Constipation - Farmington,MN

My daughter is the same way, she's 7 and we've been down the road with miralax too. What we do is push certain foods that help her go like mandarin oranges, fiber etc...

Try water mixed with Karo syrup or small amounts of prune juice daily, then glycerin suppositories when they are severely constipated.

I believe there is a food that is causing it. Could be dairy, peanut butter or even wheat, you might have to go gluten free. Try that, add lots more fresh fruits and vegtables. Then there is mollasses. They need to drink plenty too.

My son has a genetic syndrome that kids often times deal with constipation. Here is a recipe that was shared within our group. I would definatley consult a physician before changing diet too much especially if this has been an ongoing problem.

"Poop Goop"

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. Figs
1/2 lb. prunes
1 cup molasses
1/4 lb. Powered Senna
(from Senna leaves if powered is not available)

Directions:

1. Grind Figs and Prunes very finely and mix together
2. Warm Molasses
3. Add Senna to warm molasses and mix
4. Remove from heat and mix with the Fig and Prune mixture.
5. Stir well and preserve (KEEP IN FRIDGE)

(Stacey freezes the mixture in 1/4 tsp. amounts and takes out when ready to
use.)

*** Dosage is 1/4 tsp. Every night at bed time.
The Maximum dose is 1/2 tsp.
DO NOT EXCEED THIS.
**Constipation is common in children with Noonan syndrome please consult your child's doctor before starting any new treatment.**

Good Luck
~M.

We had the same issue and the Miralax worked great for our 3 year old. We now have a 4 month old that we are having problems with and we use dark Karo Syrup in every bottle. It works great. I would suggest adding it to the milk.

M.,
I am so sorry that your little ones battle constipation! I am a chiropractor and mother of two. I am suggesting that you try chiropractic. You may think that chiropractic is used only for bones and car accidents but chiropractic deals with the nervous system. Your nervous system deal with your health. Your nervous system controls EVERYTHING in your body, from your eye lids to your toe nails. The digestive system is included, it is controlled by your lower back nerves. I have had great sucess not only with kids but adults as well in thier struggle with constipation! We have seen results immediately in some cases!
What would happen is your kids would receieve an orthopedic and neurologic exam ( non invasive) and then we would chcek their spines. I am guessing a sacral subluxtion ( I can explain that later). I would do a very light touch adjustment to their sacrum's and I would like to bet they would be pooping in no time. Even if you don' see me, give chiropractic a chance. It's non invasive and natural. Thanks for your time!
-Dr. Jen Sanford Balanced Life chiropractic.net 288-LIFE

One cup ( or half a cup in a child's case) of warm prune juice should have them going within an hour, and it should be like a normal movement. :-)

M.,
I have 2 y.o. twins and the best way I have found to wash out their system is grape juice.
Good luck!
J.

There are several natural options you can try. Psyllium powder can be "hidden" in juices, hot cereal, and yogurt. One brand name of Psyllium powder is Metamucil, but you can find cheaper, store brands out there. Psyllium powder is just a concentration of the fiber found naturally in foods.

Another natural option are flax seeds. Just 2 tablespoons of flax seeds has an astonishing amount of fiber--something like 30% to 40% of an adult's recommended daily allowance. Flax seeds can be mixed into hot cereal, or baked into breads, muffins, and granola. I make my own granola, and throw in a half cup of flax seeds. It can also be stirred into yogurt.

Apples, apple sauce, raisins, oatmeal, nuts, corn, and don't underestimate the importance of drinking A LOT of water. Dairy can make people constipated, so you might want to look into cutting back on the dairy and seeing if that helps.

I would also recommend chiropractic care. A couple of months ago, I felt like I couldn't empty my bowels entirely, and I was constipated. I went to the chiropractor, and my left hip was out of whack and throwing everything off down there.

Good luck to you!

Benefiber works for us. Good luck!

Prune Juice has been our saving grace for our 3 year old. I know it's hard to get them to eat the cleansing foods at this age. I have to try and hide the fruits and veggies in her food. But we give our daughter a couple cap fulls of prune juice in her apple juice. (Doesn't work well in milk cause it doesn't mask the taste as well.) The next day she always goes poo.

Good luck to you!

I would try prunes. There are different flavors out now, or try prune juice.

We're big fans of prune juice -- my sons been drinking it since he was super tiny b/c he was born with some pooping "issues". We also used to use a suppository when he was <6 months. When he was learning pooping/potty training, we'd reward him with a BIG sticker (little stickers for peeing). Maybe a reward (not food, and not expensive) or stars for pooping which earns him a bigger reward? Are they eating enough fruit/veggies and getting enough fiber?

