Constantly Constipated 10 Month Old

My daughter was the same way until we put her on daily probiotics. Whole Foods sells in cold case in vitamin section--esp. for infants/toddlers. My pediatrician reccomended. Daughter is three and we no longer have to use laxatives.

Hi C. V,

I recommend alkaline water and jadegreenzymes. I give that to my granddaughter and she has no problems. Before that she would not go for a couple of days or more at a time. That is not good as the toxins build up in the body.

If you would like more info let me know.

Have a great day.

N. Marie

Hi there,

Our little on is 2 1/3 years old and has had constipation issues since she was about your little one's age. She was breastfed, didn't have iron supplements, has enjoyed fruits and veggies as much as any other food, but has still been constipated. She isn't a big drinker of any fluids, even though I offer her fluids all the time. So, I can't give you suggestions to stop the constipation in the first place.

But I will say that it is SO important to give her Miralax or whatever your doctor suggests, to keep the stools soft. If you let it go, your little one can quickly get backed up, causing painful stools, and starting a vicious cycle that is very hard to break. I'm the kind of mom who doesn't want to give my little one any medication unless necessary (I don't take pain killers for headaches for myself), but we learned the hard way by not giving her the proper medication in the proper doses and then having her struggle with the constipation.

One pediatrician suggested regular enemas, which traumatized the poor thing. Miralax seems to be okay to take for long periods of time. Our daughter has been taking something different (we're living in Europe) for 9 months now. We've been gradually decreasing the dose, but when we tried to go off completely she had hard, painful poops again. I think the idea is to keep the stools consistently soft with the medication because if they are hard then they start to hold the stools, and they get even harder. It is also a hard habit to break, and can cause the bowels to get stretched out, worsening the problem.

The foods I've noticed that do help her are boiled sweet potatoes, beets, and carrots. The specialist suggested boiling all veggies so she would get the liquids that way. And he suggested AGAINST bran and whole wheat and other added fibers because they make the stools bulkier and harder to pass, more painful. He also suggested less meat and more fish, less sweets. The only food he suggested to avoid was bananas.

One other thing, the specialist also suggested that her problem was an allergy to dairy. The dairy causing her little anus to be irritated, causing her to not want to poop, causing the constipation. He thought this was the case because the fist part of the stool is usually hard, but the second part soft. Meaning, that she was holding it too long. If she'd get it out sooner, the body would not suck the fluids out, making it harder. In her case, the problem was not getting it through her system faster.

Okay, WAY too much information! But maybe you should see a specialist to see what might be causing the problem or what might help to fix it. It seems like a minor issue, but caused my daughter much pain and suffering and anxiety.

Good luck!!!

I had the same prob with my daughter until we took all dairy out of her diet and went to soy. She wasn't allergic, just sensitive and dairy is REALLY binding. We also had to start giving her more liquids during the day. You might want to try Kondrumel. It is mineral oil that is made to be more palatable.

The thing with miralax is that it is a softner and not a laxative , so no just giving a dose here and there will not help , you would need to at least give the same dose every other day. If nothing else works then I would go with that option rather than a suppositry , he is still young and not on a varied diet at the moment , when he is older and having a varied diet like you , he may get better in the BM department.

Hi C.,

So sorry to hear about your son's constipation. I recommend switching to an organic soy formula and getting plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. When he gets off of formula, switch to an organic soy milk and make green smoothies with spinach, kale, lettuce, etc. blended with fruit, soymilk or other non-dairy milk and/or juice (you can find lots of recipes on the internet). We make them almost every day. My son (almost 3 years old) just sucked down a spinach/blueberry/banana/soymilk smoothie this morning (with 5 full ounces of spinach in just 2 servings). No chance of constipation in this house - believe me!

That's great you've switched to whole grains. Dairy causes constipation. Do some research on the dangers of dairy. Check out:

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/faqs/faq009.asp

http://www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/building_bones.html

(these websites have lots of other good info on dairy, children and health)

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

I hope this helps. :)

I've had luck easing my little one's constipation (which started when she started solids). I offer her water in a sippy cup throughout the day (no more than 8oz total) and also keep in mind using moderation when feeding her bananas, apples or rice. A mnemonic I found for constipation-causing foods to use in moderation is BART Bananas, Apples, Rice and Toast. Peas and prunes also help get things moving. Good luck!

