Having Trouble “Going”

Have youtried Gerber prune juice? My son had that problem when we had switched his formula..Good luck...

My son had the same problem and the Doc. said to give him benefiber, I think that's what it was called, it's all natural in a green container they sell it at WalMart,Target and I think and grocery store. Hope this helps, it did help my son.

Give a massage, i am certified infant massage instructor for parents.
Use almond or sesamy oil stay away from mineral oil, ask for permition before you start the massage and relax. Your baby will find ways to communicate with you whether is a good time or not for massage, rotate yor hands clock wise specialy under the belly button and there are many techniques but use your intuition and massage. Feed him shreded raw apple and prune juice??? Ask your doctor about the last one but if you ar breast feeding then you can take the prune juice your self. If you have more questions about the massage you can call me and we can talk. F. vissuet ###-###-####

First of all, make sure that he is not stool holding. Kids that hold it sway back and squeeze their butt cheeks together so that the muscle can't relax. I think of it like a trash compactor. They save and save and pack all of the stool in the colon making it too firm and hard to come out without great pain.

I have a little girl in my daycare, and I recently discovered that she was doing this. As a result, her mother gives her a herbal tea at night called "Smooth Move" and I add a litte bit of extra virgin olive oil to her food. We have eliminated crackers from her diet, and increased gasey veggies like Broccoli. She only gets to drink filtered juice because it has more fiber. The juices are a lot stronger so you may have to water them down. We also offer much more water now.

This has made it almost impossible for her to hold any longer, although we still catch her trying. She still has a fear of pooping but her stools are nice and soft now.

When we see her trying to hold, we have her sit with her knees to her chest so that she is forced to relax the muscle and unable to hold it.

The doctor did not diagnose this, by the way, I did. The little girl is the moms first child, and when her daughter was swaying back and turning red in the face she thought that she was trying to poop. She thought that is was normal. I started researching it because I had never seen anything like it.

I hope this helps

D.

You've already got a lot of great ideas. I was going to add a few extra ideas: Be sure he's getting PLENTY of fluid. When my little guy isn't "regular", whether too hard OR too soft, I give him flavored Electrolyte Drinks/popsicles. It being summer even if he's drinking “as much as he normally does", he still may not be getting quite enough. In addition to this, you can add shredded carrots and zucchini to almost anything you cook, and kids eat it without complaint. They vanish into most sauces and formed meats, adding little change in taste but lots of extra fiber. My mom says she also used to make dark Jell-O flavors with about 1/4 cup of prune juice in place of 1/4 cup of the cold water.

One other thought- has the Dr. ensured that it's not any sort of hernia or hemorrhoid? I know he’s young, but it does happen. 1 of my nephews on my hubby’s side and a niece on my side have both had hernias at less than 2 years. Apparently, this makes the process of making poop very painful, thus causing kids to hold it back.

Hope it helps, and that everything "comes out" okay, ~J.

my son has that same problem. First I gave him "Prun" Gerber 2nd baby food. It help him but in the short period. Then my doctor recommend give him baby yogurt (sell in supermarket such as vons,alberson)It works really wonderful with my son. It help his digestion and his stool is normal.

Get a new doctor! And try some prune juice (watered down) in his sippy cup. Or Apple Juice too! Give him lots of fruit (avoid bananas). I chop the summer fruits into bite size pieces and my daughter eats them up like candy. I hope this helps, good luck!

The only thing i can think of is to give him some apple juice, it seems to work for my daughter.. i noticed that when my daughter drinks it all day that her stool is loose. hopefully that will work for your son.

My son had the same problem, and for us it was his gas associated with the constipation that was causing him so much pain. I started giving him the Mylicon drops in every bottle, and although his movements were still hard little pebbles, he seemed to be much more comfortable. Hope that helps.

Mia Taylor

L.,

my son had a very very big problem with this and it was not because he was constipated it was because he was simply affraid to go, his "poop" would be the size of a fist and would hurt so bad that we had to put glicerin suppositories inside of him hold it in for a bit and then he would go shortly after. i would have to do that quite often, then all of a sudden no more problem one day. remember dairy is constipating too. also get another opinion because my nephew had a desease and had to have half his intestines removed, so if it continues go see a specialist. if he likes cereal, give him fiber cereal like cheerios and chex cereal as snacks.

have you tried giving him some apple juice? when I give it to my son I usually water it down but if he's having trouble going I give it to him straight up. Also have you tried baby food prunes? they look horrible to me but a friend uses them for her little one- he doesn't seem to mind the taste
Good luck- hope you get some good ideas