I had the problem once with my daughter, and after that I made sure she ate some kind of fresh fruit at least once a day after that. (I had to be sure to have a few kinds around just in case she refused to eat one of them, though.) We had no problems after that. Hope this helps!

Prunes are a wonderful natural laxative & most kids love them (unless they have been told negative things about them.) I get a canister of Sunsweet pitted prunes & give my daughter one of them at breakfast. If that ends up being too much, you can alter it to one every other day. My daughter actually got to the point where if she felt constipated, she would request a prune. The juice works as well but can be a little thick. Good luck.
Tricia

Buy some apples, juice them and give her the juice. For some reason nonpasturized apple juice will do the trick. Just be care as to only give her about 3-4oz at a time. It does not take much. When ever my little guy was constipated, I would give him some juiced apples and in no time we had a great response. I was taught this trick by my mother-in-law and she used it on all nine of her children and had great results.
Good Luck

My daughter has always gotten constipated easily as well. It seems funny to me since she loves fruits and vegetables, but the pediatritian says that some people just are more sensitive than others. I had a friend recommend fiber one bars. She takes one of these in her lunch every day. We have also been buying cereal with extra fiber. Some days she has it for breakfast and others just for a snack.

Hi M. :)
Well, my little girl (1) had a problem with constipation, but it was a mild case. Her Dr. said to try Pear juice - it has more fiber in it than Prune juice. So, I gave her pear juice 1-2 times a day mixed with water. I also gave her pears as a snack every other day. Another thing I did was added squash (yellow, butternut) to her diet and that worked perfectly. I haven't had a problem yet.

Good luck :)
J.

Apple juice works, prune juice works better. I think prune juice works faster. Also pinto beans (like refried mexican beans) are a natural laxative. Good luck:-)

We were told to give my daughter Sweet oil, which you can find in the first aid/medicine area in the grocery store. It worked.
You can also give fiber. Metamucil has fibers in cracker form now, so they won't know the difference! I find that at Walmart. My dd has been constipated her whole life and now that she is an older teen she has fissures, and it is NOT fun. Fiber helps her immensly. She had no idea that it wasn't supposed to hurt to go to the bathroom.

If your children are open to a variety of foods you can use foods full of fiber: whole grain breads and cereals (avoid white bread), most fruits (avoid bananas as they constipate), many vegetables (especially celery), beans, nuts, etc. You can also use fruit juice and dried fruit. As others have said syrup also works. If you aren't sure what foods have high fiber content you can likely google it and get lots more ideas.

Do they like prunes or raisins? My son loves them. That's a great way to get more fiber in their diet. Or steak some other fiber in their diet. Or use that clear powder stuff that dissolves into water and you can't even see it. Metamucil? Good luck!

Hi M.
My daughter suffered from constipation for a long time until I took her to the chiroprator and had her adjusted Well we where there I asked if there was a natural laxative and she told me to buy some Magnesium citrate and put it in her applesauce or something you know they will eat it takes a few days to begin to work but once it does it works great as long as you keep using it. the Chiropractor said it helps relax they bowel muscules. when we have forgotton to give this on a daily basis and she startes to get backed up she will drink a glass of warm water and I will do some massageing of her tummy. I hope you find something to help them go potty this hard on the whole family good luck. T.

Hi M.,
I would suggest fiberwise bars and drinks. You can get them from the company I work with www.Melaleuca.com They work really well. Try getting them to drink more water. When my son was an infant we did lower stomache massages. Might be useful if they used our florify. They probably need some balancing of the intenstial track as well. It's all worked for me and I used to get pain as bad as a appenticitis. You can contact me direct to find out how to get they very useful products.
Blessings,
S.
____@____.com

Have your child eat carrots, and/ or nuts and raisen because they are high in fiber, but they must also drink lots of water. The two go hand in hand. Also, make sure that you kids are getting exercise. A sedintary life style is conducive to constipation. Maybe only let them snack on fruit and carrot sticks, ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisens) If you kids are use to junk food, slowly wean them from these foods.

anytime my daughter gets constipated now a day I load her up on grapes. She loves them and they really get her going.

