Constipation Tips

S. - My brother's baby has suffered from constipation a few times and the doctor tells her to put a little DARK Karo syrup in her bottle. It worked for her. Hope it works! J.

My son gets backed up frequently, but would not drink any of the baby juices. So I asked my pediatrician and she said Kroger brand prune juice. We tried it and he loves it. Works like a charm (not as dramatic as the solid prunes) and it's cheaper than the baby juices. She also said to avoid apples when he's constipated because apples contain pectin. That's what stops you up.

Just want to second the comment about whole milk. My daughter was ALWAYS constipated when she was a year old after she weaned and we started giving her whole milk. We switched her to soy milk and she hasn't had a problem since.

Hi S.,
Constipation is often a symptom of food intolerance. Try having her tested for gluten and casein through www.enterolab.com. It is estimated that half the US population has a problem with either or both of these food irritants. The chances of a problem are pretty high. It is not a rare occurrence at all.

Pears, kiwi, sweet potato, brown rice, honey(for babies over 1 year) are all good for constipation. Avoid apple and banana, which are binding.

She could have an allergy to dairy.?I can get constipated from cheese real easy.So I know,for me,I am slightly lactose intolerant because I also get an upset tummy and gassy with milk too.My midwife told me that,for constipation,small amounts of orange juice,warm prunes,and warm apple sauce can all help.
Your poor little baby girl!!!!I hope she gets better really soon.I know she must be uncomfortable.Also I just remembered Probiotics are awesome for regularity and you should be able to find a powder form,for children,to put in her milk!!
Best of luck to you both!!!!

--M. (____@____.com)

Just saw my doctor for the same thing for my 15 month old. I add a little Children's benefiber (1 tsp or a little less) to a couple of bottles each day (milk, apple juice, or water) and if that isn't enough, I also add some mirilax (1/4 to 1/2 cap) to one bottle. Problem solved. I just adjust quantities accordingly. So nice!!!

Hi S.,
My daughter suffered on and off from constipation when she was younger. My mother (who had a cure for everything) suggested to me not to orally give the baby anything but to warm a handcloth in the dryer and get a mixture of baking soda and lard. Mix just a bit of the lard with baking soda so it turns into a paste. Rub the paste all over the baby's tummy and wrap the baby's tummy in the warm cloth. This will relax the baby and relief the baby almost within minutes. I was of course skeptical but mother knows best and it worked each time. The baby is not ingesting anything to further complicate the situation and you and your baby will feel so much better. Good luck!
C.

I have a son that has struggled with that since being a baby. Even though I am not a juice proponant because of the sugar aspect, I have started giving him juice more often, sometimes replacing his lunch milk with the orange juice with calcium in it. We haven't had a problem since I started doing that. You also might try rice milk. I have heard that cow's milk sometimes contributes to constipation. Also, those prunes with the cherry essence added seem to help when we are in a crisis. Best wishes!

I have a 15 year old son who had problems with constipation since he was a breast fed infant! We tried so many things--our doc suggested only mineral oil or prunes. After dozens of attempts, we found Miralax--it's now over the counter. It's a powder that mixes into anything, even water with no taste or grit. My son still takes it occasionally, prn. I know it's not 'natural' but check it out at least.

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Raisins always help..
Also, a small glass of apple juice a day.

My now 2-1/2 year old daughter had a very difficult time with constipation when she was the same age as your daughter. She is the youngest of my four children (the others are boys) and no one else had these problems, so I did not know what to do either. I would definitely suggest talking to your pediatrician, but Miralax is what finally helped her get through this. Because potty training is right around the corner, it is very impotant that you get her regular as soon as you can and keep her that way. Miralax is similar to a laxative, however it works a little differently, so it is not habit-forming. You can get it over the counter, but depending on your insurance, it is MUCH less expensive if your pedi prescribes it. The other thing is, if she has had this problem, even if off and on, for a while, I would ask that she have an abdominal x-ray to make sure nothing else is going on and to see how severe her blockage is, too. Our pediatrician said that babies can have abnormalities in their digestive system that go undetected until they are about this age...on table foods, etc. One more thing, and you may already know this, if you increase your daughter's fiber intake, you have to also greatly increase her water/liquids or the fiber actually has the opposite affect!
Hope this helps...you're a great mom, and your daughter will get through this before you know it!

