My 33 month old son is having very severe constipation and I was told that Benefiber could help him but I'm scared of using it cause I don't even like taking anything for pain myself. I have been givig him Miralax for three days along with the Pedialax stool softner fruit punch liquid now and he went this morning but he said it hurt him and when he goes to pee pee in the potty he holds his little bottom. I had to help him use it when he went this morning and i think he's traumatized from it hurting cause he still is constipated and doesn't want to go. What should I do?
My 3 year old daughter also has issues with constapation. I tried everything, stool softeners, benefiber, home remedies, etc. Finally, I found some fiber supplements at the local pharmacy that are Gummy Bears. I give her one a day and it has kept her so regular ever since. Good luck!!
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H.P.
answers from
Houston
on
I have fed my babies mashed carrots with molasses. It works.
(I, too, have a gluten allergy and have lived a constipated life--ugh! The carrots work for me, too! When I consume gluten products, I am quickly constipated.)
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M.O.
answers from
San Antonio
on
My son goes through the same thing. My pedi said that it really is hard to control with diet sometimes so she told us to give him 1/2 capfull of Miralax daily. He has been taking this for about a year and has been going great. Sometimes if we don't give it to him for a few days, he goes back to hard stools and even can bleed. She said he can be given this for as long as we need to.
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S.G.
answers from
Saginaw
on
when my oldest daughter was constipated the dr told me to give her some white karo syrup. it helped her, you could try that. i cant remember how much i was to give her, shes 6 now, but you could proly google it(or someome else might have suggested it already, i havnt read the other responces). try some prune juice and high fiber foods, kelloggs make this stuff called bran buds, its in the cereal aisle but i dont eat at as cereal. 1/3 cup has 15 g of fiber! It tastes good with fruit and yogurt or at night with some ice cream, it def keeps me regular!
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R.D.
answers from
Kansas City
on
LOTS of fiber!! Feed that boy 100% whole wheat bread, beans, lentils, broccoli, fruit and orange juice! You know how it is when you have too much orange juice - you can't GET to a toilet fast enough!!
I would lay off the other fiber products. There is enough in nature that are actually good for you - and work wonders!
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S.C.
answers from
Fort Wayne
on
You shouldn't need Miralax and Pedialax. They're essentially the same thing. Just stick with the Miralax. How much are you giving him? He should get about 1/2 a capfull a day (that's what my dd's ped rec'd for her and she's 3.5 years old). How much liquid does he drink? He need a LOT of WATER. Not milk, not juice, not kool aid..WATER. LOTS of fruits and vegetables, at least 5 servings a day. Stay away from dairy products for a few days too. Dairy can bind you up even more.
It sounds like he might be holding it because it hurt him when he went. The Miralax combined with the water, fruit and vegetables will make him go. Don't be surprised if it's a lot all at once, or even an all day event. If it's not better in a few days, you may need to give him a suppository. I've used the glycerin ones on both my girls. I think BabyLax is the brand name, but I'm not 100% sure on that. It might be wise to consult his pediatrician before giving him a suppository though.
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B.C.
answers from
Los Angeles
on
I agree, orange juice will do it! oatmeal helps too!
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A.S.
answers from
San Antonio
on
Hi, I wanted to relate my husbands experience. As a child he too would become constipated and because it was painful he would "hold it in" for as long as possible. This obviously made things worse and even more painful. He continues to have constipation issues, although he learned to not hold it in. However, we just recently found the probable cause for it is that he has a gluten allergy, also known as celiac sprue or celiacs disease. This may be something to look into. Good luck.
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R.K.
answers from
Dallas
on
Continue the Miralax daily. It does work but may take a few more days of consistant dosing. Have him sit on the potty for 10 minutes 3 times a day and read books not pressuring him to go but just to sit there for the opportunity. Lastly, decrease milk and increase water, fruits and veggies. I have a ton of experience in this area and these things will help.
