Advice for toddler constipation?

It seems like at least once a week we deal with a major round of constipation with one or both boys. We try to feed them a balanced diet (though I'm sure we could do better), but they still have issues. They love strawberries, mandarin oranges, applesauce and raisins. And we've practically cut out bananas altogether, and they've never really drank all that much milk, and only eat moderate amounts of cheese (ex. mac and cheese, the occasional grilled cheese sandwich, etc). When one of our boys starts having pellets in his diapers we usually give him some dried prunes and some apple juice. Yesterday I could tell B was having problems so for dinner he had navy beans which are full of fiber, and then for evening snack he had a few prunes and applesauce and a little bit of apple juice. Then this morning he ate several strawberries before going to daycare. But he never pooped all day and then this evening he stood in the hallway bracing himself against the wall grunting for 45 minutes. At that point we decided it was time to give him a PediaLax enema, which he hates (and I don't blame him). However, they usually work, but often times we have to adminster 2 of them (if the first isn't successful after 20-30 min) and then he spends 30-60 minutes wimpering and crying due to the cramping It's awful and breaks our hearts! So after tonight's 1.5 hour ordeal I ordered some of these Pedia-Lax Chewables. I know they won't work as fast as the PediaLax enemas, and the box claims they work in 30 min to 6 hours. I was just wondering if anybody here has experience giving such laxative chewables to their toddlers, and how effective they are? The third reviewer is a mom of twin 3 year olds and she makes it sounds like she gives them one daily to keep them regular. Would that be too much, or given how bad our boys "get backed up" and even fruits and juices don't help then, maybe ours will need one a day too?

I'm also open to any other suggestions on how to deal with chronic constipation in toddlers. Thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

When Anthony had surgery for his hypospadias, we had to retrain him. He had a very hard time having a bowel movement. He was so scared. The nurses at the surgeon's office told us to use Plum Smart juice. Maybe try a little bit of that maybe once a day?

 

When we were having trouble with one of the girls, after trying all the dietary fixes (like you are, with minimal results), our pedi recommended Miralax. That worked really, really well. I did however initially stop doing that with her too soon, after a month or 2 of dosing, she seemed like she was all set, so we stopped and ended up right back where we started. Restarted on the MIralax, was told to keep her on it for 6 months, stopped after that and she hasn't had any trouble since. They did actually recommend that we not use the suppository laxatives unless as a last resort, because the bowels can become to used to them and have difficulty functioning without it. GL, hope you get everything worked out

 

Miralax & the Plum Smart juice work around here. I hope he feels better soon. :hug:

 

Have your boys been test for food allergy? Sometimes, the food allergy test can changed within the last one, due to reaction and etc. So, I hope your little guy feels better soon! *Side note, a friend of mine had to take her son to the ER, turns out he had an appendix I never knew kids can get those too at this age.

 

Miralax works wonders without the cramping pains. With jazz (never any poop problems much with Jess) we realized she waits too long to go poop. We hsve to make her sit and try once a day at this age plus miralax helped get her back on track. She still has problems occasionally

 

We dealt with this with A. After doing a round of Miralax to get her going normally, we added ground flax seed meal to her diet. We put one teaspoon in her morning fruit and yogurt smoothie. This has kept her "on track" for months now.

 

One thing you may want to remove from their diet if they have constipation is applesauce. It is part of the BRAT diet (banana, rice, applesauce & toast) and if given to kids when they have diarrhea.

My one DS for most of his life will have a BM every 3-5 days and it drives me :gah: They will be 4 in January and I am still having issues with him pooping on the potty.

To keep him regular, I have given him these and had a big success with them. I had to play around with the dosage because 3 was just too much for him. I bought mine from Target for about $6.

I've also tried these and they also work well. You only need to give them 2 at night will a full glass of water.

I did try the Pedi-Lax chewables and they did work, but it took more like a day before I seen results. That is why I decided to go with a fiber product that I could give to him daily to keep him regular.

 

Here's a great thread on chronic constipation.

 

Thanks for all of the great suggestions! I had forgotten about Miralax, but do recall reading about it here several times over the past couple of years and I remember almost buying some several months back when we were dealing bad constipation. I swear both boys have dealt with constipation off and on since they came home from the NICU. There are lots of miralax products on Amazon though, from liquids to powders to pills. Which one should I buy?? I've also never heard of Plum Start juice, but I'll look for it at my local Krogers. Hopefully it is with all of the other juices. Thanks again!

 

We just get the powder. Actually we keep a jar of the powder around. It just mixes in whatever they're drinking.

 

I suggest the powder as well. You can put it in whatever they are drinking and they have no idea. My 2 year old has been having some constipation. Miralax works really well, in fact too well at times. I have had to half the dose for him when I do give it because he will get diarrhea.

 

When my kids were dealing with this, we started giving them two of the bite size prunes at dinner every night. Worked great for us and they thought they called them "prune candy." Good luck, I hope you find a solution.

 

I was gonna say was KJS said. One of my girls has struggled with constipation since birth. We give her prunes (dried plums, they're allowed to be called these days) every single day, not just when she's having a problem. It keeps her pretty regular, and she thinks they're candy.

 

Instead of miralax my dd suggested stirring benefiber into their juice. I used it with my older dd from the time she was a year old and on milk, until she was about 3.5. Several times a day she needed it to keep her regular. The twins had some issues (my ds more than my dd), and I went back to the benefiber several times a day. Tasteless, stirs into juice or milk or yogurt or whatever...and it kept him regular. I stopped his shortly before he turned 2 and he's been fine every since. I keep the glycerin supps on hand just in case. Occassional use is fine

 

We have had issues for 2 years with one of my twins. Their Ped said do not give them extra fiber (as in high fiber foods, benefiber that type thing) if they are backed up bc it just makes for more bulk which makes it worse. She recs Miralax which works OK for us but still gives her tummy pain. What works the best is prunes and LOTS of water. I keep her water bottle in our wine fridge and she drinks it all day (water, not wine, ha ha). I try to get her to eat a few prunes a day. Also, she still poops in her pull-up. If she needs to go, she marches her little self up to her room and puts one on and poos in it. As much as it drives me mad, my hubs had a chitty chat with her about that she needed to be a big girl and poo on the potty ... well, she held it for 3 days after that. I just let her do what she is comfortable with and know that in due time, she will poo on the potty ... one of my friends said maybe I should give her coffee every morning ... ha ha ... totally kidding but it was funny when she said it. I also agree with pp not to do the glycerin suppositories unless it has been several days ... 3 or 4 ... they can become dependant on them. Good luck ... it breaks my heart so see her struggle too (it will also take her 45-60 minutes to get the poo out) ... and her little bottom bleeds sometimes and you know it has to hurt her. Breaks my heart.