If your toddler often gets constipated

do you do anything daily to help them out? DS has had issues on & off his whole life (he's 3) and he has been on a spoon of Benefiber every morning. Lately however his constipation has been HORRIBLE! Miralax worked well but is it OK to use that daily like the Benefiber? I'd rather prevent it as opposed to make him suffer when it does happen KWIM? It's awful and makes no sense. He doesn't eat very well but does eat lots of fiber and fruit. No clue why this happens to him. I'll call ped as well just looking for advice from BTDT moms. Thanks!

ETA he wants nothing to do with prunes/prune juice

Message edited 7/26/2011 1:46:35 PM.

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

I believe its all in the diet. If its something he's chronically dealing with, I'd examine diet.

Things to consider, my DH is GI, and I my whole life have chronically suffered, so he's help me look at what I eat before resorting to meds.

1. Water, plenty of it.
2. add Berries and Spinach (Leafy Greens)/String Beans to the diet every day
3. avoid bananas, apples, potato, and rice (BARD)
4. Yogurt or some kind of probiotic - live active cultures every day, any will help, but a variety of them work even better.

These things have fixed me.
And this is how I feed DS. When we don't, he's constipated.

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

we don't have a problem with constipation per se, b/c he has never gone more than one full day w/o pooping but we HAVE had problems with compacted poop. he'll have certain bowel movements where it's like the circumference of the earth is trying to push through his little bum. it's so painful to him and he even bleeds a bit after from the force and size.

he's a pretty good eater. the big culprit for US is milk/dairy. I have to limit how much milk he drinks. he was born with a lactose sensitivity and while it has for the most part corrected itselt, too much can give him trouble.

so, I limit his milk intake and he eats pears. at least 3-4 times a week he has a whole pear (they have a similar effect of prunes.) I also don't give him too many bananas (which cause constipation) and also some people report having problems with apples.

good luck. it's so hard to see them in such discomfort.

ETA: reading shana's post, my son also eats a ton of berries and leafy greens in a variety of forms. I also give him greek yogurt a few times a week but those days I limit his milk intake even more.

Message edited 7/26/2011 1:57:06 PM.

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

Thank you for the ideas. He does have yogurt everyday and loves berries. The only thing from your list that he never eats is leafy greens. He is a nightmare when it comes to veggies. He only will eat broccoli, sweet & regular potatoes and corn once in a while. I try sneaking it in, he won't touch it. Very frustrating!

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

Posted by Ophelia

he'll have certain bowel movements where it's like the circumference of the earth is trying to push through his little bum. it's so painful to him and he even bleeds a bit after from the force and size.

he's a pretty good eater. the big culprit for US is milk/dairy.

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

When DS gets constipated I keep him away from bananas, rice, apples, etc. Those are all binding. And I will bulk up on blueberries, strawberries, water. Blueberries always do the trick for DS!

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

my doctor told me this..

cut down on milk and two tablespoons of benefiber with juice or milk

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

My ped told me that Miralax is fine daily. I do it for DS daily and it has helped immensely.

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

Re: If your toddler often gets constipated

Pears always helps DS.