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T.S.
answers from
Portland
on
We've been dealing with constipation with our oldest daughter since she was really little. It had gotten so bad over the past few months that she would sometimes only go once a week......for a few weeks in a row. It was always so painful for her once she did go, that I'm pretty sure that has traumatized her for good!! Our pediatrician first told us to giver her a 1/4 cap full of miralax if she hadn't gone in 2-3 days. But then even that stopped working after awhile. We just recently went back to the Dr. because we now notice her holding it in. So we now give her a 1/4 cap full of miralax every day, Dr wants us to do that every day until she starts having 2 soft bm's a day. We have been doing this for about 3 weeks now, and it's just now to the point that she is going everyday. She still tries to hold it in, but eventually I think she just has to go. This has made it extremely hard to potty train her because she is deathly afraid of going poop on the toilet.....so still trying to work on that! Good luck, I hope this helps you out~it sure is tough to see them go thru that!!
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K.R.
answers from
Houston
on
My son has always had severe constipation problems, even immediately after birth. We finally found a great product that an herbalist recommended, and it has worked wonders. It's very gentle on his tummy. No pain or other side effects. It's "Kid-E-Reg" by Dr. Christopher's. I'm attaching the link to a web site below. I usually just get it from our local health food store. We started him on 5 drops before each meal. It's not a bad taste. It has REALLY worked well for him, and no more strong medicines or horrible suppositories!
Also, he drinks apple juice and pear juice regularly. This helps constipation tremendously. And I always keep a few jars of baby food prunes. Just a few bites is all it takes! Hope this helps!
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N.S.
answers from
McAllen
on
If the stools are soft enough likely is fear to defecate. Sticking to miralax is reasonable, go to www.childrenshealthexperts.com it has very good explanation and answers
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M.B.
answers from
Houston
on
Benefiber isn't a pain med. It's fiber to help alleviate the constipation. If you don't want to use Benefiber, have you tried prune juice or karo syrup?
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K.L.
answers from
Chicago
on
my daughter was constapated from 2 weeks old till about 2 months ago (shes now 14months old) when she stated eating "big people food" for 6 months or so she was on miralax EVERY DAY and it did wonders! and if i missed one and shed be constapated again....so stick with the miralax, it should help with potty nmber 2's to come.... but the stool thats already there is going to be hard, i've never used stool softener so im not sure about that but lots of vegis and whole weat bread and oh yea fruit juice helped my daughter out alot, once she got off formula her drink were 75% juice, and thats when she become unconstapanted(wish i would have known that a year ago!!) oh, also try massaging his tummy (when u do this ull beable to feel if hes really blocked up) and maybe try playing bicycles...where he lays down on his back feet in the air and pedle like hes on a bike....itll help get things moving, and try some type of pain reliever for a sore bottom after hard stool......i really hope this helps it was very hard to watch my lil baby girl go thru all that constapation, i wouldnt wish it on any ones baby
hope things get better soon!
Momma Butterfly
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A.B.
answers from
Houston
on
My DD has suffered from constipation since she was an infant. She is 3 1/2. It got so bad that it was causing problems with her potty training. She was fully trained, but would hold her BM because it hurt. Our ped had us do a "clean out" with Milk of Mag for three days plus Miralax twice a day for one week. After that we do 1/4 of a cap full in her morning milk, EVERYDAY. We went from extremely large and painful BM's maybe once per week, to having a normal size, softer BM just about everyday. It did take a while for her to trust that it wasn't going to hurt to go the bathroom, but now we are doing very well. She will even tell you that she has to "take her 'milk medicine' so it doesn't hurt to poo poo."
Good Luck
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C.B.
answers from
Austin
on
Benefiber is not a pain med, but a fiber supplement that helps relieve constipation. If you don't want to give him that, make sure he has lots of fiber in his diet like whole grain breads and cereals, prunes (which do work), and lots of fresh green veggies. Drinking lots of water also helps. What did the pediatricians office have to say?