...this is odd that I'd read this today... I just got done talking to my pediatrician about how constipation can end up very dangerous (like your stay at Childrens)- my gosh - I feel terrible for you - it must've been awful on Mom, as well as your little one!... tons of fresh fruit - especially grapes, lots of water, and raisins would be my first suggestion, but I imagine you've tried these. I've also been told all the 'p' fruits will help - pears, peaches, pineapple, etc. However, one that most people scoff at, and wish they wouldn't is chiropractic. Find a good chiropractor that works specifically with children. Chiropractic is not about back pain! It's about working with the body to heal itself. All of our nerves, lymph vessels, etc. run through the spine - if there's a 'kink' in the system, there are chronic problems that can't be helped by treating the symptoms. You need to treat the cause. My brother-in-law is a chiropractor and I have had him treating my children since the day they were born (literally). I have a 2-yr-old and a 3-yr-old and neither one of them have ever been on an antibiotic or any prescription drugs of any kind. He has treated ear infections, sinus issues, etc. It's amazing. I can't go into all of the science behind it to take away what some of the angst people feel about it - everyone thinks drugs have to be the answer. They don't. And they shouldn't be. I had a friend with a little girl with your same issues and she had fantastic results with chiropractic. There are no guarantees in life - you may find an excellent chiro that decides there's nothing he can do for you... but he may turn this around in a week!... If you have any doubts, ask around, do some research, find a good chiro that used to working with children and sit down with him/her. I think you'd be shocked what he/she can do for little bodies...
Best of luck -
C.

Have you tried foods? i.e. prunes, raisens, blueberry's, high fiber cereals/brans, strawberry's? All those things tend to go right through my DS, who already has toddler tummy. So we need the opposite :)

have you checked for celiac disease? google it & you will see that constipation can be a symptom..... that is how we diagnosed our 3 year old.... chronic constipation & need for mirilax, i insisted it wasn't normal for a child to require mirilax to poop daily.... we did a blood test & then to confirm the diagnosis, a upper gi biopsy.... & now we have him on a gluten free diet b/c of it! just a thought!

My two year old also has had many bouts of constipation and we have done (still do) miralax occasionally. It works for us, but I don't want to rely on medication to keep her regular. I have found a number of foods at the store which are very high in fiber and have been introducing them into her diet. Fiber One makes yogurt, granola bars, cereal, and I'm sure other things that are pretty high in fiber and taste good. My daughter thinks their granola bars are "candy bars" because that's what I call them, so she gobbles them up. She also loves oatmeal so I mix 1 packet of Kashi oatmeal (extremely high fiber) with her usual fruit flavor instant oatmeal. You can mix flax powder into lots of foods, and you can buy pancake mix that has flax or other things to make them higher in fiber. I really feel doing this has had a more positive outcome in the longrun. Unfortunately my daughter is at a point in her life where she's refusing any vegetables, so we have to get by with other foods. Oh, and for us, we had to really cut back on the bananas cuz she'd eat 3 a day if I'd let her. Good luck!

I agree with the all the recommendations for adding fiber and probiotics. One food that we avoid when the kids are constipated is bananas.

try shredded wheat or raisin bran...it has high fiber content. look on line for high fiber foods...there are a lot of surprising things and also a lot of good recipes.

Hi M.,

There is a company called Melaleuca.

There products are nature & science combined.

There are 4 tyhings that help most sufferers:
eat enough fiber, drink enough liquids, get enough excercise to maintain bowel mobility, and don't worry too much. Stress is killer!

(Note: 1 medium apple + 1/2 cup of broccoli + 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal + 1/4 cup raisins + 2 carrots + 1 cup broccolli + 1/2 cup cooked beans = 10 grams of fiber.

Melaleuca has Fiber bars which are delicious, we have a fiber drink that. We also have an incredible probiotic that I take every day for my digestive tract. It helps to maintainm a healthy digestive system and has been powerful enough to keep me in remission.

We do have some more products that would benefit your children.

If you want to learn how to get these products and other healthy alternatives (We have over 350)., please let me know

Many Blessings to you & your family.

Children are precious and we all hate seeing them suffer.
That's how I stated my shopping experience with the company 8 years ago. My son't asthma & my daughters excema! Justin hasn't had an asthma attack in 8 years and Loren's excema is completely gone on her body.

J.

My 4 year old daughter has had problems with constipation. She is a picky eater so we had to become creative. I try to get her to eat grapes every day and a couple of fig newtons that seem to help. I encourage a lot of water and try to take her for a walk each day or we are also working on jumping rope or juming over the rope to help move things a long. We have also had to use Miralax from time to time.

