Constipation - North Ridgeville, OH

One helpful thing to know is what foods to avoid. That can be as important as what foods to give him. Avoid dairy and wheat for a few days, and try to give him as little meat as possible. All three of them can cause constipation. Use oats in place of wheat (maybe a good oatmeal cookie, made with honey or maple sugar instead of regular sugar?) Does he like juices? You can give him a little prune juice, and some apple juice. Those should help to get thing moving for him. Poor little guy! He must feel terrible.

Hi,

Just try extra juice. Like apple, grape, prune, etc. Let him drink more than he usually does for a couple of days. That should help!! Good Luck!

I took my 3 year old son to the doctor's for the same reason. She told me to give him 1/2 to 3/4 full of the lid of Miralax. It's over the counter and has no taste. Also put it in white grape juice. Works like a charm.

Apple juice, grape juice, prune juice (yuck), make sure he is getting plenty of water. Licorice and anise. All natural products that will help him.

He needs to learn to eat his fruits and vegetables! I understand not wanting to force him to eat, and depending on his language skills, it may be hard to reason with him, give him consequences of not eating, etc... But constipation is unhealthy, and so is a diet lacking in fruits and vegetables. For his benefit, you need to find a way. Also, avoid cheese and other foods known to bind you up. You can put Benefiber in any of his drinks, which is tasteless and colorless. Make sure he drinks lots of liquids, but nothing with caffeine. Try mixing applesauce with his cereal, if he doesn't like it by itself. Add a little maple syrup to sweet potatoes. Avoid canned veggies, as they are gross. Frozen or fresh are so much better. Just keep trying different fruits and veggies, and try not to give him other foods until he eats some. Eventually he will get hungry enough. Whole grains are healthier and have more fiber that white. Fruit smoothies with some vegetable juice, such as carrot, added in will help disguise the vegetables. At his age, disguising them might be the most effective way. Good luck!

We had this issue with my daughter since she started eating solids at 6 months old. (She's almost 22 months old now.)

After trying diet changes for over two months without success, our pediatrician finally recommended Miralax. It's not a stimulant and it never leaves the gut, so it's very safe. It just helps the body pull more water into the intestines so that the stool stays softer. We currently put 1 teaspoon into my daughter's apple juice once or twice a day, but the pediatrician basically told us to experiment with the amount until she was having one soft, comfortable BM per day.

Talk to your pediatrician about it, but Miralax really has worked fabulously for us!

M.,
If you look at Dr. Sears website on constipation, one of the things he recommends is Flax Seed Oil, its healthy and a natural way to assist with constipation. If your son eats anything that you can stir a teaspon or so of this into, it should eventually help, and then maybe you could do it ongoing. I give it to my son, and he doesn't know its there. I also agree with the probiotics. Yogurt or they make probiotic powder just for kids, and it can be mixed into pretty much anything. I also use this for my son.

when my son (2 1/2 years old) has trouble going to the bathroom i give him a sippy cup of 100% apple juice and tell him to drink it as quickly as he can. that usually does the trick within an hour or less. his pediatrician recommended this. raisins also seem to help him. good luck.

M.,
I have found that ginger snap cookies do wonders for constipation in small children, however, if this is chronic your pediatrician needs made aware. My daughter (28 now) had problems also with constipation and her ped found that her rectum was not allowing the feces to exply d/t being to small. I had to do all sorts of things to help her poop! Suppositories to help soften, and for some time I had to manually stretch her retum. It was not pleasant as she was only a baby. Anyway all is well now and I have a 5 year old granddaughter who had bowel issues and the ginger snaps worked for her. As silly as it might sound you could also try chinese food, a combination of apple sauce, bran cereal, and prune juice. Yor child may or may not like it but if you can get your child to take a teaspoon a day it might help. Good luck!

benefiber worked great on my son when he was that age. i cant remember how much to put in his juice, milk, etc, so i would ask a pharmacist, plus with benefiber, he wont even know he is taking it (no flavor...just don't let him see you put it in his drink, or he might now take it) you also might want to think about a suppository. (also did that for my son)

hope it helps!

