i am needing information from moms out there who have dealt with bowel witholding..my son has been doing it since he was 12 months old, which is unusually early. he was prescribed Miralax and i just haven't felt right giving it to him. i have given it to him a few times a week, but he is well over three and i started giving him the miralax regularly and have successfully potty trained him. i want to try something else that he won't become dependent on. i have ordered some golden flax seed to start giving him daily, but i need lots of advice!! THANK YOU!
Thank you! to everyone who responded to my question! I will take heed to all of the information! This is a very exciting website and group of mommys! Thanks again! L.
Hi L.,
My son had the same problem when he was small. Try giving him white grape juice , fruits like orange , grapes and cereals with raisins or foods that have more fiber. You can also boil a few raisins in water and give him the juice of it. These are healthier and better than the medicines.
Susee
I am having the same problem with my 3 year old daughter and the only way i get her to potty is give her a treat if she uses it..but she still has her accidients ....
When my son finally decided to let me know when he had to go to the potty he withheld going also for days at a time. My sons pred. told me to give him enima which u give in the rectum and it causes them to have a bowel movement within 10 mins or so. After a few times my son began to hate me doing it and started to go on his own.
One thing that works well for my 5 month old's constipation is probiotic powder. I't's healthy bacteria for the bowels and can be found at your local health food store in capsule form. You can open them up and sprinkle it in his food or milk. Also, yougurt has these properties and if you think he will eat it, it might be worth a shot.
My son is now 7, he has been dealing with a bowel problem for all of his life. He will go 1 solid week without using the bathroom. Dr. E gave him Crystolose, then Miralax.. I do not like the Miralax, because it does not dissolve as well.. He has even gotten so bad that they were talking about crushing #2 up so he could pass it. Email me at ____@____.com
Goodmorning my friend, I have a son who is now 15 years old he has to take Miralax he has been using it for about a year now. I only give it to him when he really needs it and he is still able to have bowel movements on his on. so don't worry about him having to use it all the time. I wish you alot of luck, Your friend, Renea H.
We had the same problem with our son who is now 5. The doctor told us to give him enemas which was very hard on all of us. He felt like we were torchering him. My son told me he was afraid to poo poo because it would hurt. What changed it for him was when we gave him his bathroom back and decorated it in paint colors and a fish border that he chose. (I had an elderly sick cat that was in his bathroom for about 6 months.) Also, I told him to ask Jesus to help his poo poo not hurt and he still does that from time to time. We struggle to get him to eat healthy which plays an important part. I do hope the golden flax seed works. After this with my son I have found the wonderful website herbalhealer.com if you want to look at more natural approaches. I believe the membership is $25.00 (I use different products for my son and myself.) Actually my son has candida (a reoccuring yeast infection and rash around his anal) which I believe may have been contributed by the bowel withholding for such a long time. I wish you and your son the best with this. J. M.
L.,
You are certainly not alone in this delimma!
Our son had the same issue through age 4. He was on a prescription for almost a year, after that we gave him one Fiber 1 tablet a day. It was an easy way to get enough fiber into his diet and he liked the flavor of the orange tablets.
Like you I did not like to give him the perscription, I don't think that any parent wants to shovel medicine into their childd. But also, being in the medical profession myself, I understood the risks that go along with withholding. The benifits of helping his system get on the right track and then maintaining it with a healthy fiber supplement, far outweighed my own personal hang up with giving him the meds.
By the way, he is 5 1/2 now and we have not had any problems in over a year! He does not even take the Fiber supplements any more. The only thing that we are careful about it making sure that he gets lots of fruit in his diet - which we should do anyway!
Good luck!
I actually have a 9 year old that does that!! I've been giving him stool softners and it's starting to help. He's not going bc it hurts he just holds it till it hurts when he goes. The kayro syrup idea is a good one too. I've given my littlest one apple juice to keep him going too. The last one i can think of is not the one i'd recommend 1st(b/c it's soooo awful tasting) but castor oil is one of those old time remedies. It's just so nasty no matter what you put it in I couldn't get mine to take it. Well good luck and let us know how it goes!
My 22 mo old DD does the same thing for for about the same amount of time as your son. I haven't really given her anything for it. Se started adding flax oil to her food and the ped. said she needs more fiber so we are doing that now. She is using the potty for #2 because I always know when she needs to go. She will sit on the floor to prevent it. Every time she goes it is a major deal. She cries every time. It is very stressful for both of us. I think we are jsut going to try to bump up the fiber as much as we can and maybe she own't be able to hold it.
You know that Karo Syrup works wonders on the bowels... and that is a natural remedy instead of medicine! You may want to give that a try... my son did the same thing when he was a baby. You can also stimulate his rectum with a thermometer with vaseline... it works! I know it may sound crazy!
