severe constipation in a 13 month old

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
my DD is having a lot of problems with constipation. we have been to the emergeny room twice now...(last week). does any one having any thing that works? i've tried more water, soy milk, laxatives, suppositories, more fruit, papaya, and veggies. ?????:confused: :( :confused:
 
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Yoshi

New member
We went through this at 14 months also with my DD. I think she was drinking too much milk. (she weaned from EBF at 13 months) Think "P" -Peaches, pears, plums, prune juice (although my DD didn't drink it). Pears are the best. They need to be extra ripe pears. Unripe fruit is binding. Yogurt is binding as well as bananas and cheese- even cottage cheese. Unfortunately, those were my kid's favorite foods! My daughter started holding it in afraid it would hurt after several HUGE ones so baby lax suppositories helped, but then she became afraid again. We got into a bad cycle for months. Finally, she was on prescription miralax from 22 months until 33 months as our last resort. With very young kids, they can easily get into a pattern of holding back a BM after only one painful event. Now my daughter eats pears all the time as well as very little milk, and she is VERY regular. Good luck, I hope you are having only a temporary setback!
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
thank you. it hurts her so much! poor kiddo! and it does seem to be cycle. like yours...her favorites are bananas, yogurt and cottage cheese! (she doesn't have teeth yet..and so those are nice finger foods too). I have stopped them...however, i wasn't sure about yogurt. so you had to do medication for a bit. hmm....

i actually have some really ripe pears in the house right now! i will give dried apricots a try as well. i want to do it naturally..and not have her depend on the suppositories or the laxative (w/mineral oil).

have you ever tried avacado?

i hope this is temporary too. even when i was nursing her..she had this problem!
 

mominabigtruck

New member
Caro syrup mixed with water works. Both of my ds have always have had problems with bms, it looks like deer poop even when they're not constipated. Potty training was a nightmare for my oldest, but since I've been giving him more juice, specifically watermelon, it seems to have gotten better. Of course, he's the age now where I don't normally see his poop, he goes on his own.
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
defining constipation....she only goes every 2 days or so...assited...with a suppository now... and she pushes....and pushes...and screams....it hurts so bad. it doesn't come out.

the emergency room trips were due to it coming half way out..(TMI I know!) and not being able to come out. the enemas....showed that there was tons in there that couldn't come out!

it's hard...and hurts...and doesn't seem to come out on it's own lately. :(

one pediatrician here told us to switch to soy milk, which we did for a week..and still going..but i haven't seen any change. today DD was pushing and only a little bit came (again I know this is TMI!) so i know she still needs to go. i'm concerned that this will affect her bowels. I gave her a lax. yesterday...a supository at night...and still not much. yesterday i filled her with prune juice, raisins...and fruit. :( maybe it just takes a while for her system to get regulated after some serious bouts of constipation? however, again, she has even had problems with this while she was still nursing.
 

Gypsy

Senior Community Member
Constipating foods: cooked carrots, squash, potatoes, bananas, cheese, white grains (white bread, white rice etc), applesauce, milk, any food fortified with iron, iron supplements.

Foods that help with constipation: peas, pears, peaches, prunes, apricots, plums, raw grated carrots, raw grated skin on apples, yogurt (the bacteria helps the digestive tract), old fashioned oatmeal, whole grains.

She should be drinking no more then 16oz of cows milk or soy milk a day, and she should be drinking at least another 10 ounces of water every day.

Sometimes kids with food allergies have constipation as a symptom, so keep that in mind.
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
Wow! i didn't know that about cooked carrots! this is getting difficult to feed her veggies.

ok, looks like we need to give one less time of milk...we give it to her three times a day. i was already considering that. and more water...if she would only drink it more...even when the sippy cup is there next to her (juice no problem! of course! it's nice and sweet!)

she's pushing again right now.....more later...thanks for all your advice!
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
i just realized something...the whites would also include pasta???? i love to give her elbow noodles (again..no teeth at 13 months..so i like foods that she can eat on her own) and spagetti. ok, still more diet changes.....

time to make my own wheat bread i suppose?

also, a friend of mine has given their child organic barley (or something like that) and puts it in their cereal i think. as anyone done/heard of that?

also, i was going to make good 'ol fashion oatmeal this morning...however, i didn't thinking about the milk i use to make it.....
 

menfusse

New member
If she likes yogurt, there is a new yogurt out that has extra of a specific probiotic to keep things regulated. Activia is the name. You might can try that! Other that that, everyone has named what foods and things help. I hope you get her straightened out soon.
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
i don't think we get that type of yogurt down here...but i will check..thanks.

