# Chronic Toddler Constipation Support Thread.



## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

I just want to say if you have this problem my heart goes out to you because this is the single most frustrating problem I have ever dealt with as a parent. You name it, I have probably tried it. When my DD didnt have a BM for 6 days and we cancelled our plans because I knew as soon as we got to where we were going she was going to tell me she has to go home to poo, I broke down and cried. Well sobbed uncontrolably actually. I have been dealing with this every since she started solids. It doesnt matter what I do. Dairy free, gluten free, chiropractor, more fiber, less fiber, prune juice, prunes, lactulose, suppositories, more liquids......*sigh*. Sometimes we will catch a break for a few months or a few days and I think we finally beat it only to have it start all over again.

This last time she went 6 days, she was getting 2 tbsp of lactulose everyday, and then I gave her a suppository on the 5th day. It failed. So I gave her some milk of magnesia followed by a big glass of fluids. It failed. Morning came and I gave her more milk of magnesia. Nothing. In the evening I gave her another suppository. I helped her hold it in for 30 min. Nothing came out but the suppository. Finally at midnight she pooped. Then next day she pooped again. That was Sunday. I upped the lactulose to 2 tbsp twice a day. She still has not pooped and I am left feeling.....well.... pooped.

I am moving on to miralax and I feel like a terrible mother. I am going to give my child a chemical every day and no matter how gentle and effective they say it is, it feels icky to me. But I cant watch her cry on the toilet any more. I cant watch her sweating, flushed, with her legs crossed trying to hold it in. Part of me feels sorry for her and part of me wants to smack her for doing it, because its what is causing the problem to begin with. (I dont actually hit my child btw I am just venting)

I dont know what I am looking for. Maybe someone thats done the miralax and were happy they did it.


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## bcblondie (Jun 9, 2009)

I totally hear you! Our problem is not as severe but definitely chronic. And I think above all, the problem was his holding it in. And of course my son is a very picky eater so things like prune juice just weren't gonna happen. I finally gave him laxitive drops in his bottles. Very slow acting. Then I tried this laxative jelly (sorry can't remember the name off hand but I'll check if you want!) that I mix in with jam in PB&J's. lol. Works amazing. And fast. And the softer it was the less he started holding it in. And now a pear a day is enough to keep him soft enough to go.  SUCH a relief.

I hope you can find something that works.


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## mom61508 (May 10, 2009)

DD went threw this for a few months it was awful  A quality probiotic is what really helped DD. At the time we used pharmax neonate. A probiotic sounds like it would be great for regardless If it helps her start pooping normal again. What about magnesium daily? Have you tried that??

I highly recommend you read about the GAPS diet. The book is pricy but you can find a good deal on amazon.

http://gapsguide.com/category/book/

http://www.gutandpsychologysyndrome.com/gaps-book/


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## mkksmom (Mar 24, 2008)

Ugh! I so understand. With my now 6 year-old, I did the karo syrup trick and suppositories once in a while. We avoided all crackers, limited cheerios, bread, etc.. She had to eat prunes daily and we finally found that shredded wheat helped her. It was enough to convince her that it wold be OK and not hurt, and she eventually relaxed. The other thing that helped was telling her to read and relax while she was waiting.

Now I have a 15 month old who is prone to constipation as well. Has been since starting solids. The ped had me try limiting protein some, so we cut out meat and we have to watch stuff like cottage cheese. I find that black beans, prunes and spinach work for her. It seems like you have to keep searching until you find the food that really seems to help them. I think I'm going to try to find a good probiotic to give her as my next step because she doesn't seem to be trying to hold it yet and I am hoping to get it resolved before that starts this time around.

This too shall pass is what I'm telling myself.


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## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

I can not bring myself to use the miralax. Its funny, I havent done much of anything and she is starting to poop a bit more often again. Maybe with the travelling we did during the holidays, it just messed up her routine and comfort zone.

I am going to keep using the lactulose and I also just ordered some ground flax meal and InulinFOS from iherb. I already give her probiotics and some home made sauerkraut every now and then.

The only magnesium I have tried is Milk of Magnesia when she really gets stopped up. I like it because its gentle and doesnt give her cramps.


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

My kid has had chronic constipation since starting solids as well. It got so bad that he ended up in the hospital right before his first birthday. To avoid a recurrence of that we have had him on miralax since he was 11 months old (he is 18 months now). Even with that we have to use a suppository about once every two weeks. I've not found any foods that help. I've tried a probiotic. I've tried prunes (he loves them so we use them as a snack). I don't know what the heck?

I have found that cutting out foods that he tends to swallow whole (likes beans and corn) helps a bit. His poops are huge...and I think its because he stretched his intestines out before he was finally hospitalized. This is why I don't mind using the miralax...because if we don't he experiences incredible pain when he passes his stool. Poor kid.