Hi S., I know your pain all to well. I have twins boys and when they were younger one was always constipated. I tried everything from prune juice to Karo syrup. Nothing helped him and then my doctor suggested I try one teaspoon of milk of magnesia in his milk. Worked like a charm! Safe to give more than once a day if needed too! You might ask your doctor.

Both of my children had constipation issues from the day they were born. Theirs were actually related to allergies...esp. to dairy. Nothing helped other than removing that particular food. Not necessarily your case, but just putting it out there. Things that have worked here are prunes, white grape or pear juice, and miralax. My daughter (which has major food issues, not to just dairy) only needs 1/2 teaspoon/day of miralax, which is not even close to the dose we were told, but anything more will give her the explosive runs, so use caution if you do try it. My son did wonderfully on soy, instead of dairy. Neither of them could do soy or dairy formulas as infants.

Apple juice always seemed to help my daughter. It wasn't a quick fix just something to prevent constipation from coming back. My mother in law helped out in an emergency once when my daughter was crying for a while in pain from the constipation. She actually feeled a bathtub with warm water and put my daughter in it and told her to relieve herself in the bath water and IT WORKED! I'm still amazed.

I don't know where you live, but I would give my little one Crazy Water (from the Famous Water Co. in Mineral Wells, TX). Just a little bit each day helped tremendously. We keep some at our house at all times, and we live 2 1/2 hrs from MW.

S.,
We had three out of four of our kids had the same thing. My grandmother suggested sugar water and it helped. Little bit of sugar in some warm water and let your little one drink it and it should help. It worked on our kids. Many Blessings, Jennifer B.

S., I understand what you are dealing with. I don't really know of any home remedies that work wonders. In fact, the only home remedy I know of is to use the clear Caro syrup in water. That works sometimes. I never had constipation problems with my eldest daughter, but my 19 month old had the same thing happen to her when we put her on real milk. I have even had to resort to suppositories a few times to help her get relief. Keep up with the water, fruits and veggies, as we are really starting to see some improvement that way as well. It has just taken a while. Good luck to you.

I see from your responses many remedies. There's quite a few that I would refrain from giving ANYONE, especially a child. Any kind of laxative or drug should not be given regularly because this only makes the intestinal tract dependent on it and soon the muscles used to push the waste out is weakened. I would advise using only natural foods such as prunes or prune juices, pears, and any green veggies. The dark corn syrup works wonders, but you will have to adjust the amount by trial and error until you find what works best for your child. If you have a severe case of constipation there are glycerin suppositories especially for babies, but use only in severe cases. Sometimes children get impacted and that usually requires manually removing it. You can tell if they are inpacted if they are only passing very small round hard feces. This takes extra gentle care to handle and if it continues, I'd take her back to the pediatrician for advice.

Gerber apple prune juice...the just prune one seems too rough, but with the apple it is more gentle.

I have three children and two of them have this problem. The very best thing I have found is prune juice. I water it down some and my two year old still loves it. He eats lots of fruits and vegetables but we still need the help of prune juice. Putting vaseline on your baby's bum will help it to slide out more easily. When I can see my two year old straining, I put him on the toilet. Just the sitting on the toilet eases the position and helps it ease out. I know this sounds gross but it works. He likes to wave and say good-bye before we flush the toilet. Good Luck!

S.,
I remember those days very well. I used 2 ounces of water and one teaspoon of Kyro syrup. The light not the dark. It seems to work pretty good. I also used warm water not cool or cold. I also would hold my daughters hands and have her walk like or put her in the walker and she would walk everywhere for an hour. She would have a bm withing that hour. I was lucky I guess. My Daughter would take her thermometer (rectal) and put vaseline on the end and do as though she was taking her temp. That helped also. A bit dirtier, but, it worked also. Good luck!
Shirley

Just a thought that may seem a little far out but holds much truth when investigated further-- you may try taking her off of cow's milk and giving her soy or some other type of milk. All 3 of my boys were nursed and then given soy, never cow milk, and they have always been so healthy. No constipation, runny noses, hardly any colds and no allergy symptoms. She may have an aversion to the caesin or lactose which is causing digestive complications. Milk and its products are very mucogenic and cause many different health problems including constipation. Some may suggest remedies to move the bowels but if you remove the actual cause of the problem she will be healthier overall. You could always try it for a couple weeks to give her body time normalize and see what happens. Even mama cows wean their babies off of cow milk but for some reason humans never do. Soy is calcium and vitamin D fortified also.

hi S., i have been dealing with the same with my 12 month old. what i have found to work and my doctor said the same, is every morning i give 8oz apple juice w/ 1 tsp of fiber power. it doesn't take long and he will have 1-2 bm/day. hope this may help.

