Infant Consipation - TMI

This happened with my little one a lot. His doc put him on miralax and it was a life saver. We did have to do the glycerin laxatives a few times prior to starting the miralax. It's not fun, but it was necessary.

They have suppository’s for babies and they worked for my little one when he was a baby. They don’t have all the chemicals that the adult ones have in the.

Miralax, in spite of the name, is not a laxative, it adds bulk and a fair amount moisture to the stool, making it softer and easier to pass. It is not habit-forming like laxatives.

In the short run, enemas and suppositories MIGHT help, but in his case, he still may not be able to pass such a large stool. And both can be habit-forming.

Try the Miralax. You really want to get this wrinkle smoothed out long before potty training begins, or pooping may become too traumatizing for him.

As Victoria suggests, you may have to experiment to get the right dose for your kidlet. Miralax helps me a great deal (I have a very severe rectocele that usually requires me to use a finger to evacuate, but a very small daily dose of Miralax makes this easier). My husband would probably die without Miralax. He used it to wean himself off of very large doses of laxatives.

Miralax is supposed to be very safe and non adictive. I would stick with that since that is what the doctor has recommended. It also has fiber in it. Also make sure he drinks plenty of water. Let him keep a sippy cup at all times.

Actually, you need to AVOID peaches and peas... they're binding like rice and other complex carbs.

What he needs for true constipation is water. He needs to increase his fluid intake and try to have more frequent bowel movements. He needs loose stools, but the foods he's eating may not have enough fiber or fluids.

I wouldn't pack him with prunes and other stool loosening foods until his poop is already loose. Otherwise, you're just adding more and more poop to a stopped up child. You want to add fluids and yes, probably help loosen up a too-large poop with the child-sized glycerin suppositories. Get some gloves and use your pinkie finger so that it's easier and glides in better, and you don't risk scratching him with your nail. After you get the butt rocket in there, he's going to want to poop it right out so you're going to have to squeeze his butt cheeks together for about 15 minutes to give the suppository time to work.

Miralax can be great. Just don't put it into yogurt. :-) [edit: When I've added Miralax to Gracie's yogurt, or rather the yogurt that isn't real Greek yogurt, it turns the yogurt into liquid. The yogurt has to be real yogurt that wasn't thickened using thickeners like cornstarch or other artificial thickeners. Greek yogurt and other real yogurts are supposed to be thickened by being strained through cheese cloths to remove moisture and clumps.]

Mix baby food prunes with applesauce, pudding...
The "P" foods were always recommended to us for that--plums, peaches, pears, peas, prunes...
Watch for bananas & apple juice-both can be coati paying.
I would use the Miralax consistently, as directed by your pediatrician.
Very gentle, very mild. Not a laxative, a softener.
I'd be afraid of not getting this under control now. Later it might hinder potty training and lead to encopresis.
Good luck.

Miralax does not cause the same kinds of problem as long term use of a laxative. It's a different process. Is it possible that he is "holding" his poo?
Sometimes when kids are not comfortable going poop for whatever reason or they have a hard poop that hurts they start to hold (meaning that they don't go when they need to) and then the poop gets bigger inside the bowel causing constipation or they very large poops that are difficult to pass.

I would increase his fiber and water intake and reconsider the Miralax. Sometimes kids need it for a short period of time so their bodies can get back on track, or so a fissure can heal and they are not afraid to poop because it hurts. If he's holding, that may cause a lot more problems than putting him on Miralax for a month.

Have you tried adding prune juice to something? Prune juice went a long way with my kids...

If he is going everyday, I'd stay away from suppositories. My pediatrician said to stay away from them if possible and also suggested the Miralax. There is a good chance he is holding it because he associates it with fear. When my daughter had this problem at 3, the doctor said to give Miralax everyday until she got use to going without it hurting and then taper off. She's been off of it now for a few months and we don't have any issues. I was giving her maybe a teaspoon a day, not a full capful like my pediatrician recommended. When I did that, the poop became to runny. At just a teaspoon, it made it soft enough not to hurt, but hard enough to hold it's shape.

You need to change your way of thinking for at least the short term. He needs the Miralax and you need to give it to him. If the doctor didn't really explain all this to you, then he or she needs to. Chronic constipation can cause him a world of troubles.

Get an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist. I'm sure that this doctor will reallly help you understand this and work through it with you. You don't have time to waste. Get him on the Miralax for now and then work with the gastro.

Good luck.

We have this same problem with my 2yo. I was leary about the miralax too, but our dr consulted with a specialist, who said that miralax is no worse than giving your child a salad (I find this a bit hard to believe, but anyway...). We went back to the miralax and it has helped. I also bought those individually wrapped prunes and my dd has one as a "special treat" each day.

I had a little girl in my care that had a little Miralax in her milk every morning up until Kindergarten, heck she may still be getting it for all I know. This kiddo would hold it and hold it until she would stop up a toilet it was so big, no joke, not kidding!! Her mother was a nurse practitioner and felt comfortable doing this.

M

the pedialax liquid glycerin is a liquid suppositorty for babies.. it works very well. he needs to get cleaned out..

and add miralax every day for a long long time.. kids get in this cycle of it hurts to poo.. so I don't want to poo... so they hold it.. and then it is harder for them to poo.. so to break the cycle you have to make it easy for him to poo... miralax every day for months.. till he only has memories of poos that don't hurt..

My youngest was like this. Her pediatrician gave her a a script for something, I can't remember. It helped. Yeah, just read Miralax, that's the stuff!

Potty training was a nightmare.

I think after three and a half she never had any issues.

So call your pediatrician and see what they say.

My first baby had some constipation issues.
She had a very fabulous pediatrician and liked to use natural methods as much as possible.

He suggested glycerine suppositories. He said that sometimes you have to get them unclogged on the backend because having them drink more of anything if they are plugged up will just add to the problem.

I only had to use half of one at a time and you kind of have to hold their little butt cheeks together so it doesn't melt and squirt back out. It was completely painless and I only had to use them for about a week and she was fine ever since.

I'm just giving you the advice my wonderful pediatrician gave me.

Best wishes.

My youngest has the same issue, and in his three years, I have read and tried a lot of different recommendations. In addition to lots of water, fruit and veggies, the thing that has made the biggest difference for him is the addition of chia seeds to just about everything I serve (pancakes, waffles, muffins, cookies, yogurt, sundaes, breakfast cereal...you name it! Trader Joe's carries them. Bonus? They have omega-3s. :)

Good luck!

Fresh blueberries and lots of them. And lots and lots of water.

Poor little guy. Here is some info from Dr. Sears. One of his recommendations that we tried, to great effect, was flax oil. 2 teaspoons a day for a toddler. We mixed it into chocolate milk or something tasty.

And according to the Dr., apricots and the four P's – prunes, pears, plums, and peaches – usually exert a laxative effect.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/childhood-illnesses/cons...