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## McCully (Oct 3, 2010)

I posted this in the Health and Healing thread too. OMG I am so there with all of you. It's one of the most heartbreaking things to sit with your kid while they strain to poop and are just screaming and writhing in pain as they do it. My heart aches for my DD when she is trying so hard to poop but nothing happens (or when she's getting fissures)

Have you tried a hazelwood necklace? My daughter (13 months old) has really struggled with constipation since she was 7ish months old. It's really resistant to everything and we have a prescription laxative and glycerin suppositories on hand at all times in the event that she misses a day of poops (we used to let her go 3 days, but have since changed to only letting her go a full 24 hours. If we let it get away from us we have to do a lot more to get things going again and DD is in a lot of pain). It's become critical for her to have a BM on her own every day or things get really bad for her (fissures and huge drama). I picked up a hazelwood necklace for her one day and it has totally changed things for her. I was super skeptical at first, but within 2 days, she was having "normal"texture BMs every day.

The other aspects of our constipation plan include:

1 cup of berries every morning

1 serving of yogurt every day

Probiotic supplement

Lots of water and breastmilk

1-2 pears every day

Staying away from 100% white flour products (mostly white bread...totally does a number on her poor tummy)

Butter on vegetables (increasing dietary fat, and increasing fibre at the same time)

We were doing the above before we got the hazelwood necklace and saw improvement in her BM frequency and texture, but it really wasn't enough for her. We would still have to use the prescription lax and suppositories way more often than I was comfortable with. The hazelwood definitely was what regulated things for her. Not that things are perfect, but are definitely better controlled.

HTH


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## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

McCully: Now that is something I havent tried. I am going to order a hazelwood necklace today!


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## half-pigeon (Nov 4, 2008)

after reading this thread, i am realizing my son does in fact have a problem. he is 17 months & only recently started having solid poops & they are quite large. there is discomfort & comes to me to cuddle when he has to poop. i may have to try pears tomorrow. what else besides prune juice works? i am hesitant with introducing juice this early. i am wondering more about the probiotic too.


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## MountainMamaGC (Jun 23, 2008)

If you dont want to use juice, try making a prune puree. Take a few prunes and simmer with some water on the stove and puree in a food processor. Try adding 1-2 tbsp of flax oil in some yogurt. Make sure the yogurt has live cultures so he gets the probiotics as well.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *half-pigeon*
> 
> after reading this thread, i am realizing my son does in fact have a problem. he is 17 months & only recently started having solid poops & they are quite large. there is discomfort & comes to me to cuddle when he has to poop. i may have to try pears tomorrow. what else besides prune juice works? i am hesitant with introducing juice this early. i am wondering more about the probiotic too.


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## Neera (Jul 15, 2007)

Dd refuses to have prune puree. She'd eat whole prunes, raisins and prune juice but at one point nothing worked. No matter what we tried - we gave her all the fiber we cud and probiotics. Then, we ordered Dr Schulz's natural formula for constipation. At first it seemed to work well and in a week or maybe two it just made her worse. Her stomach looked double it's size and she had sever bloating according to her doc. It came down to enema and I think freak out is mildly putting it, she had panic attacks just looking at it. She is unvaxed so I don't know if she thought it was a shot. She knows of shots from watching tv but she only imagines the pain. We had to spend what seemed like forever trying to hold her down to do the enema. It was horrible. As a last resort we gave her Miralax. But, the fiber gummies Pedialax have worked q. good as well. We alternate between the two.


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## lessmith23 (Apr 1, 2009)

I'm so happy to have found this thread as we have been battling chronic constipation with DD (now 17 months) since we first introduced her to solids at 6 months. Things have gotten progressively worse since she weaned a couple months ago.

She eats a pretty good diet and likes many of the things that should help her poop but nothing seems to help. We are at the point where we can't let her go more than 24 hours without a bowel movement otherwise it's just agony for her and us trying to get her going again. Her poops are not overly hard but at HUGE! We've been to the dr. multiple times and he's no help. Just keeps telling us that it's normal for kids to get constipated blah, blah, blah. It's so frustrating because this is not normal. I feel like it's a symptom of a larger issue.

Has anyone had any luck with eliminating certain foods and trying to determine is a food allergy/intolerance could be the cause? Just wondering as this might be our next step.


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## McCully (Oct 3, 2010)

I have had just an awful time getting DD to drink prune juice/eat prune puree/eat prunes etc... She will pick around at pieces of prune but won't actually ingest enough to make any difference. It's why we have her eating so many pears- we keep them in the fridge and she likes them a lot when they are super cold (it feels like she is teething constantly so I'm sure the cold fruit on the gums feels nice too).

Raisins also seem to help her and she'll actually eat them and they are a good snack for her to have. Pear juice also works if your LO won't touch prune juice (my kid doesn't like juice at all anyways though).

Lessmith- I haven't tried an elimination diet yet since things seem to be improving for us, but that's definitely on the list should things go south. Our Dr has been pretty good at laying out some options for E's constipation issues. His first move was to get her on Lactulose for a bit to "reset" things and then to go from there. He suggested that there could be anatomical issues that can cause constipation and if we couldn't get her constipation under control that his next step would be to rule those out. I think that we would probably go that route first if things don't continue to get better, and then would go for an elimination diet. But that's what I feel comfortable with. Like your DD, we have to see a poop every 24 hours or things go out of control.