My little girl suffered from constipation. She is fine now, but from the time she was 8 months old, she had bouts, and then it became chronic. This is what I tried:
- I went to an herbalist, she gave her some herbs in cinnamon to mix with apple juice (sorry I don't remember what they gave her)
- I gave her diluted apple juice every day
- I gave her a spoonful of mineral oil ever day
- I kept a close eye on her diet, giving her as much fiber as possible

She is 5 now, and she hasn't had a problem in a couple of years. I don't know why she outgrew it, but I don't give her herbs or mineral oil anymore. Unfortunately, she prefers to drink juice and would drink it all day if I let her, so I really have to ration her juice consumption and she has always disliked milk. (actually, milk, I'm told can be constipating, so I did not force her to drink milk, but supplemented her with yogurt)

If it gets really bad, Use children's glycerin suppositories - that will help to "grease the skids" but that should not become habitual, just for emergencies. Good luck.

Hi L.,

I had the same problem with my son when he was about 2. I found a fiber juice that really worked for him. He still drinks it to this day and he is almost 5. Each box contains 10 grams of fiber and he hasn't had any constipation issues since. It's a bit pricey, but well worth the money. My sone just drinks it every other day now and it keeps him regular. here's where you can find it.

http://www.fiberjuice.com/Fiberjuice.htm

Good luck!
W.

My son is 2 1/2 and has the same problem. Prune juice works wonders! I buy the regular whole fruit prune juice and dilute it with water, 2 parts juice to 1 part water. and I give him 8 oz every day. I don't like to give it to him without diluting it because sometimes it gives him diarreah. I also buy the gerber prune baby food and give it to him as dessert. He loves it! Watch how much dairy he has because remember dairy makes constipation worst! =)

Hi L.! I had the same problem with my son. The only thing that worked for us was changing him to soy milk (we used the vanilla soy & added nestle chocolate for chocolate milk...that's the only way he would drink it) and cut out the bananas, his cheese, pudding, etc. This has helped tremendously. At first, we were giving him a powder laxative that the Doctor prescribed to put in his milk, etc. & if that didn't work & if he was going on a couple of days trying to go...we would give him "Fleet Babylax". This did cause discomfort when first inserted because it gives them the erge to have to go. I only did this after him being constipated for a while & trying everything else to get him to go. I was so worried that he would get to backed up! Well, the doctor explained that when the child gets constipated after a while & then they go to the bathroom...it hurts. So, the child holds it in because they are scared to go. This happened with my son after a while. The best thing...was getting him off of regular milk & putting him on soy & just making him sit on the toilet to go. You did mention that your son is 17 mths old. So, you may not have him potty trained yet, but if you've tried the laxatives & changed to soy, etc. on a regular basis because sometimes it takes a little longer than a week, etc. Then I would ask the doctor to do some tests & also to do an x-ray to make sure he isn't backed up. I know that my doctor did not want to do that unless absolutely necessary. SO, make sure you have given a good try to the alternatives & document everything..(this was hard for me because I'm not good at documenting, but it's worth it for the doctor to be able to eliminate the problems, etc.)this way...you can go back to the doctor with your documentations...so, he can see what is & isn't working to move on to the next step.

I know how frustrating this is for you too! Try to stay calm & make sure you follow through. Hang in there!

Take care,

B.

It's common at this age. When my daughter went through it, we were referred to a pediatric Gastroenterologist, before she was diagnosed with this problem. Be careful of just giving your child OTC laxatives, without a proper prescription. At this age, they 'withhold' going 'number 2' because it can hurt....then it gets more constipated, then they 'withhold' more. Its a vicious cycle. You have to gradually get it softer, so they can void without pain or feeling the anticipation of having pain. For us, the doctor had us give her mineral oil... just a LITTLE amount, in the begining, to soften it....so they can void without pain and to soften up gwhat has accumulated in their bowels, because it gets hard and compacted in there. Then, we had to go for a follow-up with the doctor and monitor how it went.. then once the child feels better about voiding and having less pain, then 'psychologically' they may feel better. Constipation gets better... but hopefully your child is drinking lots of WATER too??? As well as a good fiber diet? Apples, pears, prunes, can help. Buy the natural juices...that has the 'whole' fruit in it. Can get it from natural food stores. This constipation problem is physical and emotional. Two-fold. Because it hurts, too. You really need to get proper instructions on how much "laxatives" to give your child, if that is what your doctor is advising. It's not just a matter of giving more fiber.Remember, it takes time. A doctor or specialist should be monitoring it. I knew a child whose parents used to just give their daughter prune juice EVERYDAY for over a year... because she was constipated. But she STILL had the problem. They never thought to take their child to the doctor! Poor thing. Well good luck. This is the process we followed with our daughter... and she gradually got better. But we didn't do it indiscriminately. If your doctors advise isn't helping, you should ask him/her to refer you to a pediatric specialist. Good luck.