Updated

I've had luck easing my little one's constipation (which started when she started solids). I offer her water in a sippy cup throughout the day (no more than 8oz total) and also keep in mind using moderation when feeding her bananas, apples or rice. A mnemonic I found for constipation-causing foods to use in moderation is BART Bananas, Apples, Rice and Toast. Oats and Barley are good cereal alternatives. Avocados for quuck, creamy food and pears for a sweet stir in. Peas and prunes also help get things moving. Good luck!

If Miralax works, then why are you making him suffer without it? Just give him Miralax every day! It's not habit-forming and is gentle on his system. It doesn't "make" him go, it just makes the poop so it's not hard. Each of my kids was on Miralax daily for about 2 years, and they both go just fine on their own now. It's not worth putting your baby through hell just so you can avoid modern medecine! Seriously! If he's suffering and you know something helps, then use it.

Okay, this may sound unconventional to many who read this but here goes anyway. I would recommend trying a Chiropractor who uses the "Palmer Method" to adjust. Babies go through a lot being born and their little neck and spines can get very messed up. My now 11 year old (last of 8) has been going to the DC since she was 1 week old. When she was constipated (not often) and I had her adjusted, everything released from her bowels! She continues to see the DC about every 2 months or so for a "tune-up", or more if she gets injured from sports, or whatever. Out of our 8 children, she has been sick the least of all.

My 8 month old is in the same boat. It is so hard to watch her struggle to poop! I am still breastfeeding so that helps, but my kid hates all fruit- go figure. But peaches, applesauce/juice, prunes, and pears should help. Cut out the cheese, rice and bananas. I find DD is worse after eating those baby mum mum things. Try upping his fluid intake too. Good luck.

Dear C.,
Make sure your little boy is getting water to drink. Have you tried giving him prune juice that has been warmed up a bit? I had to use suppositories with my daughter when she went from breast milk to formula. My doctor said the more stuff I put in her, the more she backed up which caused more discomfort if she already had a little clog. That's what worked best for her and I only had to use them for that brief period while her digestive system got used to something different.
If Miralax works, then give it to him every day, then every other day, then try slowly decreasing the amounts to see how he does.
Lots of babies need help with this so doing what works is better than seeing them suffer. That's just my opinion. If babies associate BM's with pain, they will hold it which can cause problems down the line with potty training, etc.
Definitely try giving warm liquids. Warm baths. Don't save things that work only for times it's REALLY bad.

Best wishes.

There is a huge movement now adays for the food processers to put IRON in everything, formula, baby cereal, Polyvisol and other vitamins for infants.

Iron supplementation can cantribute to constipation and magnesium deficiency. If you try to reduce Iron, and supplement Magnesium, you should find relief.

There is a product called Babycalm (which I beleive is MG citrate)online. I haven't used it but it is specifically dosed for infants.

I use Magnesium citrate sucessfully with my family for constipation problems.

Mirilax is not a fix, it is a band aide, and a poor one at that. It is Ethylene Oxide, a carcinogenic. It is not recommended longer than 2 weeks because it is nephrotoxic.
It also blocks absorption of all nutrients through the entire intestinal tract.

Why don't you want to use Miralax? It's not a laxative, it's a bulking agent and very safe. Consistency is really important when treating any medical/physical condition. Some individuals just have a different GI system. Changing formula to a soy or non-milk based formula will not change his bowel pattern, miralax will.
Call your doctor and discuss your fears about regularly giving the miralax, maybe he/she can recommend another treatment.

Hi C.,
I have a 6.5 month old and just started solids. I was up last night with a screaming baby from gassy constipation. Of course avoiding binding foods can help. The advise that really spoke to me was Gail B. I know how my body reacts when I take iron. One thing no one mentioned was giving him warm baths. That seems to help relax the insides and allow more movement. Good luck, and thanks for posting. Your question has helped me too. :-)W.

