Toddler with Constipation or Diahrrea, HELP!

Please change doctors if necessary, but get this child tested for parasites and celiac disease and consider doing some food allergy trials where you remove most likely allergenic foods like milk and wheat and peanuts and see if this problem clears up with removal of those. Keep insisting on help. What she's going through isn't normal, and whatever is causing her gut damage needs to be found.

Ironically, I just took my 3 yr. old son to the doctor today for this very same thing. His situation is that he goes all day long about every hour but only enough about the size of a quarter. He squats in the corner and he'll turn red and cry in pain. He does this for a few days in a row and then he'll just go once or twice the next few days. We were told by his doctor to try suppositories and then Miralax. That just made him go easier but didn't help the problem. So then they drew blood to check for anemia and did x-rays on his abdomen to check for blockages. They thought he might have a blockage that was only letting a little at a time come out. All the tests came back fine. Since his doctor couldn't find anything, when we took him back today they referred him to a gastro doctor. The gastro doctor did a consult over the phone today with our doctor and ordered another x-ray and a stool sample. My son's poop is like sand or dirt most of the time. The gastro doctor said that there is something that happens in the pancreas that can make stool be like sand and dirt. So now we're waiting for more tests to come back and to see the gastro doctor. I would demand they do some testing on your daughter. It could be something serious. At first our doctor just wanted to play it off as constipation and just let it go. But I wouldn't let it go because my son is in constant pain with this, and can't potty train because of it. I hope that helps you some.

She could possibly have food allergies, or gluten/celiac allergies (wheat). Also, eating lots of grapes or fruit juices can cause diarrhea. Bananas can help though.

Whatever it is, it doesn't sound normal to me and I would seek a second opinion. Is she lethargic, have very little urine, dry mouth? Those are signs of dehydration and she would need medical attention.

The rash is probably a yeast infection... common with lots of diarrhea.

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Chronic toddler or infant diarrhea refers to diarrhea that has persisted beyond 4 weeks. It is important to make sure your child isn't becoming dehydrated with the diarrhea.

As long as your child isn't dehydrated, the important thing to note is whether she is growing normally.

* If your child is growing well but has frequent stools (poop, poo), the commonest cause is toddler diarrhea. This is a benign condition and is commonly seen in toddlers who drink a lot, particularly juice. It settles by itself as your child grows older and drinks less. It is not a problem as the child is growing and no treatment is necessary, other than advice to limit juice intake. However,

* If your child has chronic diarrhea and is not growing well - either in weight or length - she may have a problem with absorbing food, called malabsorption.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabsorption

Malabsorption can make the stools smelly and they can look greasy. If your child has very smelly loose frequent stools (poop, poo) and is not growing well, you need to see your doctor for further investigation.

Malabsorption can be caused by a number of diseases including:

* celiac disease
* cystic fibrosis
* giardiasis
* lactose intolerance
* food allergy

from here:
http://www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com/infant-...

or it could be encopresis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encopresis

Peg is correct. Seek more help from your pediatrician or find another, something needs to be done now.

No, you are describing an awful medical condition called encopresis. Your doctor is not listening. Constipated poops have become impacted in your little girl's bowel, and the pressure of new, soft poops forces them to ooze past the blockage. It looks like diarrhea, but that's only the part you can see.

Glycerine suppositories or liquid may help stimulate her body to pass the impaction. It will probably be painful, and she may even have some bleeding. It's a bit like having a baby. Give her lots of encouragement.

If that doesn't work, an enema may be needed. Miralax is often used to help prevent new impactions. You really need a pediatrician to help you through this – maybe someone different than the one you have now. It might take weeks or longer to get her bowel back in shape. Good luck. Poor little girl.

Have you talked about this with her pediatrician? This is a medical problem. The reason it becomes soft and smells bad, etc. as you describe is because she is constipated and her body finds a way to get rid of it. She holds it for 4 or 5 days because she fears the pain that expelling it will give her. She's now in a terribly painful cycle and does need your extra attention, holding, soothing.

The exhaustion, sweaty and clammy skin are the result of having to work so hard to get the poop past the plug her body has made. Her body has made the plug because when she first had stuff to poop out she didn't get it out. What you need to know is why? Now, it may just be because she's afraid to try to get it out until it's too uncomfortable to not try. It may have started when you didn't realize that she was constipated and now the pain keeps her from pushing it out until she's so uncomfortable she has to push. Or there may be a physical reason why her body doesn't push it out sooner.

Her poop is not soft! She does not have diarrhea. I cannot emphasize that enough! It's soft on that one day but it's either too firm to come out or her body won't let it out the other 4-5 days. Explain this to the doctor in the way you've explained it here.

By the way, stopping diarrhea uses the same techniques as stopping constipation. Both respond, by changing to a normal bm, to increased fiber, liquids, and exercise unless there is a physical reason for the constipation or diarrhea. We use the b.r.a.t diet when a baby has chronic diarrhea because of illness.