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K.K.
answers from
Austin
on
We went through this with my son about 3 months ago and my suggestion is to see your pediatrician as soon as possible. Your pedi will go over dietary suggestions and other possible interventions (such as benefiber, miralax, etc.) You do not want your son to become impacted or develop a fear of pooping, which will just make the constipation worse.
We have to give my son miralax everyday and we have him on a reward schedule to reinforce his going (or even trying) once per day. Every 5 poops in the potty earns a small reward that he's very proud of. We'll probably have to do this for a long time since he became so afraid of constipated poops.
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L.C.
answers from
Austin
on
I always just fed my daughter applesauce or canned pears. Hope this helps!
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J.B.
answers from
Denver
on
I would talk to your pediatrician. Give him some prune juice too- my doc said to give it to my 1 yo. She's a regular pooper now. His bum probably hurts from the constipation. Sometimes with constipation you will see hard "nugget" looking poops before the rest comes out. Also- warm baths help. One issue with benefiber (which isn't a pain reducer), is that if you give too much fiber it can actually worsen the constipation. And make sure he's drinking a lot of water. inadequate hydration worsens constipation too. Give him a couple ounces of prune juice in the mornings every day. If he won't drink "prune" juice, buy the stuff labeled "plum" juice. It's the same stuff- just more refined.
Good luck.
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D.A.
answers from
San Antonio
on
I recently took my son in for tummy pains. The doctor showed me the xray of his intestine and said that he was constipated. He advised me to give him a tablespoon of olive oil for four days. It seemed to have worked. They don't like you to give him any medicines if at all possible. If you have to have him soak it up with some bread, or mix it in with some scrambled eggs, or pasta. Good luck!
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P.M.
answers from
Portland
on
My grandson was helped past a painful resistance to pooping at about the same age with the help of a liquid glycerine suppository for children. The action is almost immediate, and irresistable. We used it maybe three times over a couple of weeks (along with having him eat more fruit and drink plenty of water), and everything normalized. After a few non-painful poops, he wasn't scared any more.
Benefiber isn't a pain reliever, it's simply another form of fiber (soluble) that may have some slight beneficial effect. It doesn't add any bulk to his poops, though, so I don't know whether it could be expected to help with constipation. Usually it's the insoluble form of fiber that eases constipation.
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L.B.
answers from
Corpus Christi
on
fruit is the best thing to use juice, fresh, frozen, give as snacks this is the natural was also add a small amount of oil to his foods you know yourself that if you eat something with oil in it you go more.
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K.D.
answers from
Houston
on
You can give him ground flax seed, mixed into his applesauce or cereal, or added to muffins and breads that you make yourself. The flax seeds are full of omega fatty acids, which we all need to be eating. My nephew was having the same sort of issues and his mother just added it to the top of his cereal in the morning and called it "Mamaw's special brown sugar". All you need it a few spoonfuls everyday.
K.
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J.W.
answers from
Houston
on
My daughter had the same problem and still does every once in a while it seems to happen when she gets out of her routine, such as if we travel. What works for us and is also great immunity builder is flax seeds. We use the flax oil and put a tablespoon in yogurt, cereal, etc... do that once or twice a day. It helps soften stool and keeps her regular.
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M.G.
answers from
San Antonio
on
Try some Activia yogurt. Its perfectly safe for little bellies and most kids love yogurt. Plus they have a 7 day money back garauntee.
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M.L.
answers from
Houston
on
My son was constipated for a while so we started making sure he eats yogurt daily and a good amount of fiber in his diet and that seems to help regulate his stomach. I will only give him medicine as a last resort so I try other remedies first. Benefiber is not really a medicine, its a dose of fiber in a powder or pill format. You can mix the fiber in his drink or food but it should be consumed pretty quickly because it will thicken the longer it sits mixed in with a drink.
Prunes will help and I keep a few containers of the baby food prunes handy in those times we need it to help. Make sure you include a good amount of fiber rich foods each day to keep him regular. I buy fiber rich cereals and granola bars for the family.
To make it easier right now, try giving him a glass of prune juice and or pureed prunes. They usually do the trick in a couple of hours for us.