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## sageovalente (Jul 21, 2006)

Hello, My DS (22 months old) became very constipated when he started solids. We tried everything (most of the suggestions mentioned above). Some things would work for a few days then he would become constipated again. Even if his stool was soft he would hold it in for as long as possible. I wanted to share something that has worked for him. A few weeks ago I bought some sesame sticks, the kind you buy in the bulk section at a co-op or health food store. My Ds loved them, he ate a small handful. The next day he had a pain free, non dramatic bowel movement. I am not sure if it is the oil in the sesame seeds or fiber, but they seem to really help him. He eats a few everyday, and now has regular soft bowels movements. Thought I would pass this on in case it can help someone else. I know how hard this can be to go through.


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## bcblondie (Jun 9, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *sageovalente*
> 
> Hello, My DS (22 months old) became very constipated when he started solids. We tried everything (most of the suggestions mentioned above). Some things would work for a few days then he would become constipated again. Even if his stool was soft he would hold it in for as long as possible. I wanted to share something that has worked for him. A few weeks ago I bought some sesame sticks, the kind you buy in the bulk section at a co-op or health food store. My Ds loved them, he ate a small handful. The next day he had a pain free, non dramatic bowel movement. I am not sure if it is the oil in the sesame seeds or fiber, but they seem to really help him. He eats a few everyday, and now has regular soft bowels movements. Thought I would pass this on in case it can help someone else. I know how hard this can be to go through.


Awesome tip! My DS hasn't pooped in a week now because he's been sick. Doc advised us to get him a supository ( becuase he wouldn't keep an oral laxitive down)


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## carmen358 (Jul 5, 2008)

My DD has also been plagued with constipation since starting solids. Prunes are effective but she hates being spoon fed (and can't spoon feed herself yet) so I started making "prunesicles." I pour pureed prunes into an ice cube tray, freeze it and then cut it into bite sized bits and she LOVES it. We also do probiotics and pears. She still only goes every 2 - 3 days...


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## Neera (Jul 15, 2007)

I forgot to mention that our toddler was getting v. little exercise. I am not sure but from what I've read on other threads it has a major role to play in constipation.


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## MrsBone (Apr 20, 2004)

my 2 year old gets constipated unless I give him juice every day, at least 8 oz. I hate it because I hate giving him juice..it's so lacking in nutrients, and just makes him want more sugar, but if I skip a day, he gets constipated. I guess there are worse things, huh? Anyway. He absolutely refuses to go to bed or eat unless he's had a good poop for the day, so here I am, giving him juice daily. At least I buy organic!


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## keeptryst (Jan 12, 2008)

DS (3 yrs 4 months) isn't chronically constipated, but he has these episodes when something freaks him out and he's scared to poop for 4-5 days. He'll hold it in and dance around the house screaming when the pressure comes. Pretty hellish for us to watch him go through it. During those times, I give him lots of warm water to drink, greens, raw veggies, fruits like bananas, prunes, butter, fibre foods, you name it.

This time we tried triphala powder - an Ayurvedic physician recommended we give him a quarter teaspoon first thing on an empty stomach in the morning, and a quarter teaspoon at night just before bed. The powder is pretty hard to swallow by itself, so we mixed it with butter and sugar and made little balls for him to eat, followed by a drink of warm water to wash it down. Here's a little bit about triphala.

He did poop on the 5th day, it pretty much pooped itself. And he finally got over his fear and pooped some 4 times that day. Thank God!


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## angelandmisha (May 16, 2008)

We've had this problem here as well. My ds is almost 3 1/2, still nursing and typically only poops about every third day. It's gotten a lot better, but I do think that he tries to hold in his poops and that started because of a painful one.

Here's what we have done that seems to help:
I give him 2 pedialax fiber gummies every morning, I try to give him a pear every day(although they haven't been very good at the store since summer), and he regularly(almost daily) eats Activia yogurt.

That seems to help, but we still sometimes need extra help. I found this remedy that has worked quickly every time I've done it and it's easy- I found it in a natural healing book at the natural foods store nearby. Get some castor oil and some essential oil of lavender, Rosemary or marjoram( I used lavender). Mix the castor oil with several drops of the essential oil- enough to notice the scent of the oil and you can adjust from there. Warm the oil slightly (I have the mixture in a small bottle with dropper that I just submerge in warm water to heat it). Massage that mixture onto your child's belly, starting at the belly button, in a clockwise fashion, extending out and finishing down the left inner thigh. That's all. Super easy and they don't have to ingest anything. I've done this several times and it has worked within probably ten minutes each time, no drama, no pain. I don't know why it works, but I was really happy to find this remedy as I really didn't want to be giving my child lots of chemicals.

I hope this works for you, I know it's so hard to not be able to help them with this painful problem. Good luck!