Take her to the doctor and together find a way to end the constipation. You're well into a painful cycle and need medical intervention. First to discover if there is a physical reason that started the cycle with constipation. Then, if her body is healthy, to begin a diet and medication to stop the constipation as well as ways to help her poop in spite of her memory of pain.

My grandson had this problem at this age. For some reason he never did seem to avoid the pain. He was banned from one preschool because he screamed when he one time had a bm there. But he did have the bm and lay down for a nap with the rest of kids after wards. The owner just could not deal with the possibility of having another such episode.

My son was constipated. He never tried to hold it in to the point that a bm was a smelly mess. He did go for days without a bm and was uncomfortable and irritable. He finally outgrew it. In the meantime, his doctor did a thorough exam and didn't find a physical reason for the constipation.

The doctor told my daughter to give him as much food with fiber as she could, to stop giving him dairy products as well as the foods on the b.r.a.t. diet, no bananas, rice, or applesauce. He could have toast made with a high fiber bread. Read labels. Most whole wheat toast has 1 g. of fiber if that. I look for bread with at least 3 g of fiber. He was also to have plenty of fluids including grape and prune/plum. The doctor also prescribed natural ingredient stool softeners.

It took several months to find a combination that worked enough that it didn't hurt when when he pooped. He still frequently has firm stools that are sometimes in pill form but he does poop everyday and is comfortable.

During that time his mother or myself took him to the toilet everyday to try. If he didn't poop it was no big deal. Ten minutes on was all that we required. We entertained and played with him during that time.

Perhaps this started when she was constipated and you didn't realize it or perhaps she does have a medical condition that causes this. It's important to get a medical exam asap tho you can start focusing on her diet immediately.

You can try helping her to poop each day by having her squat. Be very patient and make the squatting fun. Perhaps use a potty sitting on the floor under her. Most of us poop an hour or so after meals and when we first get up in the morning. Try those times.

Please, continue to give her comfort all day on those days this happens every 15 minutes. She needs that comfort. Because this goes on all day I am prone to think that there is a medical issue here.

One of my brothers had constipation issues at this age. When my mother was changing his diaper she helped the poop to come out by poking her finger inside his anus and wiggling it. One time when my grandson was at his aunts, he couldn't get the poop our and screamed inconsolably. His aunt called 911 and they sent out an ambulance. The EMT poked inside his anus with a gloved hand and pulled the poop out. I'm not suggesting that you do this but letting you know that if you're comfortable doing this in a safe way, it's an option. But only if you do it early on; say the next day or two after an all day bout.

The most important thing for you to do right away is to make an appointment with a pediatrician and tell him her poop is not soft.

I would take her to a different Ped Dr for a second opinion. It is hard to say what is causing this for sure, food allergy, constipation, etc but it needs to get figured out!!!

Probotics are a good choice and can come like a Flintstones vitamin or a powder to mix in liquid. My daughter can go a few days at a time without going and that's what I give her. Her Dr a long time ago prescribed Miralax but after reading up on it, I'd NEVER give it to a child let alone an adult!! It's component is a main ingredient in antifreeze!!!

Good luck!
S.

Almost sounds like a food allergy - like gluten. Has she been tested? Might be worth a shot. Good luck to you both.

Powdered acidophilus bifidus puts the good bacteria back int the gut to give the poop the proper consistency. It works for both constipation and loose stools and will help get the cramping under control. Mix 1/4 tsp into her food. Like yogurt, pudding, applesauce etc. They market yogurt with acidophilus bifidus already in it, but that hasn't worked as quickly as the Metagenics Ultra Flora. You get it from your health care provider.

Take her to a different doctor. If that one doesn't listen, take her to a different one. More than likely she is actually impacted and the softer feces is oozing around the impaction. This can wind up making her sick or causing a myriad of other health problems.
The doctor will most likely recommend that she have an entire bottle of Miralax mixed with Gatorade during the course of a day, or sometimes even a few hours. This will clean her out almost completely. She may have to be on a small dose of Miralax until her body is re-trained to pass bowel movements correctly. If the problem goes on for too long, the muscles in her colon that push the feces out can become stretched and won't ever work properly. That's kind of a worst case scenario, but you really want to get this taken care of NOW!
If you can't get into a ped today, you might want to consider taking her to urgent care or even the ER. Anything to get the proper diagnosis.
Good luck to you and your daughter.

Good advice so far, but I wonder with the "gritty" part- do you have plants that she may be eating the dirt from?
Other than that, good luck. I know its horrible to have your little one in such pain.

I would get a 2nd opinion.

My daughter had a similar issue - and we took her to her ped. He had us buy Miralax and mix in about a tablespoon or so with each drink. It has no flavor and it definitely helped. We did it for a week or so - to help regulate her system again and so far (8 months) we've been good with no problems.

Good luck!