Constipation - Colesburg,IA

Hi, sorry you going through this. My almost 9 year old son has had constipation since he was a baby. We have had to do enemas too and not fun. His pediatrician gave him prescription for miralax, and now he just takes a cap full with juice every day and has helped sooooo much! Maybe ask doctor about it. Good luck!

Give her plenty of water. She needs to drink water. Cut back on her dairy and other binding foods.

cherrios, bananas, water daily should avoid constipation.

Fiber and water.
Use double fiber bread.
Give her fiber gummy bears.
Use the non flavored Benefiber powder in her juice or water.
Fruit and vegetables and beans.
Puree them into soup broth to sneak them in if she won't eat them.
Avoid dairy if it binds her up (use soy or nut milks), avoid rice, no plain white bread/flour (cookies/crackers/pasta) - use whole wheat pasta.
Keep a food diary for her - track what she eats and how much fiber she is getting every day and how much water/juice/milk/fluid she is drinking.
If that does not help, take her to a pediatric gastroenterologist.
I would not force an enema - you could hurt her.

My 5.5 year old son is having a bout of ecoperisis (sp?) where he's constipated and his bathrooming cues got screwed up. He has been on a fruit and vegetable/no starches/no dairy diet for 4 days, with 5 teaspoons of mirilax. It's getting him back on track. We had him on the potty after every meal for about 10 minutes with an ipad to play so he would just relax and go. We're only now just adding some carbs back and reducing the mirilax by 1 teaspoon. The goal is for him to poop once a day after dinner so he stays regular. And I am going to continue to limit his carbs at home and let him have lunch at school. It's not easy, but it works.

If it's an ongoing issue, I would want the doctor to check it out and make sure there isn't a problem. Otherwise, you may want to really see what she's eating - if it's all crackers, cookies, pasta, macncheese, etc., it could be it's the food she's eating and she needs lots more fruits/vegetables.

Please dont hold her down! How traumatizing for her.

Have you tried taking a look at her diet? Is something she is eating causing this? The type of milk she drinks? What does the doctor say about that?

Please take her to a specialist who can help you through this. Also, you havent said how old your child is?

Dairy could be playing a big role here. If she over consumes dairy, try cutting back. You might have to have her tested for celiac disease to make sure she isnt allergic to gluten or casein. I would try adding some Miralax to her liquids. Encourage more water, more fruits and veggies. Good luck!

Use Miralax!!!! It used to say laxative on the bottle when my kids used it, but it's actually not one. We had to go to a Ped GI doc because my twins were extreme premies and had slow guts for a long time. She told us she didn't know why it said that one the bottle because it DID NOT act the same as a laxative, it works totally different.
Cut down on dairy (if she eats/drinks alot)
Water (if she's drinking juice, diluted with water and give her more water)
Make sure she is getting a fruit or veggie with every meal
If this doesn't seem to help, then I would talk to your doc about taking her to a Pediatric GI doc.

I would say that if she keeps getting this constipated she will need to see a doc that specializes in the lower GI area. She may have a medical problem that contributes to the feces packing in a particular area.

She may also need to take a daily medication to soften her stool so she can get it out by pushing or other natural means.

As for the enema. Do what has to be done. She needs the feces/blockage out so you have to do it. Make sure it is the right kind and stuff though.

If she has severe constipation, increasing her fiber will likely only make it worse. I know; I did that with my daughter, and I actually had to take her and have a colonic done in order to help clean her system out (she was that compacted).

Try giving her some CALM to drink. It's a magnesium powder that you put into water or orange juice (I'd try the orange juice to hide the flavor; if you get orange-flavored CALM, it should work well together) that will gently stimulate her bowels and make her HAVE to go. Both my daughter and I use it if we need a little help going (we both have suffered from constipation our entire lives).

CALM is a natural way of taking care of bowel movements without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs like Miralax (which we've done for years as well with my daughter. CALM works a lot better). It can be found at places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, local Co-Ops, or bought online from places like vitacost.com. It comes in a variety of flavors; we stick with orange.

If she has trouble going BM--it hurts because she hasn't gone for a while and the BM is now dry and compacted, which it probably is--try putting some Vaseline around and inside her hole; that will lubricate it and not only protect it from fissures but should also make it a little easier to go.

Also, make sure she's drinking lots and lots of water. Constipation usually is a result of the body being dehydrated. My daughter and I are constantly drinking water.

Check with your doctor and see if a few days of Miralax would help. But I firmly believe you should change diet and exercise to help and not live on Miralax or enemas. So many kids have this these days. I don't know why. Mother's used to give cod liver oil, I think it was, in orange juice routinely back when I was little. I guess it helped. Nobody seemed to be complaining of this like they do today. Don't give certain foods too. Just eating the right foods won't do it if you are also eating the constipating foods. Look online for a diet that tells you what constipates.

try a tablespoon of honey couple times a day along with pure molasses..works wonders..used it for both my kids..good luck-I think by pinning her down causes mental anguish n stress for her-she will never tell you that she cant poop because of the end results..

I think you first need to figure out what is constipating her and cut out or reduce it. Then sprinkle a small amount of probiotics in her food or drink every day and and when she gets really constipated again, give her the probiotics a couple times a day. There is no need to traumatize the poor kid.

Our doctor told us that the more enemas we gave our daughter, the more she was going to hold things inside because it made pooping traumatic.

I'd go the miralax route and lots more water/fiber in her diet.

If she is very uncomfortable, just do it. She will feel better then you can start making changes in diet, giving Miralax.

Please do not hold her down to force an enema. This will only make it harder for her to have bowel movements because of the emotional trauma doing so will cause.

Increase her fiber intake. Read labels and give her crackers and cereal with at least 3 g. fiber. More when available. I look for 5 g. of fiber. Give her plenty of fruits and vegetables with the skins still on. Stop all dairy products. And use Miralax. It's OTC. Miralax draws moisture into the bowel which softens the stool and makes it easier to pass.

Do not use cod liver oil. It takes the fat soluble vitamins out of the body.

I've used Milk of Magnesia in grape juice to end an infrequent bout of constipation.

You want to find a diet that will help her become regular and not depend on artificial means. The doctor used an enema because her bowel was impacted. You want to prevent this from happening by changing her diet and providing a natural product such as Miralax.

The diet change has to be consistent over a week or more. Get as much fiber into her as possible.

It's also important to be calm and casual. If you're stressing over her having a bowel movement she will pick up on that and be more apt to not co-operate. Make including fiber and the Miralax as just a routine thing to do.