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## NevadaMama (Oct 1, 2010)

I'm afraid to say that we may have to join the ranks with you mamas as well. DD has been having an increasingly tough time pooping since she really got going with her solids at around 9 months. It's to the point now where she needs a suppository every other day or so just to go - her poop isn't all that hard, just huge!! This morning we had a full-on meltdown when she was trying to go, DH had to run to the store to get the Pedia-Lax enemas so she could finally have a BM. DD will be one on Thursday.

She eats very healthy, LOVES yogurt, veggies, fruit, etc. I am afraid it's the fruit that's doing it, her constipation always seems to be at it's worst if she's had a lot of fruit within the last 24 hours. She had issues when she was 3 - 4 months old as well and we had to switch her formula and also give her prune juice in her bottle once a day to keep her regular. I am going to try her on a GF diet soon if things don't improve - DH has major gluten intolerance, but he has the opposite of constipation when he eats it!

I hate the idea of giving her anything "chemical" to help her go, but I don't really know what else to try diet-wise. I will try prune juice again I suppose, even though I hate giving her juice too, and I don't really think a probiotic would work since she's already eating at least a cup of yogurt a day. She does have a piece of toast (whole wheat) with organic butter daily, as well as the Earth's Best brand of cheerios, but that's pretty much it as far as wheat products go. Oatmeal seems to help about half the time.

I will keep checking this thread to see what other mamas come up with. Good luck everyone!


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## carmen358 (Jul 5, 2008)

My DD was sick with a bit of a stomach flu (we think she had a mild case of what my DP and I had) and was off solids pretty much for a few days. She's eaten more in the past day or so but she hasn't pooped in 3 days  She still nurses on demand...day and night. She's having lots of wet diapers, seems fine except for being very gassy at night...but she's always gassy at night.

How long is it "safe" to just wait for her to go? We've tried pears, prunes, water, she gets probiotics everyday....


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## justKate (Jun 10, 2008)

Can I revive this thread?

We're really suffering here. Long story short, DD holds it, and nothing is working. It's been four days now. Prior to that it had been seven. Waiting for a nurse to return my call, and terrified that she's going to suggest Miralax. We have lactulose in the house, so I'm going to suggest that....

Ugh. My poor baby.


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justKate*
> 
> Can I revive this thread?
> 
> ...


What have you tried?


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## justKate (Jun 10, 2008)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *Chamomile Girl*
> 
> What have you tried?


Offering her a diaper to poop (she doesn't want the diaper)

Talking through it, then ignoring it, showing her poop (very interested, but doesn't want to do it)

Cutting waaay back on dairy--only giving her milk when she cries for it.

Prune juice and plum juice mixed, about 16 oz./day

Encouraging her to drink lots of water (although she doesn't like to)

LOTS of exercise

Only whole wheat bread/pasta/crackers

Oranges, apples, raisins, pineapple, apricots

Chopped prunes (she refuses these)

Karo syrup (this worked when she was a baby)

Last week, after holding it for 7 days, I gave her tiny tummies (senna) laxative twice and a suppository, which made her go immediately. She felt better right away and went 3 more times in the next 24 hours after that.

Since then, it's been 4 days. Last night I gave her a suppository and it didn't do anything. This morning she had "leaked" a little in her diaper--probably just the suppository dissolving. I gave her the tiny tummies laxative and another suppository, but nothing happened. I waited about 45 min. before taking her to daycare. Still waiting for a call from the nurse. I think I'll call her daycare and see whether she's gone.

We do have a bottle of Lactulose in the house (FIL left it behind) so depending on what the nurse says, we may go that route. I'm really afraid of letting her go another 7 days. I don't want her to damage anything.

ETA: I went to the store yesterday and got some flax seed bran to put in her food, but haven't had a chance to try that yet. I was looking for flax seed oil in a dropper, but they only had it in capsules....


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## Snapdragon (Aug 30, 2007)

I post this idea on here a lot and people don't really seem to take to it- maybe because people are relctant to give their babies regular juice due to cavities/sugar/teeth issues-- but when ds was about 9 months or so he had some pretty bad constipation issues and we tried lots of things. what worked is we give him regular apple juice mixed with water. We still give it to him- probably too much at this point as we want him to drink more water and he mostly only likes it if we put some juice in it- but it seriously works for constpation- not as a one time thing but if you do it twice a day for a week or even regularly- it increases the fluid intake which is a huge help for constipation, plus the apple juice helps.


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

One thing to remember, too much fiber can also stop things up, so if a high fiber diet isn't working, maybe cut back on the fiber and up the liquids.

And if she's holding it she might need something to assist with pain. My friend's ds had that as a major side effect of long term constipation, it hurt when it finally started to come out, so he'd hold it more, so it got worse, so it hurt even worse, etc, etc...