When my son was going from just breast milk to food the Dr. said to put Karo dark corn syrup in his milk. I don't see why you couldn't mix it with regular milk. It's really sweet and wouldn't taste too bad. It was about 1 Tbsp morning and night. It was the only thing that helped 7 days of constipation! Good luck!

Mine is the same way, so I can totally sympathize. What I did was start making him "milkshakes" (more like a smoothie, but he didn't know the difference) with all the regular stuff - milk, frozen fruit, etc - and I just added whatever I thought would help soften the stool. I've used spinach juice - it doesn't really have a taste if you don't use too much and the color is fun - apple juice, which is good to sweeten it anyway. You could even sneak in a regular stool softener pill, probably, as long as it didn't alter the taste. I've also used that _Deceptively Delicious_ cookbook (by Jessica Seinfeld) to sneak veggies into his food. Spinach works the best for his poops, so I'd cut some raw leaves up very tiny and add it to whatever we were eating. Pasta, spaghetti, etc, worked the best since it already had green herbs in it, but it worked in other stuff too, like soups (as a "garnish"), mixed in any kind of dip and anything else I could think of. Spinach is great because it has hardly any taste raw and it doesn't really flavor whatever it cooks with so my picky eater never noticed it.

I wish you luck - this one can be so tough! I highly recommend that cookbook, especially if he eats stuff like chicken nuggets or sloppy joes or mac & cheese - what I think of as normal kid's food LOL. The recipes are actually tasty and the veggies are undetectable. My kid is pooping better and, as a bonus, eating better than I can ever get him to eat by fighting with him or, as you said, using force. It seemed dishonest to me as first, but I realized that getting him to eat good foods can take years! So in the meantime, he gets a few veggies hidden in his food and I can more gently talk to him about why he needs to eat right. Anyway, I hope that helps!

Our son had a similar problem. He ate a ton of fruit, but did not drink enough. We started giving him pear juice Pear juice has sorbital which helps with constipation. Also we give him stage 1 baby food prunes. He really likes them, but if your son doesn't, you could mix them up in something, applesauce maybe.

We did call the doctor and she reccomended miralax, which worked great. It is over the counter, but if I were you I would call your ped just for dosing sakes and for how long you should use it. We did it for 2 months and then weaned him off of it. We still have hard poops, but it does not seem painful.

One word: Miralax. My 2 year old has had problems since she was about 10 months old. The doctor told us to give her a half of a cap of Miralax in a drink each day, and since we've been doing that she's never had a problem again. She's a differnt child!

hey try pedi_lax to get him to go after being back up and plumsmart my aunts give it to m,y lil one all the time when she is over and she drinks it down and that to keeping goning normal if they chose to have a picky diet and i think we all do that one hope it helps S. and good luck

My son has been going through the crying b/c he's constipated. His Dr. told me to give him Miralax and it has really helped. you just add to their drink(it doesn't have any flavor) ask his dr.

Hi, M..
I know this situation can be fustrating, and painful for the child. Have you tried any juice?? It could be something he is eating or not eating. Whenever my girls get that way we get lots of apple juice and it losens it right up. They love the taste and it is helping them at the same time. Hope this helps!!!

YOu should check out the book THe Sneaky CHef. Someone has taken the time to show us how to sneak food into our kids' diets. Finley chopped into other foods they will not know what they are eating. GOod luck.

A friend of mine has had the same prbls w/her 2 year old. She gives him Mira-Lax and it seems to help him.

Does he like yogurt? I don't know if it would help, but getting some childrens' probiotic powder (they have it at health food stores) and adding it to yogurt can help digestion in general. Health Foods Unlimited has a big selection and helpful staff, it's near the Dayton Mall, over by Joann Fabric. Good luck!

My little man went thought that too. Momma and I took him to the ER once and they litterly pulled poo out and did an enema. He has to drink Miralax every few days if he hasn't had a BM. Momma just doesn't try to get him to eat well because it's was easier just give him what he wants and no fuss. He will only eat Chicken nuggets nd it has to be from McDonald's. He knows the difference. He will eat some cereal but not too many different once. Candy sometimes and that's about it. She put the miralax in a juice bottle. Went he started in a daycare center he has started to eat a few new foods. If they get hungry they should eat them eventually. Good luck beware the miralax make massive diarhera.

