Three Year Old

hi! try giving her two tablespoons of olive oil in the morning, in the afternoon,and evening.This might help her out and also plenty of water. Good luck1

Before we go to high tech, how about a prune? You might want to wash it, flaten it and cut slivers to make it attractive to a picky eater.

Hi L.,

Anything with fiber - try apples, popcorn, and/or blueberries. Cut back on binding foods like cheese.

Those ideas always work for my daughter.

Good luck and hope she feels better,
L.

I give my 3 yr old pears or applesauce to alleviate this problem.

try pedia-lax, they come in chewable tablets, dissolvable strips and gummies. All in flavors children like. We used it for my two year old when she was constipated and it worked within an hour.

Prune juice or pureed prunes. Don't expect a result immediatly...you have to give it a day or two with any treatment, especially a natural one. Just keep giving her the prunes a few time a day. Three days is not particularly worrisome except for the fact that she is probably not feeling well. Do not give her bananas, chocolate, or anything that constipates her in the future.

My doctor says juice, juice juice when this happens. I give my son apple juice and it always works but he doesn't drink juice everyday only when he seems uncomfortable. Hope this helps.

Check with your doctor but I give my daughter a 1/2 cap of miralax at his direction and its tasteless and goes right in her milk and she doesn't even know its there. Hope that helps

I see you have a ton of responses so you probably dont need my input but I went through this with my son and it was so sad so I completely understand where you are.
My suggestion is not to give too much fiber related foods or fruits. Even though it tends to help move things along, it also gives them gas which makes it even more uncomfortable and painful.
my dr suggested a laxative which ( as another mom stated) tramatizing for my son!
I have never seem him in so much pain before. After that he refused to go to the bathroom and make the situation even worse.
my saving grace was Miralax. I read that you have tried it, but wondering if you used enough. It does not upset their tummies, or give them diareah. Just gets things going much easier and painfree.
Nothing like a suppository or benefiber. The last thing I wanted was my son to be in more pain.
So miralax was GREAT!!
I swear by it.
lots of luck. Keep us updated.
happy holidays!

Forgot to mention...my son held it for 12 days!! Those 12 days were terrible!!!
oh... And water....water....water!!!!

Prune juice can be yucky. But apricot juice or apple juice are pretty good. And apricots can have the same effect. Stay away from BRAT (Banana's, Rice, Applesauce, Toast).

Heated and cooled-off (warm) prune juice to the rescue. Immediately afterwards watch the loosey goosies.

Give her pear jice or pear nectar. Don't dilute it with water as more works better. That may help get things moving. My 2 year old is scared of prune juice because he says it looks dirty.
And always have a glass or sippy of water handy.
Good luck!

Hi L.,

You can give your child a suppository(there are children's suppositories at the drugstore). I do know that a lot of different foods/drinks such as prune juice (I think you can buy mixed prune juice with another type of juice, so it doesn't taste too bad) can also assist in relieving constipation.

Pear Juice works wonders!

Lots of liquids (water or fruit juice), some softening fruit (prunes, berries, melons, etc), probiotics/fermented vegetables to get her insides moving.

Warm baths with epsom salts will help her muscles relax--even just the warm bath will help some, but the epsom salts will start things moving along. A gentle tummy massage after the bath can also help.

If she eats a lot of dairy, bananas, rice and other binding foods, cut them out until the constipation clears up.

Juice works well, but warm it up first. When we had this issue with my son, our nurse said hot liquids help stimulate the colon. She also suggested a warm bath with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda. I haven't tried that yet, as the hot juice works right away. Also, a little bit of light corn syrup (like 1/2 a teaspoon) added to the juice will help.

Forry your little girl is hurting! Fruit juice will help alot and also make sure she is drinking a ton or water too. If she is dehydrated she will be constipated. Keep her alway from foods that constipate her more like cheese.And processed foods (stay away from those as much as possible) When she is trying to go have her hug something to her tummy. It helps push but also comfort and relax. Also if she is going and it is hard and hurts her... my daughter gets that way from time to time... it helps her if I rub her back while she is going straight down like I am helping her push from the outside. It may be all in her head but seems to work for her. Also have her change the way she is trying to go... instead of sitting on the toilet have her stand on the side and help her to squate (like going over a hole in the ground). Make sure she is getting natural fibers (like from vegetables) also this will help! I always try natural first but if this doesn't work... call your doctor before giving any kids a laxative or suppository. Hope this helps :)

Hi - sorry for the late response, but my son has been there many times. This is the recommendation from the GI doctor I worked with, and it works: once you see straining, don't wait for her to "strain it out," so to speak. Immediately place a suppository (so much easier than enemas) like Dulcolax and, 1 hour later (even if your daughter has already pooped) a second suppository. Coating the suppository in lubricant will really help to get it in with little discomfort.

