Mom Needs Advice on Childs Bathroom Habits

Updated on November 29, 2006
S.M. asks from Mc Carley, MS
18 answers

My daughter is three years old and she has trouble having bowel movements. SHe screams out in pain when she tries to go and doesn't go very often ..I took her to a pediatrician and i was told to give her a little casteroil, when that didn't work my mother suggested a suppository for a child. That did work but i do not fill comfortable with using laxitives already on her. Is bad for her health? What else could work.

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I tried prune juice and it loosened up the stool a little but she wasn't getting through. So i am taking her to see a gasterologists(sp) . Again thanks for your help.

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H.C.

answers from Chattanooga on

Hi S.,you may want to try giving her prune juice to drink or let her eat raisins on an ordorinary basis.Perhaps give her cabbage.Those items may help her go to the bathroom.It will be more subtle on her.Goodluck and hope to see ow she makes out.Take care,H.

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L.O.

answers from Nashville on

Hi I was a Nanny for a pediatrician and her children had the same problem she gave them fiber tablets in orange flavor it really worked. I think it was Fiber choice. GOOD LUCK

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A.H.

answers from Knoxville on

my daughter has trouble too and i give her Juicy Juice. she drinks it all the time and she has really soft bowel movements. i usually give mine the grape and fruit punch. it works on Olivia so it would be worth a try. hope everything goes okay.

A.

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M.J.

answers from Nashville on

My daughter (3) was having the same problems. The doc took an xray of her belly and found that she was literally full of poop. Even though she was going regularly, she wasn't getting it all out and it hurt her to go. He prescribed Gycolax for her. It is a powder that you can mix in their drinks that helps them to go. It is not too hard on their bellies either. This helped my daughter greatly. When kids have that much "poop" in their intestines, it stretches the intestines out and becomes a cronic problem. The Gycolax helped her intestines return to the normal size and she is going regularly without any pain. I still give it to her on occasion when I see she is a bit constipated.

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N.G.

answers from Mobile on

Hello S.,

I was in your exact postion with my two year old son, he's been like that since he was little.....You can try cayro syrup instead of the casteroil, cayro syrup taste better and is less harsh on the little tummy. I was uneasy about giving my little guy a laxitive suppository also, but they do have laxitive free suppository, I found glycerian (sp?) suppositories for children. They work best on my son on the really rough occasions. But I would try the cayro syrup first....2 teaspoons to a small juice glass is what I use...You may have to use more....I also mix it with apple juice, a natural stimulant...You may have to try several things till you find the one that works best for your daughter. I hope she gets to feeling better.

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T.

answers from Chattanooga on

Give her mnore fruit (but not bananas). Oranges, grapes, raisins, and prunes/plums are good. Fruit juice will help too but drs. recommend no more than 6 oz per day. Just having her drink water will also help. My pediatrician recommends 3 servings of milk per day (milk, cheese, ice cream) and then drink water the rest of the time. I don't give my kids juice more than 1 time per day and usually only 3 or 4 days per week. Hope this helps.

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J.D.

answers from Huntsville on

Definitely go back to the doctor. If your daughter is having pain, she may begin withholding her stool and that's BIG problems. My daughter's pediatrician said that doctors are VERY hesitant to prescribe meds for constipation. Not sure why.

My daughter has had problems with constipation since she was about 9 months old. Of course, by the time we made it to the dr, we had already tried changing her diet with all of the standard recommendations. We also tried Karo syrup, prune juice, etc. The pediatrician prescribed Sorbitol because she was so young. When my daughter got older (can't remember exactly how old) the doctor changed it to Glycolax (Miralax) that others have mentioned already.

Both of these are NON-HABIT forming, which is important to realize. Laxitives over the counter are NOT. The bowels will eventually stop working if they are used on a regular basis and will REQUIRE the laxitive.

My daughter is almost 4 and she is great about taking it, because as noted before, it is tasteless and has no texture. She wouldn't know she was drinking it, except I remind her that she needs to drink all of her juice because it has her medicine in it.