I have a few random pieces of advice, and mostly want to say good luck.
Apple juice and lots of water) helps our daughter the most, and don't be afriad of prunes- the baby food prunes are yummy, and regular prunes make great finger food. I often mix apple juice or pureed prunes and water with the Happy Bellies baby oatmeal, which is at Kroger and has probiotic cultures in it.
If my daughter hasn't had a bowel movement for a day or so I hold off giving her rice, bananas, and cheese, which I believe worsen the problem.
If she really seems to be having problems I use a glycerin suppository (they make "infant" size but you can also just whittle down the adult size). It helps lube things up and gives an impetus to push things out, and suprisingly my daughter doesn't mind them one bit.

senakot works great. My son took it for months. Also, keep sliced apples and things like that on hand for him to munch on.

I'm not sure if anyone has said this already as I didn't read through all the responses but my ped.had me give my daughter myralax (not sure that is the correct spelling). I gave her a half dose once a day and with in 2 days she was pooping again without problems. Now I just give it to her every other day and that seems to work out well for her. It is a powder that is completely tasteless (its true I even tried it and you can't tell) I would sneak it in her milk or make room temperature hot chocolate and put it in that and she never notices. Good luck and hope this helps. You can get it anywhere in the pharmacy section. It is a white bottle with purple and pink on the label. Your dr can also prescribe if it helps cut the cost (which it did for us big time)

hi M., have you tried oat meal? See if you can get him to eat some of the instant oat meal, it comes in a box, and you can get flavored packets, the cinnamin and brown sugar is what my grandkids love, it's tastes good, and it's a great source of fiber. you can also give him stool softeners. they won't hurt him. If he keeps getting constipated, he could develope hemerhoids... Good luck.

Hello! Ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil will help. If he likes tunafish sandwiches make him one the way you would normally make it and mix in a tablespoon of flaxseed oil. He will not taste it and will not know any better that it is in there. Flaxseed oil cannot be put in anything hot or cooked or it loses its nutritional benefits. Additionally, if he likes oatmeal, give him some Quaker oatmeal and mix in some ground flaxseed. It is also imperative that he gets water. You can give him all of the fiber in the world but if you don't give him sufficient water to break it down it will exacerbate the problem. You can also give him dried fruit, apples, and apple juice (try to get real apple juice others have a tremendous amount of sugar)...Good Luck!

Hi M.,
My aunt used mineral oil on my cousin who had the same issue a lot when he was little. Put some in what ever he is drinking (the bottle will tell you how much to use). It makes it easier to slide right out. Also, apple sauce or juice might help. Good luck!

I read the first couple of posts, and have to agree with all of them. After going to a different ped., we finally got the relief for our daughter that she needed. It DOES break your heart to see them in so much pain. We give her 1/2 cap full of Miralax in her milk every morning, it has been a miracle worker. It took about a week to set in, a couple more weeks to really find the right dosage, but we have had no trouble ever since. I would ask his ped about it, I know lots of people that it has worked for. Hope you find some relief for your little man, soon!

We have the same problem at our house. My daughter is really not into vegetables, we try but it's just not her thing. She does love fruit though. Pears are really good for getting things moving. So is prune juice, but I'm betting your little guy may not like it. We call it poopy juice and my 2 year old thinks that's hilarious, so she drinks it. Of course, she's had to drink it since she was about 1 year. There are some cereals that will help too. Cheerios are good for getting things moving, at least for us. I've heard good things about the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook too. Constipation is something that really should be addressed before it gets worse and he refuses to poop. You can also talk to your ped and see if he can take Miralax or use suppositories. Good luck to you! It's so hard when you KNOW what will help them and they refuse to eat it! Silly kids!