YES! FIBER AND WATER!!!

fiber is a NECESSITY for healthy stools. the typical american stools is NOT healthy, and no wonder, we eat nutritionally void breads pastas and lots of meats and cheese.

more fruits and veggies. more WHOLE GRAIN breads with fiber. and LOTS of water. water water water.

heres what fiber does in short form; fiber is not digested, but it absorbs water. it then passes through the intestine, holding water, making stools softer! kids who have pain when pooping will stop pooping to avoid the pain, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

the easiest way to get things on track is to buy a box of milled flax seed. this is a superfood! you can add it to just about anything, it is grainy but pretty tasteless. you can put it on cereal, yogurt, ice cream, jello, pudding, the list goes on and on and on.
basically, you want to add just a teaspoon at first.... that is probably enough for the kids anyway... if diarrhea happens (which can if eaten too much) just reduce the amount. if it doesnt work, just wait - it may take some time. i gave it to a constipated formula fed baby and it took less than a half hour for him to have nice soft poops! formula is a super compactor for some babies. babies on formula need water. spread that info on!
anyway, a healthy diet is essential... but if theres an allergy... that could cause constipation too. ive heard that dairy can do this a lot! maybe cut out all dairy. see if that helps.
dairy is actually NOT healthy for us either... www.thechinastudy.com - it actually CAUSES more problems than it prevents. calcium is not found to be deficient in any diet anywhere - in places where it is found in high amounts, there are actually MORE cases of osteoperosis than in places where the calcium intake is a bit lower.

anyway.
long story short, add more good fiber (flax seed) and cut down on dairy and nutritionally void breads and etc.

Hi M., I don't know if Miralax is a fiber mix/drink but I know my son was constipated and I put him on daily gummy scooby doo vitamins and give him apple juice and that totally fixed his constipation. Sorry but that's all I know. I will keep you in my prayers, I know when my 21 yr old daughter now was little she would refuse to go because it was to big and it hurt, I had to bribe her with toys and use suppositories and I remember those days. And when my now 3 yr old was less then 1yr old my doc had me put dark caro syrup in his bottles every other day a tsp to a Tablespoon and the sugar or whatever was in it made him go. Sorry that's all I know about constipation.
Good Luck!!
S.

coconut water!
It has a laxative effect!
I was so happy to discover that and give it to my daughter until she will mature out of her constipation (hypertonic and her perastolsis of her colon is also with poor muscle tone).
It is nutritious and tastes great!
You can crack open young fresh coconuts from an asian market or buy it in cartons at a health food store.
____@____.com if you have any questions.

This happened to my sis-in-law with her 4 mo old. The doctor suggested giving him dark karo syrup and it cleared him out right away. You could also give the kids prune juice, grapes, raisins (it works on my sons), or if necessary, suppositories. I hope this helps any of you out there and the kids feel better.

A Little About Me: I am a SAHM of 3, ages 5, 2 1/2 and 8 months.

my sister-in-law has had trouble with her son being constipated, and they tried miralax and many other things because there in the middle of potty training. But recently there Dr. recomended mineral oil, it worked great. Now I don't know what brand but ask your Dr. I just know it was gentle and it worked.

good luck
B.

I'm sure you've heard all of the usuals about prunes, etc. None of that has worked for my daughter, but we did find the strangest thing that seems to work for her:

You know those smoothies you can buy bottled? For some reason, my daughter stays regular if she drinks a glass of the Naked brand green smoothie every day. The Odawalla green one doesn't work as well. I don't know why it works. But it tastes good, so we don't have any trouble getting her to drink it.

Good luck!

Hi M.,
I have several friends whose children have dealt with the same issue and have found a natural and simple way to improve this condition. Message me if you'd like more information.
L.

I know what you are going through my oldest had the same problem and doctors put her on the same medicine. I hated the idea of her on medician so my husband found at GNC and other Health store a tea called Smooth Move. Give them a cup of warm tea every night and by morning there system is moving and they will poop it out try it for a couple of nights and then use when every you think they haven't pooped for awhile it works. My youngest strated to have the same problem and I gave it to her and it cleaned her out. It's safe, natural and I was told by one doctor to keep using it. Ours is hereditary I suffer from it as well. I have tried everything and found the tea works great you can use sugar to sweeten it for the kids.

My favorite saying that my pediatrician gave me 8 years ago was "fruits with P will make you poop"
My son even knows it and if he hasn't pooped & his tummy starts hurting he will ask for some pears. When he was an infant I gave him pear juice- Gerber is about the only one I found who makes it and it's in the infant section. But pears work wonders for us- peaches may too, we just tend to stick to pears. My niece and nephew were medicated for constipation from the time they were born- I just don't agree with chemical treatments for anything until other things have been tried first.