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## justKate (Jun 10, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been giving her a TON of juice--1 part plum, 1 part prune, and 1 part water--but she refuses to drink just water by itself. The max I'm letting her go is 3 days now, because that's how long it takes her to get really grumpy. I've been giving her a baby senna laxative (oral) and then another dose about 12 hrs. later, and that seems to make her go. I can't do the glycerin suppositories anymore (although I prefer them) because if I get anywhere near her rectum, even with cream, she becomes hysterical. My poor baby.

Talked to the doc, who basically said to keep doing what I'm doing for a few months, and if it doesn't improve on its own, she'd suggest Miralax. Which I'm not doing. Fortunately we'll be moving soon and getting a new doc.

So do you all think this is a reasonable approach? I'm just at a loss for what more I could possibly do....


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## hilary549 (Sep 13, 2008)

What do you all tell your kids about the holding it in? I think my son (28 mos) is not severely constipated, since he DOES poop at least once a day or more, and the poops are firm but nothing crazy... but he definitely holds it in sometimes. we give him probiotics daily plus he eats yogurt, he has some magnesium in his juice/water combo, we cut back on dairy, try to limit refined carbs... it is as some of you describe a roller coaster; sometimes he is fine for awhile but then will be fighting the poop again, and spending a long time "making the poopoo" and crying. clearly they are sometimes painful. we took him to a naturopath but haven't discussed with the pediatrician since he does actually poop. but i'd love for it to go back to being a non-painful event for him.


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## MyZoeJane (Aug 13, 2004)

I am curious what others think about my scenario.

My son is 20 months old. He is still regularly breastfed. It is the only milk he drinks. He eats what we eat, though not voraciously. He only drinks about 4 ounces of diluted apple juice from a sippy each day, but has PLENTY of wet diapers courtesy of breastmilk. Despite his hefty size (28 pounds), he doesn't eat a lot. Since introducing solids at 7 months, he has regularly gone many days between poops. At his longest, 10 days. But three to four days is more typical. Sometimes his poops are pellet like, but mostly they are "normal", smooshy poops.

I am curious, given this information, if you would consider him "constipated" if he never displays any signs of discomfort? He never has difficulty pooping or acts in pain in any way.

Is it possible for it to be "normal" to only poop every few days?


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *justKate*
> 
> Thanks for the suggestions. I've been giving her a TON of juice--1 part plum, 1 part prune, and 1 part water--but she refuses to drink just water by itself. The max I'm letting her go is 3 days now, because that's how long it takes her to get really grumpy. I've been giving her a baby senna laxative (oral) and then another dose about 12 hrs. later, and that seems to make her go. I can't do the glycerin suppositories anymore (although I prefer them) because if I get anywhere near her rectum, even with cream, she becomes hysterical. My poor baby.
> 
> ...


Why won't you do Miralax? I would honestly choose Miralax over senna any day because senna stimulates the colon and one can easily become dependent on it. So senna is a very bad long term solution IMO. Miralax is just a stool softener so it comes out easier and without pain.


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## ladybuggsmom (Jan 7, 2011)

My DD has been constipated since she started solids as well...at 6mo. Shes now 2 1/2. We have tried EVERYTHING. Juice, tummy massage, yoga, flax, fish oil, fiber, no fiber, increase in hydration, no dairy, no gluten, probiotics, prunes, pears, raisins, suppositories, liquid glycerin, little tummies, NOTHING worked. We had a REALLY bad bout that caused vomiting, required xrays, bloodwork, MRI, etc etc and caused weight loss, really painful clinging-to-me BMs, and loss of appetite. THE ONLY thing that has worked has been Miralax.

I was EXTREMELY hesitant to start it, and did so only as a last resort. But after EVERYTHING else, I would MUCH rather have her on Miralax and pooping normally, regularly and most importantly NON PAINFULLY than to endure any of the other stuff. And as PP said...Miralax is non-stimulant, non-habit forming. Hopefully someday she'll outgrow it, but for right now, we HEART our Miralax!


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## asmal (Mar 22, 2012)

hello, i feel u i have the same problem with the 3 year old. she doesnt go for days i have to force her to sit on toilet n spend so long tryin to make her go but she totally refusing. i have tried everything as well milk of mag, karo sycrub, pedilax pills and supposotriy yes the supp. works but she is soooooo much in pain i wanna cry. n i totally feel when u say how we feel so bad but wanna get mad coz they r holding it on purpose. my little one will just cry cry n keep sayin i cant go poop i cant go poop. just need lots n lots of patience.


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## 12345 (Jul 1, 2012)

I tried many many treatments for this with my almost 3 year old. The dr. recommended miralax to which he previously had a very distressing adverse reaction. I browsed the stomach remedies aisle in search of something I was comfortable with and came away with chewable probiotics. Not only does DS LOVE the tablets, he has gone from chronically constipated for 2+ years to completely regular (every other day) in a matter of two weeks. It's like a miracle! Such a relief! I wish that every doctor would suggest this natural, safe, and healthy treatment for this issue. On a side note, his twin has the opposite problem--frequent and often runny stools from a wheat intolerance, and the probiotics helped him even out as well.


