Chronic constipation - has gotten very bad

My one DS has always had a tendency toward constipation, but it seems of late, it's gotten much worse. For ex., he's been trying to go all day (pushing, grunting, red face) and finally managed to about 10 minutes ago. Well, he cried as he was going and it was seriously like a big rock. This has happened a few times this week. I am desperate to help him.

I have taken him off almost all cheese (he has been having some bites of cottage cheese) and I've been pushing blueberries, pears, prunes... and they don't seem to be helping. If I was giving the same amount to my other DS, he'd have blown up by now!

Our pedi has told me to push liquids, but the problem is that my DS thinks it's fun to drink from his sippy of water and spit it everywhere, so he isn't swallowing much.

I was just talking with my MIL and we're wondering if our switch to organic whole milk is making this worse. I was assuming milk (rather than formula) might make the situation better, but it's only getting worse.

Any ideas? Any tips to help soften his stool? It's heartbreaking to watch him try to go.

Lastly, do you think this could be something more? Is his system not breaking down things correctly? Should I ask to see a specialist (I'm about to call the pedi again)?

Thank you in advance.

 

I have no advice but wanted to let you know my one DD is like this too. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. I do the liquids and fruit thing too and it makes no difference. I'm quite curious to see other responses.

 

Nate has this tendency as well (he's a HUGE carnivore, which doesn't help). Our ped told us to be pretty aggressive in treating this so it wouldn't become a behavioral problem. He encouraged us to up the whole grains (no white bread, etc.), use Benefiber to increase his fiber intake, and use something like Miralax to get things going. Miralax honestly seemed to make it worse; instead of passing 5 hard "rabbit pellets" a day, he was passing more like 15!

Lots of water helps. We also use diluted PlumSmart, which is good for "regularity". We put Benefiber in milk sippies, water/juice sippies, and I sometimes even cook with it! I also try to give him flax seed oil in his milk; it tastes nasty so I have to disguise it, but it helps with the "dry" poops and lubes him up a bit.

I have noticed that the more yogurt he eats, the softer his stools are. You might give that a try! :good:

Hope these ideas help!

 

We actually have had this problem w/ BOTH boys since birth. It's pretty bad and it's all day/every day.

I do Miralax in cups twice per day and it's still BAD! We actually had to go to doc today cuz he has soo much poop built up that is' affecting his bladder! UGH.

ANyway, prune juice (doc said today) and Miralax every day. It's not a one time thing w/ the Miralax tho, it has to be done every day. GL! Nic's abdomen gets soo bloated I can't zip his pants!

 

I would also recommend glycerin suppositories on days when he's pushing but getting no results. Glycerin is technically a food, not a medicine, so causes no harm at all. Of course, you have to insert them, which is not exactly a joyful experience. But it sure beats another trip to the doctor and a day of agony for your kid.

 

Our DD has this problem and in doing a lot of research and speaking to our ped (who just came back from a big conference where they talked about ped. constipation) I am convinced that the diet factor doesn't help all that much. We tried the water, prunes, pears and everything else under the sun. The thing that works for us is a laxative. I don't know if they have this in the states but in Canada we do. It's called Peg 3350 and it's a clear, tastless powder that we add to her water. She has no problem with it and it keeps her regular. It is the only thing that works. It was getting so bad that she was crying to have a poop and was holding it in b/c it was too painful to go. This only made things worse b/c it would get harder and bigger. My ped said that whole milk we are drinking doesn't help this problem and for some kids it makes it worse.

Anyhow, apparently there is no side effect from it and some kids are on it for years. There is a hereditary component to it apparently and my DH had some issues as well :headbang:

Good luck and I hope you're little one gets this under control, I know how frustrating it can be

 

Yep, polyethylene glycol (PEG) is the active ingredient in Miralax! My nephew has been on double the adult dose since he was about 1 year old (he's now almost 5) because of severe chronic constipation. It's the only thing that helps him.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. I also spoke with the nurse at our ped's office. I went out and bought flax seed meal, oat bran, and Miralax. The nurse said to give him flax seed or oat bran w/ every meal. I gave him some w/ dinner. I'll give oat bran in the morning. I'm wondering, though, how much I need to give for it to have an effect. I suppose I'll find out.

