My 1 year old is constipated and I need some suggestions to help her because my other kids didn't have this issue.
Doctor 1st. In the mean time - pears, pear juice,prune juice, prunes.
On back and bicycle with legs.
Call your pediatrician to see what they advise!
Something you can do is while she is lying on her back you can take her
legs & gently pump her legs around like she is riding a bicycle. Don't
relay on this......call the doctor. This is just something to do in the
meantime but a call into her pediatrician is in order so you can get the
right thing to help her pronto. If you've ever been constipated, it's very
uncomfortable.
When my daughter turned 1 and she went from drinking breastmilk to cow's milk, she became extremely constipated. In the end, the only thing that worked was stage 1 pureed prunes. Of course, she wouldn't take it and after some trial and error, I realized that she would take it if she were offered some snack or a treat with it. Prunes contain a specific type of sugar that helps to put moisture back in the stool. The sugar is also found in pears, but much less in quantity.
Another reason why she was constipated was because at 12 months, she was just beginning to crawl, must less walk. Physical activity is crucial in getting those bowels to move its contents quicker. If your 1 year old is able to crawl or walk, get them physically moving in addition to the prunes.
My doctor suggested that we try Fiber One first then if it didn't work to try Miralax. Use of Miralax on children is sort of controversial, but she assured me that it was safe. If that doesn't work and your child's been constipated for a lot longer than his/her baseline, then you have to use suppositories made for kids under 2 (they're sort of hard to find).
I found that with prunes, I didn't have to use Fiber One or Miralax. Good luck!
Have you recently switched her to drinking milk (from formula or breastmilk)? That will cause horrible constipation for a lot of kids. If that's the case, switch her back to formula for now, and ask your doctor about rice milk instead of cow's milk. Meanwhile, double-check with your doctor, but what our pedi advised us to do was start on Miralax in juice several times per day to soften the stool. If that doesn't get things moving in the next day or so, give her a tablespoon of mineral oil in orange juice. She will definitely go a few hours after you give her mineral oil! Then, keep her on Miralax for a few weeks until you're sure there are no more issues with constipation.
Both of my girls didn't handle cow's milk well at that age and ended up with horrible constipation. It was miserable. :(
Have you called the doctor yet?
How long has it been since she pooped? If it's only been a day or so, I would try increasing her fiber intake and making sure she is drinking lots of fluids. If it has been more than a couple of days, call her ped. They will probably tell you the same thing or have you try Miralax (a powder you mix with a drink). If it's been even longer, they will probably need to see her.
Some kids are more prone to constipation than others. We had to be much more vigilant with one of our kids. That's just the way it goes.
I would call the doc on the phone and ask him/her to give me a call. When the nurse/doc called me back I'd ask if it's okay to feed this XXX or is it better to feed them xxx instead. They won't give medical advice on the phone but they could give their opinion of a food to help a kiddo go easier.