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## Blessed37 (May 28, 2011)

I haven't read through all of the responses so forgive me if this is a repeat. I have heard of apple cider vinegar being a good natural remedy for toddler constipation. Just a small amount (maybe research for a good dosage) added to some water or a smoothie. Breastmilk is also great for constipation.

Sent using Tapatalk 2


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## Jennems18 (Dec 9, 2012)

I have been battling this chronic constipation with my daughter since she was 2 months old and she will be 4yrs old next month. She received her 1st dose of apple juice at this point and a piece of pedi supportory. I have been battleing this non-stop since then. She would receive apple, prune and pear juice almost weekly. By the time she was 18months and chronic vomiting from undigested food and milk that had been in her stomach for 10hrs would come out thru the middle of the night. This went on for about 6 months until I finally got a referral to a pedi GI specialist. That was interesting to say the least, oh she has reflux and have her take this $100.00 month medication and I will check back in on you guys via phone. Well, let's just say it didn't help so I took her off milk and put her on soy milk. The vomiting quit, yet the constipation did not. At that point, she was placed on Meralax on a daily basis.

From that point to know, she has been on a constant dose of Meralax, which has been increased from 1 capfull to 3 a day and a dose of milk of mag in the AM. She still cannot get "cleaned out" and in the end of Sept her colon was signifantly enlarged and continues to remain this way, with the GI specialist shrugging us off. I have asked for her to be allergy tested and a colonscopy be completed with being told there is nothing wrong to perform this procedure. She constantly eats grapes and a variety of other fruits and veggies all day long.

We have completed so many x-rays to this point that I have the check made out to pay them when we leave. We have also tried probiotics with no success and fiber gummies (which also have pedi-lax in them) still with no success. She is constantly trying to move her bowels with no success and it leaves her crying more because she can't go and her tummy hurts her. Any ideas to try to help would be greatly appreciated


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## sassyfirechick (Jan 21, 2012)

My nephew (good friend's son) just turned 11 - he poops once every 1-2 weeks, and has his entire life. They are so large he cries and clogs the toilet every time he goes. His mother is nurse, and while we are friends I do NOT at all agree to how she does just about every aspect of parenting. None of her 4 children eat fruit or veggies, this particular one doesn't eat dairy either - just meat and laxatives. Super healthy, right?! Anyways, I've spent years listening her and her kids issues (they all have multiple) and not once will she listen to my advice, but here is what I would do were it my child: skip the western medicine and traditional doctors and xrays and colonoscopies and head right to a Naturopathic doctor. We just had DD tested by our ND and it confirmed my suspicions for food sensitivity - dairy and oats. Now what threw even the ND off was she is NOT sensitive to any glutens, it is exclusively a severe oat sensitivity (but thankfully not an allergy). The regular pedi has dismissed me everytime I mention food issues insisting that DD was fine. Worse was when she had a full body rash after eating oats, and I called the 24hr nurse since it was afterhours and the nurse said to me 'it's a non-specific viral rash, she's probably getting a cold'. Not pooping regularly is a stomach problem and the only way to figure out that probelm is to first identify and eliminate the thigns causing the inflamation and stressing the body. THEN you can wrk on healing the gut with probiotics, herbal tincutures, and homeopathic remedies. And then things will start to become regular. DD has only had a few bouts of constipation when starting solids that were cleared with either prunes, bananas or pumpkin. But if it was become a regular occurence I would imediately seek out my ND for the most natural fix possible.


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## Aegis (Apr 24, 2011)

I'm just going to toss in this suggestion since it's probably not one often considered, but I read in What's Eating Your Child? by Kelly Dorfman about the possibility of low muscle tone in the intestine preventing strong enough contractions (peristalsis) to move the waste through. In the book, she shares a case where she was able to help relieve constipation in a young child using L-carnitine. I recommend checking it for that and for the information about constipation and laxatives. GNC sells capsules which lists only the L-carnitine and gelatin for the capsule as ingredients (that's what we use).

Another option could be trying the intro diet for either the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) or the GAPS Diet and see how they go. The foods included in these diets are supposed to be some of the easier foods to digest because they don't need to be broken down as much. DH suffered from horrible constipation since he was a baby, and after being on the GAPS Diet for a year (we're still on it), he's finally regular. In theory, a child may recover quicker than an adult because they are young and growing still, opposed to an adult who has lived 30+ years with this condition and has finished growing. I should probably give a heads up that these diets can have a massive impact on aspects of every day life because you can't really stray from them and still expect good results. I was listening to a fascinating podcast by Beverly Meyer (Primal Diet Modern Health) about the SCD, and she described a client she was helping who was doing better but still wasn't completely "moving" the way he should, and it turned out there was a teeny amount of a disaccharide in a medication of his. They took out the medication and the diet was able to help him heal fully. Personally, as taxing as the diet can be, it has been absolutely worth it for all of us on it.

I found the intro to SCD to be more kid-friendly than GAPS, so I'd probably lean toward that if you're interested in taking this approach. Here is a good link to get you started: http://pecanbread.com/p/how/introdiet.html

Best to you and your daughter!


