Constipation in Toddlers.... - Daphne,AL

Hi B.:

Try putting some dark Karo syrup in her glass. I would put about a tablespoonful in a 4-6 oz. cup. That used to work for my daughter when she was small.

if she eats a lot of pennutberter or cheese that will cause constiption try prun juice. water it down some to start with.dont give maybe once a day till you see how it is gowing to work on.giveing to much may give her diarea.hope this helps.appel juice can giv them gas and make there tumy hurt as well anita

Having read the advice others hav given you, I'm not going to add much here, but I would caution you on one thing. Anything that you add PARTICULARLY A MEDICINE, for dealing with Constipation should be used in moderation. There are friends of mine who's colons have all but shut down due to using medical aids. As long as they continue taking the medication they will be ok (not great, and getting worse). Unfortunately they will never be able to get off the medication without a long enduring agony. Their colon's no longer do the work they are supposed to on their own. Their bodies would need to literally restart the system, and the older you get the more unlikely it is for a body to respond. Please be aware of this! And good luck!

Hello B.,
Are you unknowingly feeding your daughter the BRAT diet -- bananas, rice, apples and toast?

I used to feed Tony lots of bananas and cheese -- and they are both prone to cause constipation.

What may have happened too -- your daughter may have had a small bout of constipation and it hurt so badly when she went to the bathroom that she doesn't want to go now. Vicious cycle .... the meds may help break that cycle.

Good luck,
M.

I think you should get the scrip. She has probably gotten commpacted and without the scrip she is going to have a hard time . Once she has taken her meds. the first time may still be a little difficult, but it will soften her stool and she willbe able to use the restroom. If you dont wanrt to get the scrip have you tried the laxatives for children Fleets works really well, but since you said it was severe i would take the docs advice

I found this very interesting article regarding cow's milk and severe constipation. It might be worth a read....

http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=21&am...

Blessings,
D.

B.
I havent personally experienced this - although a few of my chat friends have and they suggest prune/apple juice - they use that for their own children and say that it helps.

with the constipation grape juice worked wonders for my little boy. additionally try some warm prune juice. the taste is not bad and a natural rememdy. if you don't mind medicine we used milk of magnesia for the days he was straining...hope this helps.

Try having her eat more fruit such as raisins, grapes, oranges, apples, peaches, and pears. Avoid bananas -- they tend to make it worse.

My15 months old son had really bad constipation and was always struggling to poop and the only remedy worked was Toddlers magic tea.

My son is 17 mos. old and has occasional constipation. I've discovered that it is from cow's milk, so I switched him to a mixture of 1/2 Silk very vanilla soy milk (that's the best tasting flavor) and 1/2 cow's milk. Sometimes if I notice him straining I will increase the soy milk and decrease the cow's milk. Otherwise, I just do what you said. Lots of water and juice (sometimes prune juice mixed with apple) and fiber rich foods. Also, packaged mandarin oranges seem to help him go a little easier. I hope that this was helpful. It is so pitiful for them to be constipated. Good luck!

My little girl had the same problem and they put her on Miralax for that. The prescription worked sometimes and sometimes it did not. We found it was one of those we had to constantly keep adjusting her dose, either she wouldn't be going to the bathroom or she would and it would be like diharrea. She finally outgrew her issues. We did not find any foods or drinking water to help, we tried a little bit of everything, some kids just have that problem.

You did not say h ow old your daughter is, but if she has taken alot of antibiotics, her bowel flora may have been altered by them, unless she took a probiotic also (acidophilus or other) along and at least 30 days after the antibiotics. Good ones are Bio K...like a yogurt, and more commonly activia by dannon, really helps with constipation and regulating the flora. She also would need alot of dark green leafy vegetables, and dark orange foods, and as much raw as possible. Avoid dairy, excess meat, and white flour products as well as bananas as they are constipating. Glycerin suppositories are helpful in a pinch also, and are available in baby sizes too if your daughter is a baby. I suspect once her bowel flora is back to normal her bowel movements will be too.

First off I am so sorry to hear that your daughter has to go through this, I myself had this very problem as a child; until after I had a baby actually & now my daughter has the same problem. I try to keep my daughter away from a lot of dairy things which is hard so I never giver her any milk at home, I give her either apple juice or water. I have bought the stuff for "little tummys" and I have taken that and don't reccomend that for a child at all; it caused very bad cramping for me so I can't imagine having a child take it. Honestly, from what I know & have been through there really isn't too much you can do, just give your daughter lots of apple juice and water. You can try to massage her belly and see if things get better that way. good luck!

Hi-

My daughter got constipated after we had to switch to rice milk due to a milk allergy, but she was older- about 10 months.

I'd definitely check with your Ped. I was shocked at how long a child can go without a poop before they call it "constipation"- like 10-14 days!!! They give you the song and dance about how it's different for each baby, but stress the pain that your daughter is in to the doctor. My daughter began holding it in because she associated pooping with pain. That's the LAST thing you want to happen. Most docs want you to try prunes, increased juice and water, etc. at home before trying medications. The ped could feel the "ropes" of poop in her lower abdomen. We didn't even go for an x-ray. This has been an ongoing issue for her.

None of the at home stuff worked, so we had to add medications to keep her poop soft and moving. She's been on a medication called Miralax now for about 3 years. It can be mixed into virtually any drink, it's tasteless, has no texture, is clear (once mixed) and most importantly, it's non-habit forming. Talk with you ped- there's no reason for your baby to be in pain!!

Good luck!

Hi, I have the exact same problem with my daughter. We also had the belly pains, x-rays, etc. Her doctor put her on a prescription but I was reluctant to start it. I tried the other things that are supposed to work and they didn't. Caster oil and the such. That just seemed to cause her to feel terrible, not to mention trying to get her to take it. I finally gave in and gave her the prescription. Hers is called Glycolax. It's a powder that gets mixed in with juice or any other beverage. I was dreading the end result but it worked GREAT! She felt better after about 2 doses of it. My Pediatrician said to give it to her everyday for about 3 weeks to get her insides back the way they should be. After doing those 3 weeks, my daughter was great! Now, if she gets even a little constipated I give her some of the meds and everything gets back to normal almost immediately.
Hope this helps.
M.