You could try opening a capsule of probiotics into her cereal every morning. It a natural way to help with constipation. You can get Culturelle at Walmart or there are other brands as well. Google benefits of probiotics. Good luck.

My child has suffered with this since she was born. If you have switched her over to table foods, try prunesm, prune juice, lots of prunes!! If that does not work, here are some holistic remedies that worked for me:

Kid-e-Reg - I got this at a health food store. It has slippery elm bark, licorice root, fennel seed, anise seed and fig syrup. You only have to give her about of half of dropperful. It worked great for a short time with my child although my child has issues with her colon and takes prescription medication daily to keep her regular.
Litte Tummy's Laxative drops: you can get this anywhere.
If the above does not work: you can now buy the prescription stuff I use over the counter. It's called Miralax and you mix it in any liquid, it dossolves and does not have a taste. Its safe to use every day as well. It keeps the stools soft and costs about $18. Hope this helps....mommy of 4 in texas.

We gave our daughters a tsp. of dark Karro syrup and it worked...still does when the need arises and they're 6.

I like to use "Little Tummies" its a laxative for infants and young toddlers. Works like a dream. I have also heard (from pedis that I work with) that a teaspoon of molasses 2 or 3 times a day will work however good luck getting your 13 month old to take it lol. Mirilax is OTC and is great but is more often used to treat chronic constipation it also takes a few days to work. If all else fails go buy some pediatric glycerin suppositories and give her one. Good luck!

There is a very gentle OTC remedy - Miralax. It is tasteless and you just add it to a drink. You can also try Mineral oil - a little every day.

We had the same problem when my daughter was an infant and my pediatrician suggested dark corn syrup. We mixed it in her bottle but you could probably mix it in milk. Good luck!

My 20 month old has had this problem off and on since he was the same age as your baby. I usually give him some of the Gerber Apple Prune Juice (they are the small bottles-I think about 4oz) I usually let him drink the whole bottle diluted with some water. This really works for him. Also when he drinks the vanilla Pedisure it makes him go. If that doesn't work you may want to try about a teaspoon of dark kyro syrup mixed with the baby's milk.

One glass of carrot juice a day & try to add some beans to her diet. Boiling 5 prunes in water, eating those prunes & drinking that warm water helps too. Soaking raisins in water overnight & then eating those in the morning are supposed to be useful too. Okra is a great vegetable to eat. Saute it in butter with salt. Yoghurt & probiotics are great. A mixture of cranberry & pomegranate juice works well too.

Miralax is not a good thing - I have an 8 year old step son who has been on it since he was two - and although it helps with the constipation - it cause other problems in the future. I am having difficulty getting his own partents to see that be 8 years and still going in your pants (both) is not a normal behavior - Check out encopresis. This is constant or chronic constipation. There are ways to help - giving laxatives by mouth is a slow process and does not teach the body and bowels the proper way to void themselves.

S.,

I had the same problem with my little girl. Someone suggested replacing regular milk with soy milk. Worked like a charm. She was on it for about a year or so and then we were able to switch her back to regular milk. Check with your pediatrician first though :)

I used to always use a liquid herbal product by
Naturs Sunshine....was wonderful but I dont think
they have it anymore. BUT I would look for something
that is herbal and liquid.. easy to give to them.
I need to be doing that anyway.. I found it was also
excellent for animals especially babies if needed.
was not too hard on them.. just used a small amount.
BUT you can also try molassas..a small amount at a time
I do that with my wallaby joeys if one constipates one me.
generally does the job.

My doctor has told me to put them in a bath with baking soda. I haven't tried it yet.... But I have the baking soda on hand for when I need it next.

Here is an old remedy and it works. Mix 2 tbs. of dark karo syrup to 4 oz of milk each time she drinks milk till she has a bowel. Good Luck!

Hi S.!! In the past my daughter suffered with constipation also. What I found to work for her was pear gerbers pear juice and Plumsmart plum juice. I use to cut them both with a little water. Try it, it may work. These were the only two juices that helped my daughter. Good Luck!!