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## wiggylyn (Jun 29, 2013)

I'm glad I found this forum  my daughter is 5 and has suffered from constipation her whole life! We have had to take her to the emergency room for it before as she was impacted. So when I say she has suffered I mean severely  We have worked with her doctor for years. Had her on fiber supplements, enemas, laxatives, watched her sugar, cheese, dairy intake. You name it we've tried it. Nothing has worked and if we didn't get it under control soon I was afraid of the long term effects. Luckily we have finely found smoothies that work! yes just green smoothies with flax seed oil, acidophilus, and aloe juice. I wrote a blog with recipes and suggestions. If your child is suffering please subscribe to my blog. My daughter used to potty once a week and now we are up to 2 to 3 times a week with less strain and pain  I really want to help other struggling moms, I hope this helps.

http://homemomsandhealth.blogspot.com/


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## KSeymour04 (May 23, 2014)

My daughter will be 4 in July, she has been below the 10th percentile in height and weight since she was 1 years old. She has stopped gaining weight since she was 2. her height has increased a tiny bit, but that is all. She hardly ever eats, just a bite or two, even with sweets. My family has always been very tall and and husky.

Since she was born she has had trouble with constipation. They performed an u/s when she was 4 months old to make sure she was swallowing and everything was heading to the stomach. They told me to start fruits and Caro in her bottles. Since then she has been on a high fiber diet she drinks tons of diluted juice (apple, cranberry, grape and prune). She is allowed milk once a day and cheese once a day. Her pedi had her on a 1/4 cap full of Miralax a day, no change, so he increased to 1/2 a cap full. No progress so I started adding fiber gummies to the mix, because the dr kept pushing more fiber. She was on a 1/2 cap full of Miralax and 3 child fiber gummies. It helped push out some, but it was always very hard. She would cry and cry. He referred us to a Pedi GI, he said it's most likely functional constipation, so he increased Miralax to 1 cap full a day and a "clean out" (3-4 cap fulls in one day) and, of course, more fiber. Sigh. This was 6 months ago. It helped some she had some movement, but again it was hard. She has bowel movements every 5-6 days, I know it's coming because she will start to have smears in her diaper (yes, she is still in a diaper for her erratic stools, but peeing potty trained fully), the smears were the consistency of peanut butter and only a tiny bit several times a day. The GI was fine with it as long as it was coming out and was softer.

Two weeks ago she began the smears 3 days in to no bm. I started to try cleaning her out with more miralax, sometimes giving her 4 fiber gummies. After day 5 of no bm she threw up after eating dinner (very uncommon). The next morning was Sat so her GI's office was closed, so I brought her to her pedi' after hour clinic. The dr there said her stomach was distended, but did not feel any blockages and the rectal exam he was unable to feel any stool. He said maybe she isn't eating enough since she only takes a bite or two. Then told me to come back in a few days if still no bm. I took his word for it and tried to get her to eat more, her favorite foods she eats all day everyday is oranges, apples, blueberries and strawberries. Three days in I noticed she hasn't passed any gas and the smears had stopped completely. The fourth day I did a clean out of 4 doses of Miralax. Still nothing. Called the GI on the fifth day, Friday, but he was out of the office, so I returned to the pedi clinc. A different dr saw her and said (which I could definitely see) her stomach is very distended. She did a rectal and there was, again, no stool. She then sent us to Xrays and called our GI. The xrays showed that the stool was compacted very high up and had reached her stomach. The dr told us the GI's instructions were to give her an enema, 3 doses of Miralax and chocolate exlax consecutively and call back within 2-3 hours. After completing the instructions only a small nugget came out and the liquid from the enema. The GI sent us to the hospital where she received a NG tube. That is when she began throwing up fecal matter. After the nausea had settled they began the Golytely meds through the NG tube. She was there for 2 nights. On the 2nd night she stopped making progress and they had to do an adult enema to continue the treatment. We saw the GI two days ago to follow up. He told us he is going to test her for Hirschsprung Disease. We start with the barium enema, if that shows the signs, then a colon biopsy, if that confirms we will begin a colon resection.

My question is (sorry for the lengthy back story) is it normal for GI's to jump to testing for something so rare like hirschsprung's or is this something normal they test for in all children? Does he believe she is showing signs for this particular disease?

Also, if it is not Hirschsprung's what could cause major constipation since birth, no weight gain and growth delay?? The only time she has gained weight was the past two weeks when she had 2lbs of stool. Now she's back to her original weight. She does not have Crohn's or allergies or anything like that.


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## DrLinda (May 21, 2014)

a probiotic is always good whether your child is constipated or not.

You could try macerated prunes, or oatmeal as they are both high in fibre.

Juice is safe at this age if it is natural and you only give 4 ounces per day, otherwise too much sugar albeit natural.


