Constipation in 3.5 Year Old

My 4y is going through the constipation thing too. Basically the messy underwear is her body fighting her. Gravity is doing its job, and she's holding it in. I tried increasing her fat intake. Gave her a bag of fritos at lunch to munch on. That worked for a few days.

We have done the Fleet Child suppositories, which she hates!, but were necessary. Our pediatrician even had I try 1 piece of chocolate exlax, which worked once. Then she had an episode where neither of those two things did anything. At the 5 day mark she was literally sitting on the toilet all day shaking with no progress. I took her to the ER where they gave her a liquid enima and kept trying until she went. It took 3 trys over 2.5 hours. Now she is on 2 tsp. of Miralax a day. When we try to cut back the problems start to come back.

Hi there.
I sent you some information on Aloe Juice. This is the best stuff ever. I forgot to mention however that it will also boost her immune system which will help with the ear infections. Hope it helps.

you are in control of her diet....make sure it is full of fresh fruit & vegies. Avoid all sugary foods. Pump the fluids....both water & the juices. Avoid dairy, including cheese.

& above all else, don't cave when it comes to snack time. Make sure it's healthy.

To ease her pain, let her soak in the tub several times each day. That'll help loosen her up!

Hi McMama,

Constipation is no fun! I've had quite the long battle with this with my son. I suggest you try dried apricots (slice them thin and scrub her teeth afterward :-)).

If you go the Miralax route, try mixing it in whatever fruit juice she enjoys. If you think she can understand, I'd try explaining the way the body works (poop needs to come out every day) and let her know that the longer she holds it, the more likely it is that she'll be uncomfortable, if you don't think that will worry her. You may just need to get her on a laxative (or apricots) to get her loosened up enough to go, and keep her on it for a while (check with your Dr.) to get her regular again. Whatever you do, back off SLOWLY from whatever laxative means you end up using.

best of luck!
C.

Yes, we've been dealing with constipation on and off for quite a while now. We tried all the natural things first, and none of them worked for very long. We now use Miralax if she gets constipated and it really helps.

Basically, I try to get her to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and drink more water. We avoid bananas b/c they really constipate my daughter.

I also talk to her about drinking more water, eating foods that help, and she listens and will eat the foods that help. Also, I spoke with her about the importance of "not keeping the poopy" in her body, that it will make her sick. She doesn't hold it in any more, especially after we had that conversation.

Good luck!

My son is now 15 years old. We went through years and years of constipation issues ... numerous doctors, apricot nectar, suppositories, mineral oil, Fleet enemas ... until Miralax came out. Try the Miralax. There is a reason it is named what it is, "Mira"cle, "lax"ative.

Grandson has that off and on and the orange prunes, in bags by raisins at the grocery store, helped some and then he's on Miralax. It does help. You put it in any drink and they don't taste it and it takes several days maybe to work but also softens the stool so it is good to use for children. Try it and see if it works.