When my kids are constipated I make them eat yogurt. It really does help. As kids they weren't overly constipated because they ate alot of yogurt as soon as they could have milk products.
Miralax is wonderful stuff. It usually works in one to two days. and helps to keep them regular. disolve in liquids and let stand a few minutes to let it mix. it takes a few minutes for the granules to mix all the way.
Benefiber is also a good choice. Walmart makes a generic and it is over the counter. 1-2 tsps in some form of food or drink is all it should take. it is tasteless.
Prunes would work well also. as does dark and light corn syrup. (I never used that as I didn't want them to have all the empty calories of sugar)
Glycerin suppositories also work well and I had to use a few of those in the toddler stage until they would get regular again (usually after a trip to grandma's house)
Also, make sure she is chewing her food enough. If her food is not chewed enough then it could be moving through more slowly and clogging up the system. You may have to mash or grind some things up and make them easier to digest.
Hope that helps.

Our peditrician recommended Miramax for my son. He's 6 though and I would talk to your pedi prior to doing something such as Miramax on a daily basis. It's a great product though and easy to work with. You can mix it in just about anything. It doesn't have a flavor so that is another plus. My son however doesn't like it in milk. He says he can feel granules.

Have your tried giving her Gerber prune/apple juice. It has always worked for my children. I have had several friends who children had the same problem. The doctor can prescribe something for it. Also they used Milk of Magnisia I would ask your doctor before giving it to her, but it did help them alittle.

Our DD had the same issues around 15 months! We found that apple juice was the culprit that made her constipated. We were giving it to her because she was starting to become constipated more frequently. We alternated between apple juice and pear juice actually. But she would just keep getting constipated. I told DH that scientists in me (BS in biology :D )is gonna have to figure what foods are causing it. At that time it was near valentine's and she had just tried for the first time some chocolate. We were like no no more. Still didn't work. The other foods she was eating was more normal. Anyway...we stopped giving her apple juice and she got a lot better. So now we don't give it to her. Other things that help her are grapes (we only give her 5/6 because anymore and watch out!), plums (really worked out for her), raisins...she actually took a bite of a prune and yeah that worked too. She liked the prune a lot...so we had to hide them, because well you know. :) For us it was trial and error until we found the culprit. For DD it was apple juice. ? I guess right! But those fruits were wonderful to keep her going. Even now if she ever has an issue we grab grapes or a plum! Hope it helps!

Hi S.,

Something ultra simple and easy, recommended by our pediatrician as well as my mother, is a little bit of Karo corn syrup in her milk. Just a little...like 1/2 tsp. Something about the Karo brand works really well and always helped my daughter within just a few hours.

Hey S.,
My 4 year old has real trouble with constipation after eating cheese. I may have accidentally stumbled onto a solution. A couple of days ago my husband brought home some Stonyfield Farm Organic "Yo Baby" yogurt from Wal-Mart. It is the only thing my 6 month old and 4 year hold ate in common yesterday and they have had NO trouble pooping today! I also mix a cup of 1/4 apple juice and 3/4 prune...works like a charm!!!

I have that same problem with my son. I have tried apple juice, raisins, karo syrup and nothing. Finally the Dr told me to give him Miralax and it works like a charm. You can buy it at Walmart and I just put it in his juice.

Proud military spouse of 10 years and SAHM to 3 wonderful kids.

Some good old apple juice did the trick for my kids. That is what their doctor recommends.

My one year old son had chronic constipation and I was struggling to release his constipation but prune juice, gripe water etc didn't work, then a friend told me about Toddlers magic tea that helped a lot and he started going daily without any pain.

I would go with the yogurt and/or probiotics. It helps get the good bacteria back in their stomach and intestinal tract. You can get it at the pharmacy counter at the grocery store or drug store OR go to a health food store.

Hi,

From: C.
Date:

Hi, Pure Prune juice works really well, stay away from cheeses and rice and other binding foods, feed her oatmeal and banannas and lots of other high fiber foods. you can also get the fiber powder that you can mix in her food...

Give her the prune juice daily, gerber also makes a prune apple juice that tastes a little better...

plenty of water will also help a lot...

Good luck,

I always give my daughter prumes or plums.....maybe try fresh cantelope also.

we had the same problem, here's a couple things that helped us.

miralax was the best!!

strawberry milk

white grape juice worked better than any other juice for us.

good luck!

prune juice is supposed to help get you going. I've also heard upping your fiber can help regulate you.