YES!!! It is called The Calm -- I had cancer and I was massively constipated. During which time my children had their norm of constipation. I used it on them -- and of course same with me -- no cramping, no gas problem -- just a smooth transition. It is 615 mg of magnesium per 3tsp. It activates with hot liquid and bubbles. (Small amt) then you can mix it with juice. No, it is not YUMMY, but the result is! You can get it at www.vites.com or at Dr. Susan Aalbor Glenn's Office in Altoona - she is our chiropractor she specialiizes in migraines and family chiropractic. No "scheuduled plans" - all prn -- a very lovely lady. Petite and powerful! Their phone number is ###-###-####. The best stuff I have ever seen. Our kids and my husband and I have never seen constipation relief like this before. Did you know your body releases more magnesium in a day then calcium and yet magnesium is more imporant? I didn't! Anyway - I hope that helps! Good Luck

I would second the idea to see if they are having any type of food intolerances. I suffered from constipation my whole life until I removed dairy from my diet at age 20. Now it only happens rarely in times of high stress. The top five food sensitivities are wheat(gluten), eggs, dairy, soy, and corn. Sugar can also be common stressor. There are spectrums with these as well, some folks can tolerate a little of the foods, and others can't tolerate any. The best way to check is to completely eliminate the food from the diet (must read labels because dairy and wheat derivatives are in everything!) for at least 2 weeks, see if there is an improvement, and then challenge with the food by eating a bunch and seeing if it produces the symptom again. However be careful with a challenge in the case of children and constipation. A little may be all that is needed to show that that food is the offender.

Also the smooth move tea, if it is the one I am thinking of, has senna leaf in it. Safe for use as needed, but not constant all the time use.

Constant constipation is not a normal state of being, it is an indication of imbalance in the system. Probiotics are excellent, take them daily. The higher microbe containing pills(get a good quality one from the health food store that you get from the refrigerated section, minimum 3 billion bacteria per pill) are good to combine with yogurt in times of constipation, however yogurt may be enough in non-constipated times.

If this problem persists, I would recommend to find an integrative physician in your area to help look at your child's health as a whole and figure out a plan for getting thier gut health on track. It can predispose to other problems later if it gets too bad. You can find a doc on ACAM.org and ICIMed.com

Good luck!

We have a supplement that has helped a lot of children with constipation. If you would like to hear from one of the mom's whose child has been helped, please call me at ###-###-#### or my email is ____@____.com and let me know a good time to reach you. These supplements are safe and helped children with a host of issues! --R. H.

M., my twins have been on MIralax since they were 2 and they're almost 7. Miralax is a softener and doesn't cause cramping so it's not a bad thing to be on for a long amount of time. Make sure the kiddos are drinking lots of water and eating Yogurt. The probiotics in the yogurt help the digestive system. My twins have since been diagnosed with Crohn's but they still eat their yogurt every day! A lot of people think Crohn's is when the stools are loose and actually one of my twins has the opposite problem...she gets constipated. I would suggest getting her into see a Pediatric GI Specialist...Dr. Christopher Brown with GI Associates, at Aspirus, is wonderful!! Hope I've helped a little and put your mind at ease. Take care! Patience is a Virtue!! :)

Balloons. I know this sounds silly, but our son had been constipated since infancy and finally found a specialist that helped us get him on track. We got him "cleaned out" with a milk and molasses enema (ask your doctor about this, but it worked for us), and then everyday 15 minutes after dinner we would have him go to the bathroom and blow up a balloon. The blowing helps engage the muscles that help you poop. Also works great for kids with plugged ears on planes. Good luck!

Hi M.! My almost-3 year old was constipated from birth up too. She was on Miralax for a while, then we took her off it and a month later she had diarrhea...she had a small blockage so loose stuff was going around it. We found help in the form of pediatric suppositories from Walgreens. It's not as scary as it sounds. I was terrified at first, but it's simple - it's just a liquid inside a plastic disposable tiny little applicator. After 2-3 days of one a day on those I put her she was fine and then I put her on pediatric Probiotics...they sell them in natural food sections of grocery stores and vitamin aisles at pharmacies. It's basically just the good stuff found in yogurt. I mix it with her water before adding juice every morning. (I still dillute her juice.)Now we only have to give her miralax once a week! I feel better about that - more natural and not so many 'drugs' in her system. My 10 month old is easily stopped up too, but raisins and/or blueberries do the trick EVERY time. I'd also suggest trying a V8 fruit juice blend, as more fruit, fiber and veggies always helps my kids. Finally, I add flax seed meal (ground flax seed) on occasion to things like oatmeal to help them go. Just a teaspoon sprinkled in goes a long way!!!! Good luck!