Constipation Issues on 1 Year Old--has Had Problems Since Birth

Try cherry or pear juice - we had GREAT luck with it and though my kid is 11, once in a while he'll tell me when he might need some 'extra' juice. We watered it down until he was 2 and then made it a 'treat', that this is what big boys drink. We made it 2 to 1; 2 parts water to 1 part juice. I hope this helps because we never had much luck with the prune juice (don't remember if it was the smell, taste??). Take care and I hope this helps!

She needs a digestive enzyme and magnesium. All the aluminum in the vaccines chow up the magnesium. 99% of all constipation is a magnesium deficiency. There are liquid version of both...enzymes to help her digest, not reflux meds which just take away the symptom that tell her something is wrong. Lots of research on the web... good luck. Constipation will be the least of your worries if she doesn't get what she really needs.....

Hello there. Sorry to hear your little one is having such a hard time. Mine is almost 24 months. She got very constipated once she was around 1. I guess we feed her alot of yogurt and banana's and cheese since she liked them so much and didn't eat many other solid foods. Anyway she didn't go for a while!! The doc's told me to use miralax for several months and then wean her off of it. I used it some but really didnt care for the idea, so i tried flax seed instead. Works like a charm and is very good for them. You have to buy it whole and use a coffee grinder to grind it up daily as it goes bad within 24 hrs of being ground. I have been using 1-2 teaspoons a day for her in yogurt or applesauce. She poops alot sometimes and recently i stopped using it thinking her little system didn't need it anymore. Big mistake. She got very constipated again.....not fun. So i just give a little less and she goes everyday and i have peace again! It's not expensive and good for them and you can find it at Kroger. Good luck : )

I suggest that you keep her on the formula longer. I drink rice milk because of various allergies. The problem w/ rice milk for babies is the lack of protein. So don't use it. You're correct about the soy. One of my daughter's was on soy from the age of 2 years until she was 8 years old. She developed various autoimmune diseases. We were told by her pediatrician that soy was so good, the whole family should be on it. We now know that it's not safe.

My youngest is 7 1/2; so I'm not completely up on all the current issues with 1 year olds, but perhaps you could serve her some water every day in addition to the formula. Water is great for constipation. My middle daughter stayed on a toddler formula until she was 2 years old. Maybe your daughter needs more time for the healthy flora in her gut to develop so that she can handle dairy by staying on a toddler formula.

My daughter is now 8 1/2 months and has been taking 1/4 of a regular dose of Miralax since she was about 5 months. Not even prunes would get her going when it first started. If it doesn't help you can slowly increase the dose. It is completely safe, and even if your daughter takes it every day for the rest of her life she will not have any side effects!

On another note you might want to see if she has a milk protein allergy, not necessarily lactose intolerance. I had this when I was little and I could have anything dairy except a straight glass of milk (meaning if I ate ice cream or cheese pizza I didn't have a problem).

Hope everything gets better!

First off, I would recommend finding a doctor who either takes your concerns seriously or explains to you why they are not concerned. The doctor works for you so if you are not happy with them you should find another doc. I am a health care provider and I certainly try to address any issues my patients come to me with.

I would also want to be sure what you mean by constipation since you didn't really say specifically. Not everyone has a bowel movement every day- many people think not having a daily bowel movement is constipation. It's more like not having bowel movements on the individual's usual schedule- whether it's twice a day, every other day or twice a week. Stools are generally hard, difficult to pass, and there may be abdominal pain or a small amount of blood with the stool.

It is very normal for kids to be constipated on both formula and whole milk. Lactose intolerance usually causes more stomach upset/diarrhea than constipation as a I understand it. I would also avoid soy, rice, almond milk and lactaid- the reason we give kids whole milk is to promote promote brain development (the neurons are essentially coated in fat). If you give her anything low fat she will miss out on those needed fats.

Is she drinking a lot of milk? I would try reducing it a bit. Add as much water as you can get her to take as well. Some people (myself included) give their children goat milk instead of cow milk because the goat milk is more like human milk than cow milk and tends to cause fewer issues. You can buy it in many groceries stores in a full fat version- I used to buy mine at whole foods.

Check out the website www.askdrsears.com. It has a lot of good info and I think it addresses milk issues. Hope she feels better soon.

I have an 8 month old, and she has had issues with constipation since birth! We have recently started adding 1/2 teaspoon of benefiber to her food 2 times a day and WOW she is going like a champ!!! It is tasteless and can be put into liquids as well...give it a try, it can't hurt.

My neighbor's daughter had constipation issues since birth. Even on breastmilk she was constipated. They clued in that she had a lot of food issues. The doctors probably wouldn't have gotten it, mom clued in because SHE had a lot of intolerances and allergies and so she recognized it. She went to soy formula and that helped a lot, though she still had to do extra things on occasion to help the poo move. She also had to watch all solids. Anything with cheese will cause constipation in this girl, even eating something like goldfish. Fruit snacks give her a rash and on and on. She gives her prunes frequently and only soy milk and yogurt. I would test out eliminating all dairy and see if this makes a difference. If it is a food issue, the only way to really see is to eliminate one thing at a time and see what happens.

