Son Is Always Constipated

When my son was 2 we had this problem. My Dr recommended peaches in light syrup, or, a tablespoon of white Karo syrup mixed in with some juice. If it continues, I would see a Dr., though. OH, we also minimized the dairy and that helped.

Good luck!

Hello, my name is G.. I am a grandmother of 6. One of my grandsons have the same problem, he doctor recommended to his mother to gove him childrens miralax everyday for a week and then gradually wean him off of it. It worked for him. Just a suggestion. Hope things work out for you.

In addition to the other good suggestions, I would avoid or limit bananas and applesauce and start adding a teaspoon or so of ground flaxseed meal, available at most grocery stores. The fiber and healthy oil in the flaxseed meal (high in omega 3s- so it would be good for all of us to eat!) works wonders to prevent and treat constipation. I put it in oatmeal, cold cereal, yogurt and applesauce when we eat it. Good luck!

Hi Stephanie! Whenever my daughter gets constipated I always give her a little more water than usual. Usually that is the main cause of her constipation. Also fruits, veggies, oats grains etc are great sources of fiber! Hope this helps a little! Good luck!

my daughter had a tough time with bowel movements from the time she started solid foods...crying, even as a toddler, tears running down her face. I finally tried magnesium...figured out the dose for her weight (used a pill cutter) and I crush the pill and put it in her juice in the morning. Worked great. Check with your doc and see if that would be ok...magnesium is something we need in our diet anyway.

You got a lot of good diet ideas - getting rid of dairy and more apple juice worked for me. Make sure you visit his doctor - a friends child was just diagnosed with an impacted bowel and colon. Good luck.

My daughter goes through stages of constipation as well, and prune juice works the magic for her. I usually give her about 2 ounces with lunch (diluted with a little water and some apple juice to help with the taste), and then the same after her nap if she still hasn't gone.

I also avoid much cheese (which she really likes). When she does get cheese, we limit it to half of a cheese stick or half of a slice. With her, bananas and applesauce help her go - bananas give her a little gas but it softens her poo quite a bit. Again, we just giver her half a banana at a time or her poo gets pretty soft.

I've heard similar things about laxatives and softeners - that the body can become dependent on them if used too much. I've never heard this from a doctor, though. Wish you the best!

When my boys were constipated I would give them canned mandarin oranges. Worked like a charm.

Hi Stephanie,

Does your son love bananas? My son LOVES them. I've found that if he eats 2 or 3 of them throughout a day he will get constipated. I limit him to one now. Good luck!

Hi S., I have an 8 year old that gets constipated all the time. We have to give her fiber suplements on top of her eating lots of fiber - if it says it has fiber on the box I buy it. Our doctor told us that giving her extra fiber was fine since it didn't stimulate or make her have to go to the bathroom like some drugs did. But he did not want us giving her anything that would make her go. He said that she is simply someone who needs a lot of fiber. We use Benifiber and just mix that into her water or some of her food. She uses 3 teaspoons per day (I cut back on it if we are having something that is really high in fiber - like she ate a fiber bar as a snack so I didn't give her any fiber with her dinner). I'd start adding more fiber rich foods, everything has fiber in it these days so it's easy. And make sure he's getting lots of water. Or Doctor said to make sure our girl got lots of water. And talk to your doctor about giving him a fiber supliment. Good luck and God Bless!!

My son, who is now 6, had problems with chronic constipation from the time he started eating solid foods. We tried it all - whole grains, more fiber, dried fruit, prune juice, karo syrup, benefiber/citrucell/metamucil, miralax. The only thing that took away the actual consitipation was the miralax but even then my son had a great deal of pain. After years of frustration and a couple different doctors we found out he has celiac disease. Eating gluten (wheat, rye, barley, and usually oats) was making him constipated. Now, as long as he doesn't eat ANY gluten, he's not constipated. But two Cheerios will have him constipated for two weeks.

I hope that's not your son's problem but I wanted to share my experience so you could do your own research.

