3Yr Old Son Has Costipation Alot

Hi A.
Lots of water and fruit, My Daughter who is now 5 goes like clockwork everyday and has since she was about 2 & 1/2, she only drinks water thru the day, milk with breakfast & dinner. She eats a whole piece of fruit with breakfast & lunch, also has a piece of whole wheat bread with breakfast or lunch ( at least 1 to 2 slices a day).
Good luck

V.

Hey A.,

My daughter went through this and it is not fun. We started using Mirlax and the problem cleared up.

Good luck
Kerstin

A.,

Prune juice does the trick. My 16 month old was also constipated most of the times. His doctor advised to give him 1-2 pounces of prune juice everyday till he poops and then to continue for a week. After a week of this prune juice therapy, his poop's quite regular even w/o the juice.

Hey A.,
I would recommend getting your son on a pro-biotic asap. My son used to have similar problems and once I got him on them he turned into a pooping champ! We use the Flora Life brand (I get them at Whole Foods or you can order them online from VitaCost)and he's almost 5 so I get him the flora bear chewables, but you can get them in a liquid form and just add them to juice- depending on your son's age.
Also, cutting down on sugar (especially processed, but even natural sugar) is a good idea. Get him munching on veggies and lots of water! I hope that helps!
blessings,
J.

One of my girls was constipated around 2 1/2 and 3 yrs old. I felt awful because it is one of those things you can't hug away. We tried a ton of different things. Suppositories hurt her and did nothing, Senokot worked for a while. We reduced the amount of milk we gave her (she loved it and drank it all day)and gave her Juicy Juice on really bad days. That really helped. Look at how much milk he drinks. He shouldn't really get more than 16 to 20 ounces a day. Now, if the kids happen to have a little constipation, we give them a cup of warm water. My husband says that is what his mom would have the kids do and it does seem to work. Of course, he didn't remember this when my daughter was little.

I'd give him some grapes throughout the day. If you give him to many at once, he may have the runs. but if you give him 5 here and then another 5 there, it will help soften it up. Does he go every day? If not, that may be the reason he's constipated. Also, try to get him to drink more water. If the body is dehydrated, the first place it draws moisture from is the colon - thus causing constipation. So, grapes and more liquid may just do the trick.

My son has had constipation issues since he was about a year old. We went everywhere including children's memorial hospital. They recommended we put miralax in his drink everyday and we havent had an issue since. He is 4 now. You start with a half does which is half way up the white part in the cap and adjust as it meets the needs of your child. For example if the stool becomes runny slighly decrease it if the stool is hard increase it. As he starts going regularly you can decrease the amount.

My doctor recommended Aloe Vera juice. Just a capful in her juice does the trick every time. You can find it at health food and vitamin stores. My daughter has been using this whenever necessary since she was 8 months old.

A tablespoon of Mineral Oil. It lubes the path for the poo. Sorry for the crude analogy! I put it in the Go Diego Go Gogurt. It is small and just give it a shake. My son loves the gogurt and will finish it every time. So the Dr said it is common for this age range, as we made that visit too! She said that a Tblsp of Milk of Magnesia for a few days also for the first couple days, but could use the mineral oil every day if that's what he needs. I rotate a breakfast schedule oatmeal, scrambled eggs and third day smoothy's. So smoothy's always have Activia yogurt in it! It helps and they taste good. Best of luck to ya!

You've got lots of advice here about foods and probiotics. Absolutely! Does he drink enough fluids? Fluids are essential and a good probiotic will help too. Eating high fiber foods, prune juice (not always the tastiest) but if you drink some too with a smile he will think its good. I use a tasteless fiber powder that is natural to help when my daughter has difficulty. You can put it into anything. Much safer and healthier. I use a powdered probiotic as mild products can be binding. May have to limit that to just with a meal and use water inbetween.

If you wish to learn of the brands I use that are found online, I'd love to help you out. It is hard to watch our little ones suffer. He may be just going through a phase right now too! But you are right to "nipping it in the bud" with some good healthy options. Let me know how I can assist you.

K.
Wellness Consultant

Hi A.!

My son (age 2) is on an iron supplement for Anemia which causes him to have constipation as well. The Dr. suggested to limit his intake of dairy (a MAJOR challenge in our house because he LOVES cheese, milk, and yogurt). I've also started giving him either raisins or pears in the morning. This has really helped to soften his stool. On the days where he's been really bad, I give him 1 jar of stage 1 baby food prunes. He thinks it's a treat, and it ALWAYS does the trick. One other "all natural" thing to try is excercise. I know it sounds silly, but if you get his body moving (even just a walk around the block or chase him around the inside of the house for a while) it helps to get everything else moving as well. Good luck!

