever spices or sauces your daughter likes.

Good luck. Sounds painful for both mom and daughter. :(

Just read your post...I take dried prunes and I stew them in water (several prunes cover with water and gently heat on stove or if in a hurry in the microwave). When the prunes are soft, I keep the liquid and use a hand blender to puree the whole thing (you can add more water if you need to adjust the consistency). I then use this puree in all kinds of foods for my dd. I add the puree (1-2 tsp) to oatmeal cereal in the morning, smoothies, mash potatoes, spaghetti sauce, etc.

You may have to experiment with how much to put in things but it works for us. The puree with last several days in the refrigerator. I usually make a batch once a week.

WATER WATER WATER WATER WATER and more water.
And then, gradually, add a little bit of juice to SOME of the water.
Not every time but every so often.
Try cutting up actual prunes into little bitty pieces.
Stir some into whatever she does eat . . . cereal? yogurt?
No more rice, for now.
Good luck, mom.

Put ground flax seed in her meal. If she eats yogurt, you can put 1 tea spoon in the yogurt. I do that for my son and it helps a lot.

if she is drinking water mix miralax into it. i am not sure what the dosage would be for a child that young so you would need to call the doctor. my boys have/are on it. my oldest started taking it when he was around 1 roughly and my second son just started taking it about 1 1/2 months ago. he is 2 and takes 1 1/2 tsp per day. constipation runs in my family. and yes i am talking about the kind you are. they are in pain and then when they try and have a BM they scream in pain and their little bummy tears a little bit. on top of the miralax try doing the bicycle exercise with her, rub her tummy with LITE pressure to try and help break it up and make it softer, also try letting her soak in a warm tub of water. if she has a BM while in there thats fine. but the warm water should relax her a little bit more.

ummm something you could try would be babyfood prunes. umm also push the water... she is old enough that you could try to explain to her how these things will help her poop easier... my daughter is constantly constipated, but she will happily drink prune juice.. good luck

:(
There are chewable fiber tablets. Not ideal, but things have to go through the system more quickly. You have to be sure she can chew them well, though. Maybe sprinkle them in something she will eat. My understanding is that as the waste sits in the intestine, water is taken out. The longer it sits, the harder it gets. So fiber and water are key. My kids liked mandarin oranges and they worked every time to get things going. High fiber cereals (Fiber one is one) might help. Lots of liquid, too.

Good luck; I have had similar issues and they are very uncomfortable!

She could have a problem with milk. My son had the same problem until I took him off dairy completely at age 2. Now I sometimes have to give him bananas to firm it up. Sounds like a food alergy to me.

Check with your doctor first, of course. Our daughter has constipation issues, and at 18 months (after all the tricks that used to work quit working) had us give her Milk of Magnesia for 2 weeks I think it was to basically clean her out and start over (didn't seem to help her, to be honest). Next step was to go on Miralax every day (start off at 1/2 cap and figured her dose from there based on how her stools were). She's been on Miralax everyday now for 18 months (just turned 3), and we can tell when we forget to give her a dose (we give it to her every morning when we leave for daycare ... weekened schedule is different so sometimes gets spaced!) This seems to be the norm, unfortunately, in my family (5 grandkids, 3 have done this treatment, one would have if Miralax had been out when he was young, and the baby is headed towards starting it or has just recently started.)

add some milk of magnesia (mom) to her milk or yogurt to get her going again. This worked great for my kids.

My neice had something along the lines of this issue also. We ended up getting her on Maralax not much like a little spoon in 8 oz of water daily at the same time daily. This we started a month before she turned one. She since then also drinks soy milk. The 8th continent has been working with her also. We recently tried switching her to whole milk went good for a week and two days ago she had a horrible bm made her butt bleed really bad. We haven't seen this since she turned 11 months old. The doctor put her back on the soy milk and so far so good. To this day she is off the laxative lots of fluids and fruit and veggies with lots of fiber.
With my baby that is what we had to do. Good luck!