I didn't want to start the Miralax w/ the bedtime bottle, so will give it in the morning.
Smiley-- I looked at the Miralax label and like Nate and Jack's Mom said, it is the same ingredient you are suggesting.
****My question is how much Miralax do I give him?****

I'll also keep pushing fruit (pears, prunes....).

I will hold off on the suppositories for now, but will give them if we get no results from these other things.

Thanks a lot, ladies!

 

We do Benefiber here in their drinks and flax meal whenever we can. We also push water and fruits/veggies as much as we can. I hope things improve quickly!

 

Two of my boys have this issue. We have done Miralax and it worked, but someone suggested to me Senna(a herb) It worked great. You can get it at some phamacies or you can find it online. We put 1/4 teaspoon in the morning drink and that was it. It worked wonders!!

 

One of my boys has had constipation problems since he came home from the NICU. He spent 8 weeks in the NICU and one week after coming home, we had to take him back to the ER because the poor baby was miserable from not pooping for over 7 days He still has problems to this day, and I have tried everything in the book: laxatives, prunes, prune juice, karo syrup, extra fruits in his diet, dairy free diet, you name it. The only thing that works for us after lots of research is Miralax. I initially hated the idea of having to give something like Miralax to him on a regular basis, but after talking with both my pediatrician and pediatric gastroeenterologist, they assured me that it was perfectly fine to use on a regular basis for the kind of constipation problems we have had for the past 2 years.

Putting the Miralax in the evening bottle has been my routine for a while. By mid-afternoon the next day, he usually is able to do his business without all the straining, red face and grunts that normally accompany his poops. When I first started the Miralax, I put one teaspoon in his morning drink and one teaspoon in his evening bottle for about 3 days, then I only did the nighttime dose. Then after a week or so, I ended up being able to scale back to one teaspoon in the evening every other day or so.

Good luck!

 

We have struggled with constipation too...not fun! We found that prune juice was helpful (2 ounces in a bottle or sippie) and the nutritionist recommended probiotics (1/2 teaspoon twice a day). Somehow it has gotten better...so we continued the probiotics! Hope something works!

 

The kids I babysit all struggle w this. Milk actually makes it worse as does anything w high amounts of sugar. They get flax seed in lots of their meals to help, but a lot of times like pp have said it takes a laxative or some sort of mineral oil to help them!

 

Well, things are definitely better, but now it's going to be a matter of figuring out exactly what's helping and how much.
I've been giving flax seed meal 2x/day since Thursday night (except for last night he refused the food I put it in). I gave him 1 tsp of Miralax 3 days in a row, skipped yesterday, and gave it today. I'll give it every other day one or two more times and then stop. I am hoping by increasing the fiber in his diet, I won't have to give Miralax except for every now and then. I REALLY do not want him to be on it indefinitely.
I was a little discouraged earlier when he seemed to be struggling to go again. I am hoping some of these other things are helping and it's not only the Miralax helping.
I have been giving him (well, them) MultiBran Chex cereal at every meal-- to munch on while I get other food ready-- which has 24% daily value of fiber in it and I've increased wheat toast. I'm trying to eliminate things like Gerber lil crunchies which they love, but have little nutritional value.
I'm also going to look through this thread again for other "natural" ideas.
Thanks again.

 

mcmnyc-- I see probiotics in certain foods, but is it also something you can buy on its own?
I just noticed you have TTTS survivors born at 27w5d. My TTTS survivors were born at 26w5d and are doing great (well, except for the constipation )

I'll look into Senna and will probably get some Benefiber to have on hand, too.

 

We were just dealing with this because one of my boys had surgery. So he was really backed up due to anesthesia, fear of going, and pain meds. We were giving him Miralax here and there. But I really think the trick was PlumSelect juice. He's been going wonderfully! When I called the pedi, that's actually what they suggested. And luckily-he drank it!

 

I'll add this to our repertoire! My DS thinks his sippy is for fun, so spits most of whatever is in it all over the place. I'd have to give it in a bottle. How much do you give him? Thanks.

 

Oh- he was getting it all.day.long. LOL! He got a ton! Sometime I mixed it with water, other times I did not. He also got his meds in here, so it served two purposes. LOL! You could start off in small amounts-because he REALLY goes-and it's mighty lose. We were filling his sippy cup at least twice/day. At least.