Many of the suggestions are great, but what if you cannot get you kid to eat or drink those items. We went thru that with our son. The Dr put him on Miralax. It is not a laxative but softens the stools. It is also non addictive like a laxitive.

My son had the same exact problem. We ended up talking to the Dr. who suggested Miralax. It had does WONDERS!!!! He is going every day w/no problems. You might want to talk to your Dr for dosage. They do have diarrhea in the beginning, but it is just while tummies are getting used to it. He is not scared to go anymore, and he tells us when he has to go instead of us asking him then trying to get him to go.

If dietary changes alone aren't helping (i.e. adding fiber, probiotics, etc...) I also reccommend Miralax. Ask your doctor about it and what would be an appropriate dosage.
My 8 year old daughter uses it regularly b/c she has some constipation problems as well. We just put half a capful in her juice each morning.

Good luck!

My nearly 5 year old has this problem too. It's pretty much always been an issue. He's not great about fruits and veggies and drinks a lot of milk. So, we've added a probiotic yogurt (like activia or yo plus) and that has helped a lot!

Check with the doctor, but my daughter was put on Miralax for the constipation. It is a tasteless powder that you can out in water,juice, or another drink. It gets them regular. We used it for a month or so, and now we use on occassion.

My son has Down syndrome and a very difficult time with constipation. Fruits and vggies are the fisrt choice but good luck with getting any 3 year old to eat what they are supposed to right?

We use Miralax and have since he was an infant. It works like a laxative but is very gentle unlike most laxatives. I have tried it because I like to know what I am giving him and it does not taste bad. He drinks it in his milk daily!

Try apple or prune juice.

Fiber. Kids are picky eaters and do not always get what they need. Benefiber is great! It has no taste. You can put it in water and they can't taste it. Give him a teaspoon (or a little more if he hasn't gone in a while) twice a day in whatever he drinks. It will keep him regular and it won't be hard for him to go. The trick is to make sure he gets fiber every day. It's also great for woman/ men who want to maintain or loose weight. I put it in my sauce, soups, chilli, coffee you name it...also great if you have high cholesterol.

Fiber and water. So many products in the grocery store now have an extra-fiber version (even pop tarts). Look for high fiber cereals, double fiber bread, or add beans to your dinners or lunches (especially in soup).
Then make sure he drinks water throughout the day.
:)

We have struggled a lot with that -- probably a year at least. My son quit holding at around 4 years. Probably a developmental thing. We talked a lot about how everyone does it, read a book about it and celebrated it.

High fiber foods should be part of all our diets, but aren't because they're uninteresting and inconvenient. Beans, broccoli, green foods, etc. Adding apples and other fruits are helpful. I found yogurt with probiotics helped. Also, a probiotic helps too.

So addressing the behavioral and diet components go together. Also, try to be calm about it, which was hard for me because it concerned me.

Talk to your doctor too and ask, "When do I get concerned?"

Hang in there.

Good that you were sensitive to your son's bowel habits but laxatives are a last resort...often , too much cheese or other foods will constipate....Be sure to give him enough fibier in fresh fruits and vegetables...Also enough liquids in juices and water. I always keep raisin brand on hand as well as fig bars, prunes and any other natural food that help him to have natural elimination....
Often a glass of cold water in the morning will move the bowels also...
By the way, not that i am suggesting adult drinks for kids BUT Blackberry Brandy is a sure cure for diahrea...

You can try to feed him more fiber and water, but he is probably holding it in which results in large hard poops. You should explain to him that holding it makes it harder to go and will make his tummy upset. Don't give him laxatives on a regular basis because they can make the muscles that he uses to poop weak. Talk to his doctor about natural ways to soften his poop. Good Luck

There are other good ideas on here, but if those don't work my 4 year old daughter (36 lbs) is on miralax. 1/2 capful every day. It dissolves in any non carbonated drink and she doesn't even know it's there. (but it can take about a week for it to work the first time). But ask his doctor and see.

Hi A. Try giving some prune juice, raisins or food with fiber(such as vegetable and wheat bread). Giving him a laxitive is something you don't want to start because his body will start depending on it. Unless his peditrican advices it. You didn't mention if his constipation start when you were potty training him. Because sometimes if you are trying to hard to get him to poop, he may be holding it and this can lead to constipation. Check with is peditrican about what to do.

Our daughter is the same way. She's almost 4 and when she was in diapers (long ago) we never had a dirty, messy one. It was like xlarge bunny poop. She too was having a hard time going, even to the point of tears!

The doctor told us to limit Apples, Bananas, Rice & Oat Cereals. He suggested Pears and Peaches to assist with digestion.

She's actually doing much better now that we are aware of the things to limit.