Hi M.,

My first son started at a very early age with constipation, so we have been dealing with it for quite some time! Last year a cook book came out by Jessica Seinfeld called Deceptively Delicious. This is a great cook book for kid foods that hide good food in food that may not look like it. Also, we have used Miralax for years to keep things going! Hope this helps!

I used to give my daughter prune juice like everyone else suggested. I just mixed it with other juices because prune juice it kind of thick. Either that or water it down but I usually water down all juice that I give to my kids. I didn't see if anybody else mentioned it but also blueberries help in this department too. Miralax does work, or also Pedialax for kids. I think someone else mentioned raisins which work also.
I must also mention too that Fig Newton cookies work too!

Hi M.~ Try Miralax. It's powdery stuff you put in their drink. You can purchase it right on the shelf and will really help out. Best part is it doesn't taste and they will never know about it. I remember when I was prego, I asked my doctor if I could take it to help me out and he said sure. It worked and we rely on it often. Good luck!

Both my girls were born constipated. I give my 7 month old pears and/or peaches everyday. And she goes 1-3 times a day now. I also started giving my 3 1/2 year old pear juice or white grape juice everyday and she goes everyday now too. Have you tried raisins or prunes? Those are the best source !! Hope this helps.

We've been a whole-foods family for 6.5 years now, since my husband had cancer. My boys were 5 and 2 at the time that we switched, and a third was born 3 years later. You've been given some ideas about things to give him to help with the constipation, but nothing to address why he's constipated in the first place. I definitely understand the frustration of a child refusing to eat what you know is good for them, but I'm just chiming in to offer the experience of a family for whom processed foods are never an option. I'm not telling you what you should do, but I'll tell you that one primary strategy has worked for us. We simply do not give another food choice until they've eaten what we expect them to eat. There have been battles over the years, but we stay calm and simply say that we're not going to force them to sit and eat it, but they just won't get anything else until it's gone. Of course, we give age-appropriate amounts of things they don't like and we do still adjust the portion size occasionally with the little guy. A few times they've had their dinner for breakfast the next day, which makes them very unhappy. We just smile and firmly make it clear that it's completely up to them when they eat it and that I'm happy to keep reheating it whenever they're ready to try again. My boys still LOVE junk food (they get 3 passes a week so they can enjoy whatever comes their way) so we're not one of those cases where the kids prefer broccoli over cookies, but you would be amazed if you could see the variety they eat. They still don't like eggplant, but comments these days are about it not being as bad as last time. :)

I don't think this will help you with your immediate search to relieve the constipation, but sometimes I can't help but speak up to try to give some long-term perspective. Children will refuse to eat foods they don't prefer. Parents have a choice to alter the situation or let it continue along its natural progression--which almost always leads to adults who don't eat enough real food and who are sick with diseases that were unheard of a couple generations ago. Maybe knowing that someone else (whose kids are normal) is having success with getting them to eat healthy foods will be encouraging!

Try apple sauce or apple juice.Hope this will help him out.

Our doctor told us to use miralax, you can ,mix it in with anything, MIlk, Water, Juice etc. It works like a charm for us. Except only give half the recommended dose on the bottle.

My sister-in-law swears by raisins and molasses cookies for her son. My daughter had the opposite problem when she was younger and I had to stop giving her raisins. At age 6 she is on 2 tsp of benefiber/day to help with constipation. We mix it in juice and she never notices. I'd ask your doctor before giving it to your 2 yr old. You could probably start with a half a tsp.

My son has constipation issues and he's almost 6. He eats a rather healthy diet (Oatmeal or whole grain poptart, a fruit and glass of milk for breakfast, sandwhich, 2 fruits and 100% juice or milk for lunch, unhealthy afternoon snack, dinner is a meat, pasta and a veggie and milk and another snack before bed). The only thing more I can do diet wise for him is get him to drink more but that wasn't helping enough. So, we added mirlax for awhile and the doc suggested that there are lots of fiber supplements you can add to the meal (like powders your just sprinkle into the sauce of speghetti or benefiber that you dump in one drink a day). This seems to be helping us some. We can't skip a day though.

Have you tried juice? Prune, pear or apple should help. Lots of luck!!!