i'm going to hijack my own thread! melissa, what type of diapers is Emily wearing? (we are thinking about going to cloth)
 

canadianmom2three

Active member
DD really suffered from constipation as a toddler, and we did make a lot of changes to her diet - including many of the above. She still has problems when we neglect her diet - ie not enough fruits and too much junk. I can't stress enough what a difference whole wheat everything, fruits and veggiews and lots of water will make, but I do know that it does take a while. What really worked as a short term fix, (as we too couldn't stand to watch her suffer, and were afraid that she would soon be afraid to try and go.) was something called PEG-lyte. It is actually what some adults are given before medical procedures, and is pretty heavy duty stuff. Obviously you give just a tiny dose for babies, but what I liked about it (and why my doc recommended) is that it is not absorbed into the body at all, is non-habit forming, and is very gentle (no cramps etc) It basically draws water from the body into the colon, to keep things soft and easy to pass. It is an over the counter product available at pharmacy. It is a powder that you mix with plenty of water, and is quite palatable when mixed with a stronger flavoured juice (Cranberry worked for us). I know that it is really preferable to find a natural approach, but for us, we were desperate, and this really made a huge difference, really quickly. Best of luck!
 

tchrgrrl

New member
My oldest had (and still occasionally suffers from) serious constipation from about a year to almost 4. We did a bunch of elimination diets - no dairy, no wheat, no wheat/barley. We used baby lax suppositories and fleet enemas on occasion, oat bran and other bulk laxatives and super gross mineral oil emulsions. I make super high fiber muffins with flax seed meal, oat bran, dried fruit, veggies, whole wheat. He ate no white rice or bananas. Even with all of that he still suffered and ended up with an Rx for Miralax which usually kept things going. Using the little potty has actually made thing so much better - I think the squatting has really helped him. It was an absolute nightmare for a long time.


Foods that made it worse:
white anything but especially rice
bananas

Foods that made it a little better (but never solved the issue):
prune juice (for a couple of years he had a prune juice & plain whole milk yogurt "smoothie" every morning - just prune juice and yogurt mixed together)
dried apricots
prunes
pears
peaches
whole grain everything - brown rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
You know, she may be allergic to dairy. It can be hidden in lots of sources, even if she's not eating cheese/cream/butter or drinking milk. Soy is also one of the top allergans.

Check the FoodLab group on Yahoo, they're food allergy experts. I seriously think you may be looking at an allergy, that kind of chronic contipation is not normal.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/foodlab/?yguid=260368361
we have been considering it being an allergy to dairy...which is why we moved to soy. however...i didn't know it could be hidden in things. i will check out that group on yahoo. thanks
 

menfusse

New member
i don't think we get that type of yogurt down here...but i will check..thanks.

i'm going to hijack my own thread! melissa, what type of diapers is Emily wearing? (we are thinking about going to cloth)
Didn't notice where you were! Not sure if you can get it either.

That is a kissaluvs size 1. So soft and comfy!
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
My oldest had (and still occasionally suffers from) serious constipation from about a year to almost 4. It was an absolute nightmare for a long time.


I understand the nightmare thing. it's horrible to see them suffer.

ok, those foods are still confirming. i will search here for whole wheat pasta. i want to try everything in the diet..first (naturally) and i am cutting out dairy (thinking it could perhaps be an allergy there). whole wheat i don't think can hurt (unless there is an allergy there too! but i don't think so. in fact, up until now i haven't given her anything whole wheat...but i know it lurks in other products as well.)

i feel the same way you did...trying diet (i still have some more things to try of course thanks to all of your suggestions) but it might be (if it's not an allergy) that this mineral oil just might be needed for a while. i'm ok with that...if she doesn't have to suffer any more.:(

i hesitated putting this situation on the board...but i am so thankful i did! thanks for everyone's help!

oh! if you want to share recipes with the oatbran muffins etc....they would be welcomed! :) i suppose that would be another thread?
 

flipper68

Senior Community Member
Just a suggestion on getting a little one (or even bigger) to drink more water:

Add just a bit of water to EVERY cup of juice. Gradually increase the % of water over a couple of days. They'll never notice the difference - as long as they don't see you do it initially. You can also make juice from concentrate with another can of water.

[I did this with my brother and dad to get them off of 'whole' milk when I was in high school. :D I poured some skim into the whole milk container. . .the trick was to balance out the skim to whole BUT still make the container move toward empty.]
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
Just a suggestion on getting a little one (or even bigger) to drink more water:

Add just a bit of water to EVERY cup of juice. Gradually increase the % of water over a couple of days. They'll never notice the difference - as long as they don't see you do it initially. You can also make juice from concentrate with another can of water.

[I did this with my brother and dad to get them off of 'whole' milk when I was in high school. :D I poured some skim into the whole milk container. . .the trick was to balance out the skim to whole BUT still make the container move toward empty.]
good trick! ok!
 

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