NOTE: Glycolax (Miralax) can take several days to work. Her doctor said that it is best for her to stay on it regularly to keep things moving. I definitely notice a difference!!

PS- The doctor said to make sure she stays well hydrated and also discontinue the med for several days if the child has a stomach bug (diarreah).

Good luck!

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D.H.

answers from Nashville on

I use prunes for one of my children who has problems using the restroom. The doctor suggests prunes, raisens, apple or white grape juice, lots of fiber foods like broccoli, and water!! Try not to give her carbonated drinks they dehydrate. My sister-n-law gives her little one kayro syrup twice a day for stuborn bowels. You could also use massages that will help to loosen the bowls and to move the stuff along, it will also help to ease the muscels and pain.

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L.M.

answers from Nashville on

I had the exact problem with my 3 year old little girl. she always had trouble with bowel movements and was constipated way too often, needless to say, I could not get her potty trained. I tried the mineral oil, giving her only juice to drink, cutting out the milk and some other dairy and NOTHING worked. I took her to the dr and he prescribed her miralax powder. It's tasteless and odorless and goes in her drink. The instructions are to give it to her every day, but I only give it to her as needed and sometimes only a half a dose. And now, Voila! I now have a potty trained little girl...whew! She's not afraid to "go" now since it does not hurt. That's just a horrible thing to have to see your child go through.

good luck

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J.T.

answers from Tuscaloosa on

if your daughter like rasiens, give her them.

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R.S.

answers from Birmingham on

When my 8 yr old daughter was 2 or 3 we had this problem. I used a baby enema on her. This sounds terrible because adults hate it so much, but baby ones are pretty much just water. It helps to just get water in there some to loosen it. Also I use to put her in a tub of warm water....that helps get the water in there too....and I know this sounds gross, but she would use the bathroom in the water and I would just take her out and wash her in clean water after that. Hope that helps!

R.

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B.A.

answers from Chattanooga on

I babysat for a little girl who had the same problem pretty much since birth. The Dr. ended up telling us to give her Benefiber in her drink every morning.

B. A.

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S.R.

answers from Hattiesburg on

hello, sorry to hear about your problem you are having. I have always used Karo syrup, just give her a little bit and that should work. I have 4 kids and it has worked for me. Good Luck!

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J.R.

answers from Clarksville on

my son had the same problem a little more than six months ago, he would not go to the bathroom, this caused a huge blockage in his intestine revealed by an xray. The doctor suggested enemas but those didnt work so we finally got a prescription for magnesium citrate. Ask for an xray to see how bad the blockage is, once the majority of it passsed he started having normal bowel movements and within a month he was going on his own with no pain. Now if we could just get him potty trained lol! Hope this helps, I know how hard it is to see your child in pain like that!

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R.M.

answers from Jackson on

YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY GIVING HER FRUIT JUICES LIKE APPLE JUICE..ALSO MAYBE PRUNE JUICE MIXED WITH APPLE JUICE..THIS MIGHT HELP HER LOOSEN HER STOOLE..

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B.W.

answers from Memphis on

I know this sounds crazy, BUT drinking CHOCOLATE MILK regularly helped my daughter.

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J.B.

answers from Memphis on

I would reccommend having your daughter checked by a pediatric gastroenterologist. My 4 year old grandson has the same problem, first noticed when he was an infant. He is allergic to sugar, which causes extreme constpation and painful bowel movements. My daughter took him to the specialist on her own because the pediatrician wasn't concerned. We almost waited too long (his colon had a blockage so hard it was in danger of rupturing), so it is a problem defintely worth checking out.

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T.D.

answers from Knoxville on

First off look at her diet. Is she eating something that is backing her up?

Than make sure she has no pressure to go. Give her a book to take her mind off what she is doing and the pain.

OK Then see that she is getting plenty of water. Juice can help to.

Last idea I have is kARO DARK SYRUP. Give her like 1 tablesppon to every two oz. of water.

I hope something works.
Good luck, T.

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