What can i do to help my son from being constipated i talked with his pediatrician and she told me to give him 1 teaspoon of castor oil in his sippie cup everyday i have been doing this for about 3 months and its not helping and he is also on silk soymilk please help???
Miralax. My daughter was on it for a while and it really helped. I tried corn syrup, prunes, apples and raisens and those did not help. Miralax was the only thing that helped.
1) make sure he's drinking lots of water 2) give him whole grains (not just wheat bread but 100% whole wheat bread) 3) feed him bananas and 4) give him yogurt everyday These four things will help his digestive system to work properly. You can also give him the probiotic Ganaden BC, which you can find at Walgreens or any health food store. This is truly a wonderful probiotic, which helps both constipation and diarrhea, has no side effects (other than helpful!) and isn't expensive. Good luck!
Miralax totally works. It is a natural product, and will make his stool softer. Give him HALF of the recommended dose in water once (or twice if he's really constipated) per day. It dissolves in any liquid and you can't taste it at all. Make sure he's drinking plenty of water otherwise. Miralax was the only thing that worked for us, and I still use it occasionally for my daughter who is 2 1/2 now. Constipation can turn into a chronic problem if you don't take care of it so even after you get him to where he's not constipated anymore, keep the Miralax on hand. Good luck!
Lots of apple, white grape and pear juices should help. Also give him more water and fresh fruits and vegetables. When they don't drink a lot of water, it dries up the stool, making it hard. Also give him prunes, if he will eat them. No bananas, they will cause constipation. Good luck! Oh, and if he's really constipated, use a children's glycerin suppository.
My 17 month old sometimes has that problem as well. She loves to eat raisins and cut up prunes and that does help. Most fruits and veggies help (except bananas).
Baby probiotics work wonders for my son, who used to get constipated. We haven't had any problems since we started! I would go to your local health food store. They should be refrigerated. They are usually a tasteless powder that dissolves in any liquid. I give him an extra scoop, if he's exposed to someone who is sick. They are great for immune support, too.
I was going to suggest the raisins as well. Will practically turn it into liquid. LOL. More water and less juice (if you give him juice).
I was using Miralax for my son too (he's 20 months). It did help but it would still be a few days in between poops, which still made him uncomfortable.
I overheard a friend of mine talking to someone about a juice called V8 Fusion. She was raving about how much her daughter liked it and per 8oz it has a full serving of fruits and veggies. The other lady said, be careful because too much of the juice can cause diarrhea. She continued to say that her peditrician had actually recommended it because her daughter has chronic constipation and is also on Miralax.
As soon as I heard this I ran to the store the next day and bought the juice. They even have a light version (which I got) that has less sugar than the regular. I bought the Strawberry Banana and he loved it. Not only does he like it, but I haven't given him Miralax in two weeks and he has pooped everyday, sometimes two or more times. I have only been giving him 8oz a day and watering it down each refill.
I am so happy that this seems to be working so much better for him, hopefully it can help your son too!
S.
I'm not sure how someone could say that Mirilax is a natural product.
I've done extensive research on it and I disagree with her statement.
Mirilax Is made from Ethylene Oxide, which is prepared using ethelyne and oxygen. Sometimes chlorine is added. It is the precursor to ethelyne glycol (antifreeze). It works by drawing (forcing)water into the colon.
When the body is dehydrated, it goes into self preservation mode and will automatically start shutting down water paths to the skin, COLON and nerves, and redirecting it to the heart and brain - the survival organs. (that shows you how bad dehydration is for the body.) The brain is 85% water, and it MUST maintain that equilibrium. It knows that without maintaining that, you could die. So it will maintain it- even at the detriment of other body parts that it feels are not critical.
When you take Mirilax (PEG) you force the body to take water and salt from the critical organs like the brain, and move the water back into the colon. Cerebral salt wasting and nurilogical problems can result. Dosing suggestions say to USE MIRILAX NO MORE THAT TWO WEEKS because is said to be nephrotoxic.Meanwhile, doctors prescribe it out freely, for much much longer periods, anyway. It also blocks absorption of all nutrients through the entire intestinal tract.
An excellent natural way to increase bowel movements and soften them right up is Magnesium Citrate. You can find this online or at the health food store, or look for the product 'babycalm' which is also MG citrate and is scribed for dosage levels for children. It should take anywhere from 2-8 hours to begin working. Magnesium can be taken indefinitly and is actually a healthy way to treat constipation. It works by helping the muscles contract and move the stool. It is also just a natural laxitive, much like vit C is. Magnesium is a critical mineral, at the same level as calcium, yet is typically extremely low in most of us due to the fact that we eat high grain/processed food and don't eat a diet high in it, which is raw nuts and seeds, boiled spinach, swiss chard, baked halibut, ...you get the picture.
Castor oil is an old remedy and is supposed to work well for constipation. How constipated is he? If castor oil and MG are not working, possibly there
Is an additional factor going on. Are you giving him IRON supplements? Iron is highly constipating- it is also a heavy metal. Any doctor who advises mothers to give iron supplements, without a test showing the child is iron deficient, is negligible.
Try to switch from soy to almond or rice milk. Soy is highly estrogenic.
I'm not sure about soy milk, but my daughter gets constipated if she drinks too much milk/has too much dairy. I prefer to load her up with apples, for her they're a natural laxative.
I second 3rugrats about the miralax. My 2 1/2 year old was constantly constipated until the pedi told me to give a 1/2 dose to her once a day. It's worked WONDERS!!
Make sure he's drinking water every day. White grape juice, and especially pear juice helped my son (half with water). Grapes, raisins, veggies with lots of fiber--Oranges are great for constipation!
