Can anyone recommend any soft-bowel inducing food? My daughter always seems to have hard poo's and as of right now i know she is backed-up and we also had to give her Motrin bc she has a high fever and i know that also is only going to make things worse. My dr said i can add a shot of prune juice to her water or milk everyday but is there any food i can give her before i start the prune juice idea?
PS - the constipation is seperate from the fever. She's always backed up but never seems bothered by it., she always poos at least 1 a day but it's always very hard. She hates veggies, i mean HATES them but loves loves fruit. we stay far away from bananas bc they are so constipating.
i always use the "P" addage...anything that starts with the letter P is for poop :) Peas, peaches, pears, prunes, etc. Also, apples are ok if you leave the skins on...there's lots of fiber in apple skins that may help.
water. Daily. Must keep hydrated.
Unfiltered apple juice.
Pear juice.
Is the fever because of her constipation???? Or is she sick and that is a separate issue? If its a high-fever, you best take her to the Doctor.
Keep in mind... Motrin or Tylenol only REDUCES the fever... it does NOT get rid of the "illness" or the cause of the illness nor the cause of the fever. The fever may reduce... via Motrin or Tylenol, but it CAN return... or it can signal an infection.
Yes, prune juice will work. Main thing is that the constipation softens... or the harder it gets, the harder it gets for it to come out... or it WILL get more and more backed up... and you don't want her bowels to distend or encopresis.
Good luck,
Susan
Hello D.,
Have you tried giving her a good probiotic? This would definitely help, even if it doesn't eliminate the problem alltogether. Also, make sure she drinks lots of water, as well as fruit juice.
Good luck,
E. B
Can she eat grapes if you cut them up? Raisins?
Buy the prune baby food and mix it with half applesauce.
Also pear and white grape juice worked for my son.
The "p" fruits- pears, pineapples, peaches, etc. "P" fruits really help with constipation. My 17 month old will not eat any veggies (I feel your pain!) and only eats bananas and applesauce for fruits, so I still give her baby food fruit mixed in with yogurt for constipation and it definitely helps. Bananas, apples, and all dairy foods are constipating (and if your daughter is anything like mine, that is the mainstay of her diet! LOL!) Pear juice works too- I used to mix it in her cereal if she was having problems. Good luck!
We had this problem with our daughter around that age too - it was so sad to watch her struggle!!
The pediatrician told us not to give her apple juice for one thing b/c it can constipate - but to give white grape instead.
The pediatrician also recommended and i checked with our gastro as well as a friend who is a nurse practr at a gastroenterologists office and they all agree that it is safe to administer over the counter "miralax" and to give 1/2 of the adult dose. It works miracles for her. We still give it to her sparingly a few times a week.
Ofcourse check with your dr to see if its okay for your daughter - but it has as i stated - worked miracles in our daughter!!
Good Luck!!!
Hi D.,
My youngest daughter has the same issue on occassion. We give her canned manderine oranges and grapes. You say she doesn't like veggies, but try corn. If you can get all three of those in her in one day, you will have great success the next!
I know they aren't the most nutritionaly sound fruits and veggies, but when it comes to constipation, it works!
Hi, D.:
The Hyland Vit. C 5 mg tabs that melt in the mouth is helpful
in helping constipation.
You can find it at your local Health food store. or look on the web for it. Good luck. D.
Fruit, veggies and foods that are high in fiber, oatmeal is a good one. I would actually give her a little bit of Miralax in her drink, we are still doing this with my daughter and she is 4.
my daugter (just about 16 months) get easily constipated as well. foods that i "push" with her are fruits of all kinds (glad to hear your daughter likes fruit!) - apples (applesauce too!) pears, & cantelope. Not sure what teeth your daughter has at this time but my daughter only has 4 on top front and two on the bottom, so her chewing is a bit limited. But another thing I would recommend is dried apricots (if your daughter is able to chew these. my daughter would not because she doesn't have molers). Another thing i always keep on hand is Gerber's prunes. Gerber also makes a Prunes & Applesauce blend which is even better tasting according to my daughter! Yogurts are another great thing to help with constipation! We buy the Stoneyfield Baby Yogurt that uses Whole Milk.
I haven't done this in a while because I've been able to regulate my daughters constipation with the foods I've mentioned above, but my pediatrician recommended (before she was eating foods) is a tablespoon of maple syrup or karo syrup in a sippy cup with water. I did do this in the past and it always worked.
My 3 year old nephew has had some pretty bad constipation problems over the years and his pedi recommeded some over the counter meds (such as miralax) so if the foods aren't working for her, i'd suggest giving your pediatrician a call to see what he/she recommends. For this type of question, many pediatricians will talk to you over the phone so you don't have to make an appointment to go into the office. Best wishes!
I would try to give your daughter fruit with every meal. Try prunes in the baby jars, grapes, peaches, apricots and plums when they are in season. You could also try cutting up raisins. I see that you are in Dresher so I know you have trader joes nearby. They have these organic fruit bars that are a bit like a fruit roll-up that my son loves. The first time he had one I thought he was sick b/c he had a bowel movement that was very loose so maybe that will work. Also increase fluids if possible. Water always helps the digestive system getting moving as well as exercise. I wish you the best of luck!
Canned fruits always get my kids going. Peaches, pears, mandarine oranges. Apple juice is always a good try too. More water and fruit in her diet. Milk can be constipating so maybe substituting yogurt for a serving of milk might help too. Yogurt with live cultures is just good for their gut in general.
Beans too...my daughter started having an opinion about food around 18 months and pretty much rejected red meat. As we held off on nut butters until 3 (allergies in the family), that left beans. She LOVES chickpeas and white beans (cannellini) and will tolerate black beans or baked beans occasionally. Avoid bananas, and go for "stone" or "dark" fruits like plums (prunes) and raisins. We also have success with peaches, pears, and oatmeal (cheerios). If she's doing rice cereal or rice krispies a lot, back off of that as rice can bind. Same with apples (remember, if you're recovering from a stomach flu, they recommend "BRAT" - Bananas, rice, apples, toast).
Good luck!
Hi D.,
I feel your pain. My son will be 3 in April and he has had problems with constipation for as long as I can remember. If dietary changes don't work, I would seriously consider doing Miralax on a regular basis which I know a lot of Mom's rely on. If she is in obvious pain with this constipation, I would do a Fleet baby enema or suppository which has always worked great for my son just to get things flowing and passed.