Our doctor recommended Miralax to keep the stool soft and easier to pass. We give 1/2 to 1 capful to my daughter when she eats food that cause constipation (mainly bananas). Just mix in any drink and it can't be seen or tasted. When it gets really bad we've had to give her mineral oil.

He could get dependent on the glycerin to help him "go". He needs to get his body into a routine, that will become habit for him. Try having him sit on the potty and "try" at approximately the same time every day.
Provide more veggies and whole grains in his diet, and make sure he is getting plenty of clear liquids all day. You can even get some Benefiber powder to sprinkle on his food. It is a very fine powder (not grainy) and has no taste, so you don't even know it is there. We did that with my grand daughter until she could get regulated. She is a picky eater, but never knew the powder was in her food. It really helped.

All these are great suggestions. I might add that when you notice the start of constipation, cut back on dairy products. My daughters get constipated when they eat too much cheese or drink more milk than they need.

My son has the same problem and he is 2. I have been putting Miralax in his drink at dinner and it helps soften him up so he is able to poop. I know it is expencive but it is all that I have found that will work. Hope this helps and if you find something else that works send it my way. thanks

The glycerin sticks are fine every now and then, but you don't want to use them all the time. Think of people with eating disorders that use things like that to make themselves poop to get it out. After constant use and being in recovery from anerexia, they have to use them just to go. Don't get your son dependant on the glycerin sticks. Try natural relief agents like prune juice, worked great with my kiddos, or applejuice or apples. Add more water in his diet too, that really helps. Cut down on milk products during the day, that will cause constipation, I'm speaking from experience. Hope some of this is helpful. Good luck and God Bless.

My kids enjoyed oatmeal or cream of wheat with apple sauce. Honeynut Cheerios or any kind of Cheerios. Honey wheat bread. Bananas, apples and yogurt. Start his day with something high fiber should help.

One Metamucil wafer a day did the trick for my son. Before that, he had horrible constipation problems. He would eat fruit and veggies, but the problem was that he didn't have enough insoluble fiber.
The wafers have been a life saver. They taste good, too!
Good luck.
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The first piece of advice I will offer is to avoid giving any stool softner products (like Miralax). Use of these products help people poop by loosening the bowels. Soon you will either become dependent on it to poo, or your bowels will loosen and never tighten back. Then you will have a new problem - never being able to hold it, even as an adult!! Be careful.

The BEST thing to do is give any foods with natural fiber and plenty of water. Fiber is nature's broom for the colon!

Some high fiber foods include black beans, chickpeas (garbonzo beans), peas, bran, oatmeal, 100% whole grain breads (make sure it says 100% WG and not just 'made with' WG), plums or prunes, artichokes, Brussels sprouts, Asian pears, quinoa (great substitute for rice), and nuts.

Here's a link from Mayo Clinic with fiber grams listed for foods: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582

Here's one from kidshealth.org about Fiber and Your Child: http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/fibe...

Hope that helps! :)

My father and I have a kidney disease, and we both have problems with constipation ourselves. I don't know how he heard about it, but 2 ounces of cherry juice mixed with a few ounces of water really does the trick! Cherry juice is also a natural kidney cleanser, so it will help to get out any gunk that may be causing problems in the first place.

Dried fruit is a great source of Fiber, like prunes. you can also try prune juice. I would talk to his doctor to see what they suggest since this is a reoccurring thing fo the little guy.

S.,
My son has horrible constipation issues and we have been battling it for 3 years now. He is 7. You need to get a handle on it now while your son is still young. We have been both to our pediatrican and the GI doctors at Children's Mercy and both of their solutions involves using Miralax. It is not a laxative, it simply pulls water into the bowel to soften the stool and may it easier to pass. You will have to experiment with the dosage that is right for your son. It is perfectly okay to give to him daily. I have a friend who has 2 boys that she gives them miralax daily. We both schedule times to sit on the toilet. They sit in the morning about 20 minutes after eating. Have him sit for 5 minutes, no longer. If he doesn't poop, wait an hour and try again. It will get a routine going for him and hopefully make him regular. We just treat it as part of the day, like brushing you teeth and eating. Good luck.