Nicly done with the info. Personally, my daughter had major issues with milk. Ask your ped about a product called MIRALAX. My ped recommended it in very small quanities. It worked....I just gave it to her before bed, and by mid morning, she would have a BM.Personally, I feel that soy is okay(my daughter has been on it since she was aloud to have milk. I would say almond milk is great. My daughter loves the flavor, but you have to be careful as my daughter only wants sweetned milk.....

I am sorry your baby is having such a hard time with constipation. It can be a very miserable thing to deal with for parents and the child who is constipated. I was introduced a little over a month ago to an FDA approved food called Mila which is pulverized chia seeds. They are ground up and look like black pepper, but they have no taste or smell and can be used in your cooking or eaten mixed into cereal, oatmeal, applesauce, juice, etc. I began adding Mila to my oatmeal or cereal each morning and have found that it makes me regular but not to the point that I have that urgent feeling to go or a very loose stool. Mila contains lots of fiber, Omega 3s, antioxidants, and lots of other minerals (6 times more calcium than milk) that are really good for your body. I have lost 9 pounds in about 4 weeks, and I became a distributor of Mila so I can buy it at a discount since I have begun giving it to my children as well to help with their focus and attention and to give them the needed nutrients that they miss in their diet since they take ADHD meds that make them not hungry. Since we started using the Mila, I have less reflux/heartburn, my energy level is higher, and I don't have the urge to snack as much. My daughter even scored 22 points higher on a reading assessment test at school, and I believe it is because she is better able to focus and understand what she reads due to the Mila. I also got my parents to try it to help normalize their blood sugars, and my dad's blood sugar is lower than it has been in years, very close to normal. Mila is NOT a drug or a supplement, but it is a seed that has no side effects and is perfectly safe for anyone to eat whether they take medications or not. There is no gluten or sugar in Mila, and when it was tested against Lipitor by the University of Texas Medical School, Mila had equal results in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure without the harmful side effects of Lipitor. Without trying to give you a sales pitch, I wanted to let you know that I was optimistic before I tried it, but after my hot flashes went away within 8 days, I felt confident that Mila was all it was said to be and more. I would not give it to my children if I didn't know it was completely safe, and I would not recommend it to you if I felt it would cause any harm. As a mother, I want what is best for my children, and I know you do as well. Since I am now a distributor for Mila, I have a website that you can check out to see what you think about it. You can go to www.dorothytesnear.lifemax.net to learn more about Mila (by Lifemax). Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail through Mamapedia. I know you are frustrated, and if I can help you by introducing you to something that has really helped me, I would feel very privileged. Take care and may the Lord bless you and your family.

Is it hard pellets of poop or just not going very often?
I'm not sure if the reflux has to do with constipation - both my kids had it, but both had loose stools. Unless stopping spitting up kept it from going down into her intestines and making looser stools.
And lactose intolerance or milk allergy (baby #1 had it), cause loose and stinky stools.
If the cows milk seems to be a problem, what about trying the Stage 2 formulas? The proteins are still broken down but are formulated more for older babies.
If you don't trust your doctor, go see a GI specialist. If you really don't trust him, you may need a new pediatrician.

Just wondering if anyone has suggested probiotics. My daughter takes a daily supplement but she has never had any issues. I would do some research, there are different types. Read up on it, she may need the normal bacteria in her bowl replenished. If you would like more info there are some websites that are not exactly about these issues but may help.
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/probiotic...

Have you tried pear juice?? That always seemed to do the trick with my twins for the most part but I ended up later having to do the miralax which still didn't do that great of a job. Then I put them on probiotics and buddy that surely does the trick....I don't know how old they have to be but if they are old enough to eat regular foods such as yogurt you can find the probiotics in those. I ended up finding some Probiotics chewable form at Kroger made specifically for children BUT I don't know what ages it caters to because for the most part my twins are 7 now and can swallow pills at this point but its in the vitamin section for kids in a yellow cardboard box container that has a teddy bear on it I think. I can't remember the name of it and you could try grinding it up and placing it in with something like the milk or something they eat. You could try that as well as get some of the yogurt with the probiotic to see if that "budges" anything. I don't know too much about the milk because it seems to me that at that age they need the whole milk but there has to be other alternatives out there for the kids that have a lactose intolerance....I don't have any experience in that so I cannot offer any advice...maybe ask the ped what else you could give??? Ive heard goats milk is good too but I never did get the reasoning behind it.

I think you are right to be concerned , she def seems to have an issue when having milk products. It could be a lactose intolerance , this dose cause constipation and/or diarrhea , and sometimes bad stomach cramps. I have heard that goats milk can be used instead of cows milk so maybe give that a try.

I would also get it looked into further , it's best to know if she has any allergies/intolerances , as for the doctor , I would get a second opinion , it is not normal for them to become constipated when switching to cows milk , I have 3 kids and did not have these issues with them .

Good luck

I used goat's milk for my son's spitting up. He wasn't good with cow's milk.

Some adults are lactaid sensitive. Could your child be?

I am having a recent health issue and they recommended I use Almond or Hazelnut milk. It was at the health food store and some select grocery stores. Not in the refrigerated section! It tastes really good to me. But I don't know if it is good for baby or if it is a source of calcium.

The refrigerated Almond Milk is made from soy so watch the ingredients label.

Good luck. I agree that it isn't normal. My grandchild was found to have an anus that was way, way too small. The pediatrician discovered it and they did a 6 minute surgery to correct it. Make sure that isn't the problem. They said that it wasn't all that unusual.