My Poor Constipated Child

Those teas just make you have lots of gas...embarrassing!! Ditch the Miralax as well. What you need is probiotics. Give her 1/2 an adult dose 2 times a day and then at least once a week to keep her regular. They also make it for kids and you can give her 1 pill 2 times a day for about 2 days and then like I said, once or twice a week for "maintenence". Watch out for dark chocolate and bananas.

Do you give your daughter a daily probiotic? If not, it could REALLY help her. My husband has a very sloooow digestive track, and they have been a miracle for him! We all take a daily probiotic, and my son has since birth. They help in a multitude of ways, for everyone!

My 12 year old went to our pediatrician 3 times last summer and the doc recommended more liquids, Miralax, Prilosec, cutting out milk, etc. Nothing seemed to help much, she still just pooped a few bunny pellets, had nausea and cramps. Then we went to a pediatric Gastro Intestinal doctor who took a photo and found that he whole large intestine (from small intestine to colon) was full and compacted!!
This is the clean out regimen the GI recommended, which we followed and now she feels great (copied from the take home instructions):
- In AM take one Dulcolax/bisacodyl 5 mg tablet by mouth. Then 30 minutes later one 10 oz bottle of magnesium citrate. If you do not like the magnesium citrate (we bought lemon flavor at CVS, bottle cost $1.29, she said it tastes like flat soda) you can replace it with 1 capful of Miralax (17 grams) in 8 oz of liquid for 3 doses 15 minutes apart (so take 1 dose in 8 oz, then 15 minutes later take 2nd dose in 8 oz, then 15 minutes after that 3rd dose in 8 oz liquid).
- eat lightly during 2 day clean out (since she was so backed up GI recommended 2 days, if not as backed up 1 day may clean her out).
-Maintenance is 1 capful of Miralax in 8 oz of liquid per day.
- Goal of maintenance is to achieve daily, soft, comfortable bowel movements that have the consistency of soft serve ice cream/mashed potatoes. You may need to adjust the Miralax dose to achieve this consistency. When doing this, make dose changes by 1 teaspoon at a time and stay with the new dose for a minimum of 3 days before making the next dose change.
- drink at least 24 oz of water per day
-limit milk to 24 oz per day
-pasta, rice and cheese can be constipating
-fiber such as fresh fruits and vegetables may help but fiber supplementation is not necessary (end of take home instructions).
She started about 9 AM and it took about 3 hours the first day to start the BM's. We stayed home those 2 days and the first day she went often, the second day she went in the morning a few times, and then she was done. Surprisingly she said she did not have any intestinal cramps or pain.
The GI says she recommends staying on the Miralax maintenance dose for twice as long as it took to get constipated which for my daughter was about 3 months. She did have a 1 month follow up with the GI.
I would suggest that a clean out cannot hurt, whether you decide to stay on Miralax or not but I am not a doctor. The GI said that Miralax is a great product but that many people use it incorrectly and inconsistently and then do not get good results. We bought the HUGE bottle of generic Miralax at CVS. We also bought a 20 oz CamelBak drink bottle that she now take with her to school with half water, half juice, and finishes it at the end of the school day. She then has another 8 oz of water with dinner and 8 oz of milk before bed. Good luck.

Red Seedless Grapes are a natural, yummy for the tummy, laxative. :-) A lot of walking will help her bowel muscles as well. Also, you can try GasX. That will help push it out as well too. I hope this helps. Bless her heart. I feel for her and been in that situation myself.

Have you tried probiotics? Healthy gut flora is important. I would also suggest abdominal massage, you can show her how and she can even do it herself. th emost important thing is to always go clockwise, imagine a clock on her belly. That is the direction of the colon, you certainly don't want to move things the wrong way! Here are some helpful links:
http://health-parameters.com/abdominal-massage-diagram/

http://nonlinearfunctions.blogspot.com/2009/02/infant-mas...

I realize that the second link is about infant massage, but it works just as well in older children or even adults. Best of luck!