I second the other Mom's opinion that probiotics would be really beneficial. They do sell a variety just for children/infants at Whole Foods.
Have you also considered a visit to the chiropractor? There might be some physical component that is contributing to the problem. I've had my daughter get a quick "check" from my chiropractor when I see him. It's quick and painless for children. There's no "cracking" because they're too young to have any scar tissue. It's also very fast. My chiropractor takes maybe 3-4 minutes with my daughter and then she's ship-shape.
Good luck!

HI C., I hope this will help I also have a 2 1/2 year old who has suffered since I stopped breast feeding. I give her liquid colace in her juice and cut back as many refined carbs as possible. White graped juice along with prune juice helps. My ped swore me off of any kind of laxative as they make the bowel even lazier. you best bet is lots of liquids like water juice and fruits and veggies.

When things really were bad I would use a suppository or I would add some karo syrup (or corn syrup) to her formula. It is now completely safe but does sweeten the formula quite a bit. I think I used to use like 1T and warm it in the microwave with the water so that it would dissolve in the formula.

HTH
T.

Try giving him mineral oil. It will soften the stool so it doesn't hurt to come out. If he continues to have pain/stuggle every time he has a BM, he will learn to "hold it" which will cause a lot more problems. Mineral oil is completely natural - no taste - no smell - can't hurt him no matter how much he has. It comes out in the same form it goes on but it will coat the waste in the bowel and make it come out easier.

My daughter, who is now 3 yrs old, suffered from the same problem. In fact, my husband and I have traveled to the Emergency Room TWICE due to severe constipation. Our MD suggested Miralax, at a specefic dose, for two weeks then slowly decreasing the dose and increasing her fluid intake drastically. The process worked great! We still battle with the problem, but it is much improved. Miralax seemed like the best option. And decreasing fiber intake. (we also do weekly prune juice) Hopefully, like our daughter, the constipation will improve as he ages.

We had the same problem with our daughters and still do if they eat dairy. We have found that they can eat small amounts of cheese but milk, ice cream and others will constipate. With our oldest it took us a long time to figure it out. We did Miralax, mineral oil,fruits, prunes, apple juice, suppositories, enemas, and manual extraction up until the age of 2. We finally took it upon ourselves to switch over to soy. As soon as we did she was fine. She is now 8 and doing fine unless she drinks milk at school or a friends house, and ends up constipated. Our other two daughters are the same but luckily we already knew to just switch over as soon as we saw the signs of constipation. I hope this helps, and good luck(it's not an easy road). If you would like to talk more feel free to email me. ____@____.com

Unfortunately this may be a problem for him until he is off of iron-enriched formula. Iron supplements are notorious for causing constipation. My son is a little bit older and suffers from constipation because he is having fears about potty training, so his dr. told us to go ahead and give him the miralax every day. We've been doing that for months and it works great and it has caused no problems for him. Also, if your son is still eating baby cereal, switch him to regular cereal (like old fashioned rolled oats), cooked with either water or milk and just put it in the blender for him. You can add fresh apples & raisins to the blender to up the fiber. That helped us a lot at that age. Good luck!

He will begin to realize that pooping is painful and he will begin the bad habit of holding it as to avoid the pain. This will make the situation much, much worse. You need to keep him regular so that he does not start the holding behavior. If you do not trust your pediatrician, ask for a second opinion or to see a pediatric GI specialist.

We have used Miralax, 1 tspn a day, with both our daughters as recommended by their peds GI specialist. Not the full does on the package. This small does is just enough to let their systems have soft stool on a regular basis. When they eat more cheese or other bulking foods, I increase the Miralax a little bit.

We have only used Magnesium Citrate twice, which was absolute extreme measures. Magnesium Citrate will start at the top of the intestines and dissolve everything through the entire tract. It is like giving your child an extreme case of diarrhea very quickly.

Apple juice, grape juice, prune juice, water will also help. Try to avoid bulking foods such bananas, applesauce, apples, cheese. You also may be giving him to much fiber or iron. Watch the amount of oatmeal or grains you are giving him.

Again, try reducing the dose of Miralax to find the minimum amount that will help him. As he gets older, you can begin pushing him to drink more and more water.