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## maryjanewong (Mar 11, 2015)

I have a 2 year old daughter but recently she had constipation problem he seems pretty lethargic and easily agitated. i got so worried when she was constipated on the 3rd day so i sent her to the doc to see what's wrong. He said might be lack of fibre or maybe water too but i want a second opinion so i went to my parents they recommended me formulas with prebiotics.
Any of you have recommendation please do let me know as i dont want to give random milk formulas to my DD?


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## joellerollokostor (Mar 2, 2015)

nvr heard before about milk formulas that contain prebiotics but from what i understand is a good milk formula will make ur kid smarter but i dont realise it helps solve constipation problems
i know that lack of water causes constipation cuz when u do not have sufficient water ur stool will be hard therefore the constipation
to avoid constipation u have to maintain the baby's digestive system and how to do that is to maintain good habits for example to drink lots of water and consume lots of fibre like fruits and vegetables 
:serious:


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## Belindaven (Mar 11, 2015)

Many Milk powder tat contain Prebiotic were sold in the supermarket nowadays.. like Mamil milk powder fr Dumex.. Maybe u can try on Mamil for a week and see whetehr it solve your child's constipation problem or not lo. My daughter has been drinking Mamil for 2 year plus ady.. So far no problem encounter..


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## John Liew (Mar 12, 2015)

When choosing the right formula for ur LO make sure have to be careful, only choose those thats reputable ones and branded to avoid any mistakes.. bcos not all formulas are suitable for every toddlers in order to solve the constipation problem. Dont ever choose the cheap ones just to save some money!


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## Azizah Hamzah (Mar 13, 2015)

Mamil is a good milk formula for toddlers especially when it comes to constipation according to my experience giving it to my DD though i heard some stories which they said Mamil will cause constipation for kids. Not sure how they feed their LO... everything seems fine to me.


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## Cat8 (Jul 1, 2017)

*OMG, Finally something that works!*

My daughter will be 3 in November. She has had constipation since she was 7 months, and fairly consistently. We tried Miralax, diet modifications, removing dairy, fiber, none of it worked. We even tried priobiotics, but the third probiotic brand we tried worked so well I couldn't believe it. Jarrow's Baby probiotics, it comes in drops. She poops that night or the next morning. We stopped using it just to see if we were imagining things. She stopped pooping regularly when she wasn't taking it. We just started again and she pooped the next morning and again today. One dose works for two days. The first dose makes her poop a giant poop, I assume because she's backed up, and the size of it can be painful. But the second poop is a normal poop and does not cause her pain. She is finally toilet training for pooping because she's not as afraid of pooping anymore, she's starting to get over it. I never recommend products, but Jarrows Baby probiotic is really working for our family. I took it and it helped me too. it's just one strain, bifidio. The other brands we tried (Renew life and Megafoods) did not do anything for us. Maybe everyone kid is different when it comes to probiotics, and maybe some work better than others. But I hope this helps!


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## Cat8 (Jul 1, 2017)

KSeymour04 said:


> My daughter will be 4 in July, she has been below the 10th percentile in height and weight since she was 1 years old. She has stopped gaining weight since she was 2. her height has increased a tiny bit, but that is all. She hardly ever eats, just a bite or two, even with sweets. My family has always been very tall and and husky.
> 
> Since she was born she has had trouble with constipation. They performed an u/s when she was 4 months old to make sure she was swallowing and everything was heading to the stomach. They told me to start fruits and Caro in her bottles. Since then she has been on a high fiber diet she drinks tons of diluted juice (apple, cranberry, grape and prune). She is allowed milk once a day and cheese once a day. Her pedi had her on a 1/4 cap full of Miralax a day, no change, so he increased to 1/2 a cap full. No progress so I started adding fiber gummies to the mix, because the dr kept pushing more fiber. She was on a 1/2 cap full of Miralax and 3 child fiber gummies. It helped push out some, but it was always very hard. She would cry and cry. He referred us to a Pedi GI, he said it's most likely functional constipation, so he increased Miralax to 1 cap full a day and a "clean out" (3-4 cap fulls in one day) and, of course, more fiber. Sigh. This was 6 months ago. It helped some she had some movement, but again it was hard. She has bowel movements every 5-6 days, I know it's coming because she will start to have smears in her diaper (yes, she is still in a diaper for her erratic stools, but peeing potty trained fully), the smears were the consistency of peanut butter and only a tiny bit several times a day. The GI was fine with it as long as it was coming out and was softer.
> 
> ...


have you tried probiotics yet? we tried several with no luck but found one that worked so well I'm relieved for her and our family.


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## Cat8 (Jul 1, 2017)

maryjanewong said:


> I have a 2 year old daughter but recently she had constipation problem he seems pretty lethargic and easily agitated. i got so worried when she was constipated on the 3rd day so i sent her to the doc to see what's wrong. He said might be lack of fibre or maybe water too but i want a second opinion so i went to my parents they recommended me formulas with prebiotics.
> Any of you have recommendation please do let me know as i dont want to give random milk formulas to my DD?


our doctor recommended the same thing. but she is milk sensitive. so we tried probiotic drops from Jarrow's, the one for babies. It worked really well for us.


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