There's a cereal by Kashi - it's like shredded wheat flavored with honey or sugar, but it's lightly sweet and really tasty. LOADED with fiber. I'll bet if she has some of that every day for breakfast it might help. And I'm not a big fan of shredded wheat - this stuff was very yummy. I added just enough milk to make them a little bit soft but not soggy.

http://www.kashi.com/products/kashi_whole_wheat_biscuits_...

i didn't read all your responses, but here is my experience with pooping problems: I tried everything under the sun, and nothing worked except this: (and if you use it for your daughter, you may have to tweek the amounts). One dose of milk of magnesia, and one cup of WARM prune juice. Mix them together, and drink it while sitting on toilet. Works like a charm. Not sure what to tell you on adult amount vs kid amount on the MOM dosage, but I weighed about 145 when the dr told me to use one dose. Good luck.

Is she drinking plenty of water with the Miralax? It works a little differently than most laxatives. It works more like a stool softener. It pulls water into the stool and makes it easier to pass. Also, mango, apple, or white grape juice might help a little bit! She could also try a Fiber One bar each day with the glass of juice. Double attack on the constipation! I really hope something here helps a little. I just recently went throught this problem with my little one. You might also ask the doc about adding a stool softener every day, such as Colace, so she doesn't end up with a hemorrhoid problem in addition to the constipation. It's a gel capsule, small, easy to swallow, and non-cramping. Again, water is very very important for these to work. I believe they say 12 years and up, though? Hope she feels better soon! I know how miserable that can make ya feel!

My 9 yr. old and myself, at times, have this same problem. We took her to her Ped. because we were worried. My daughter never told us she wasn't having regular bm's. The Dr. pushed around on her tummy and said, "Oh, she's really full of it"... We were puzzled, then she explained! lol So, in addition to fruits, fiber and lots of water, we've included an over the counter stool softener which does not include "Selium". There are many many people (including myself) who have had blockage and severe cramping with laxatives, additives, etc.. which include selium. I give her one each night, and have her tell me when she has a bowel movement. Things have gotten much better. I didn't realize she was going 2-4 DAYS without relief!! No wonder the poor kid was in pain!

Best of luck!!

Ugg...poor all of you! I am not one to give advice as this has been my son since as long as I can remember, yet he claims he just never has to go to the bathroom. Our Ped said mango juice. I always heard prune, but never mango and it worked for my other little one. It is obviously also easier to get them to drink. There is a great website and app run by a pediatrician call The Kids Doctor. They currently have an article on there about constipation and tips. Good luck!

After i had my son with a csection i did not go for a month. It was horrible, i tried everything! One day i forced myself to drink a full glass of 100 percent prune juice. Should of done that alot sooner! Works like a charm everytime!

Is she not getting the "urge" to go? If she knows she's got poop in there I'd suggest a suppository to help her get the momentum going to go. It seems that I have to be quite "full of shi*t" before my body decides to get the urge to exit it out. Sometimes if I sit on the toilet for awhile and read I will finally get the urge, but it can take quite some time and I hate sitting on the toilet for more than 10 minutes (pink donut ring on the butt cheeks is not attractive).

Ask the pediatrician what he thinks about her taking a magnesium supplement at night. I too have a very slow bowel and it's not unusual for me to go 3 or more days in a row and it gets pretty uncomfy by the 3rd day. Magnesium, 500 to 1,000 mgs, at night before I go to bed will guarantee that I will go in the morning.

Poor thing. I would definitely take her to a Gastro Doctor... and follow that advice. You don't want to mess with her digestive system... Best of luck

Hi, K.. My 6-year old had problems with constipation until we took her off of gluten, and that has helped trememdously. Of course, that doesn't help your immediate situation. I have heard of others having success with the Smooth Move tea. We used to use Benefiber, b/c it seems gentler than Miralax but still effective, and also plenty of water. A warm heating pad on her abdomen might help her feel better and get things moving a little bit, too. Good luck--i know it's no fun when your kiddo feels crappy--no pun intended. :)

Make sure she drinks enough water and non-caffinated drinks. I would offer her fruit - strawberries, blueberries, cherries.