Then, work on increasing fiber in the diet as much as possible. My GI doctor recommended wheat germ and high fiber cereals (like steel cut oats). Also on a previous post there were many recommendations - from that post I have been trying coconut milk (a brand made my lakewood is great, it is enhanced with fiber) and my son loves it.

This happened to me too and my 3 yr old son and I were up the WHOLE night with him crying because he had a stomach ache. He was constipated and the fact that it hurt when he tried going made him more determined NOT to have a bowel movement which only made things worst!!!
Your first question..You can find suppositories for Toddlers at the pharmacy, but I have to say, that only traumatized my son more. (I was desperate and tried everything!)
Advice...I ended up calling my Pediatrician and she gave us a Prescription laxative. It's a powder and I put it in his juice before going to bed. It has absolutely NO TASTE WHATSOEVER...he doesn't even know he's drinking it because it dissolves completely in his juice! It was our lifesaver, he went easily and painlessly after that. I hope your daughter gets better.
T. C.

I would try buying a Fleet enema and giving her a little. Look it up online for more information if you are not familiar with it. I hope she gets better!!!

L. I have been through this so many times, you can give an enema fleet actually makes ped's enema's. Also try Prune juice with some sugar or whole prunes in prune juice. Little Tummies has a line of liquid products that you can use. All of the above were suggestions given to me by my daughter's gastroenterologist my poor baby suffers from constipation. I also use half a cap of Miralax, I put it in her milk or apple juice and it works relatively quickly. Good luck

apples with skin, strawberrie, blueberries, all berries, also you can try a glycerine stick

Of course things have changed since my L. who's 46 years old had these issues but back then you'd insert the thermometer for a min or two and that would encourage the baby to push and have a movement, hope this helps. There's also prunes and prune juice if she likes the taste of it.

Try grapes, raisins, prunes, prune juice, apple juice, applesauce - my older daughter used to have major problems so i wouldn't recommend any type of anything w/out first speaking w/the ped or the pharmacist. One natural thing my daughter's ped gastro recommended was mineral oil - it tasted nastier then anything, but it certainly worked. Good luck!

I'm sure you've tried the old stand-bys: raisins, prune juice (prunes). I've found those stand-bys work well along with something warm to drink (cup of warm water or tea, hot cocoa). Also try a slices of fresh papaya -- that may help.
Suppositories -- call your physician or ask the pharmacist.

Also cut out the rice, bananas, rice -- binding foods.

Good luck

My 3.5 yo son has been getting constipated on and off since he was about 1 yo. First, to relieve the problem immediately, I would go for a Dulcolax suppository - cut it in half. It works very quickly (within 15 minutes) and is "relatively" easy to get in. (probably you should check with your pediatrician about this). We did the liquid glycerin suppositories, but they just seemed to create more problems than were worth it.
Day-to-day, we put Benefiber (clear, tasteless) in his morning OJ. Start with half a teaspooon and make sure that she gets LOTS of water throughout the day. If half a teaspoon isn't enough, try more but don't go overboard. Too much seems to lead to a gassy tummy. The idea is to give you kid enough to keep the plumbing churning along. My son wouldn't touch prune juice if it were the last liquid on the planet. Good luck.

My son, who's 27 months, gets constipated a lot, and our solution works fairly well and in decent time: apple juice, apple sauce, and foods/drinks like that. We've also given him pears or pear juice, and prune juice. Just make sure not to overdo it - give your child too much and not only will your child go, but it will also possibly be a bigger mess than you can imagine (!) My husband made this mistake once when he was constipated for like 3 days. We wanted him to be able to go, and he was in so much pain, so we gave him apple juice, prune juice, apple sauce...(he must've had at least 2 10 oz cups of juice...and I may have given him some breastmilk - I nurse my 6 month old and breastmilk also works as a sort of laxative - like I said, we overdid it)He went down for a nap then ended up exploding all over the place basically...I'll spare you the details. Anyway once u get the food/drink in her system she should be able to go within a few hours. The longer she's been constipated, the messier the diaper just might be. Or potty in your case.Anyway, good luck!

Moist prunes (could be stewed) and licorice sticks.

If she is that uncomfortable, definitely a suppository
or even a pediatric Fleet enema. Then work on her diet
making sure she gets vegies and fruits. I know easier
said then done.

Hi;

I would be looking at her diet, and increasing her fiber content. That being said, I can recommend a supplement that has magnesium in it. You can email me for details.

A.

Of course u can give her a glycerin suppository. It will loosen whatever's inside. Also a powder u can put into any drink (flavorless powder) called miralax found in any drugstore will make her poop. Its a laxative for kids. But u must get the right dosage, don't give too much or she'll get diarrhrea. Ask a doc or pharmacists based on her weight.

And of course prunes, plums...other foods will help her go. No apples, bananas or toast.

When she does need to go, tell her its normal, happensdto evryone, hold her bc it will be big and may hurt after being contained for 3 days. Poor girl. Just bring in a book, relax her and she will be in great spirits when its over!!!