18Mo Old Holding Poop In

You may want to consider glycerin suppositories and instead of wiping her if you can soak her bottom in a tub of warm water that may help or give some relief until you can get her to the doctors.

Pooping is very important. I would also suggest something like prunes or prune juice to help loosen the stool. If it is too loose she will be unable to hold it back but my guess is that the stool she has managed to hold back is hard now and painful to expel which is where the suppositories come into play. I hope she gets well soon.

A more diet with less binding foods may be helpful for her so avoid things like rice and oatmeal at this time.

Try something else to loosen the stools. I never had good experiences with miralax either. Try prune juice. Make sure she's well-hydrated. Keep her bottom slathered with ointments to relieve the pain, and yes, I'm with you, make the doctor do something about this. Poor baby!

I second the mineral oil. We used that for my GS who had horrible constipation problems and then started holding his in because he was afraid t would hurt.

Mineral oil is all natural - no worries about giving too much. If she's been constipated for a while, it may take a day or two to work, but once it does, watch out. Basically, what the mineral oil does is soak into the stool in the intestine so it makes it slippery so it comes right out. If she's been constipated for a while, the stool is very hard and just like watering hard dirt, it make take 2 - 3 doses to actually soak into the stool and soften it.

Also, if she's really constipated, you may want to think about a suppository to get things moving. Not pleasant, but will definitely work.

Good luck to you and your LO. I remember the days of listening to my GS cry his heart out over a very hard bowel movement. Heartbreaking!

If they know it hurts they will hold and it is a vicious cycle. My daughter was a holder and her colon stretched so badly that she has huge stools now. So sad. Check with your peds doc but I would use a suppository (child) or child enema to force her to go. Change her diet so she has soft stools (tons of vegis and fruit) and she will eventually get over the fear. It sounds cruel to force her but I wish someone would have told me so my little girl didn't have to fear clogging toilets for the rest of her life.

baby lax is liquid glycerin suppository.. works like a a charm.. we used it on my daughter wehn we were on vacation and she decided not to poop in that state.

she said it didnt hurt..(it didnt ) and she immediately pooped..

I could write a book on all of the issues we had with our daughter and these exact same problems. I'd like to say it's an easy issue, but it's not. It took us years to get our daughter over her problem. But it can be done! In fact, our daughter is now 12 years old and goes BM almost every day.

We didn't get there overnight, though. We went through all the medicines that help with these issues until she was 5 or 6. When she was 7, our family switched over to eating organic (everything, to include the fruits and veges we eat to the grass-fed meat we bought) and drinking reverse-osmosis water (to remove any and all impurities). We also discovered we all harbored various food allergies or intolerances (saw a naturopath and were tested) and took all of those food sources out of our diet. What a difference that made!

Once we did that, her system cleaned itself out, and now she never goes longer than two, maybe three days between BMs. She also takes a very good multivitamin (because the R/O water also takes out minerals, which need to be replaced), Calcium/Magnesium/Potassium/Phosphorus, Vit C, Vit D, a B-Vitamin Complex, 10-mushrooms (for her immune system), Florajen3 (a probiotic), Digestive Enzymes; in short, I've rebuilt her system so that it is healthy, not depleted in any vitamins, minerals, enzymes, or amino acids. We're working on "liking" our vegetables, which is a really big one for being regular, as well as making sure she gets enough fiber in her diet. In short, making sure she eats enough of all the different food groups, and not just the ones she likes (which used to be just grains/starches and milk).

A gentle laxative that's easier on the stomach than pharma drugs/laxatives is CALM, which is a magnesium-flavored drink. It will gently stimulate the colon and therefore, effect release. CALM can be found at natural food stores, your local co-op, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, HyVee (and if their supplements section doesn't carry it, they can probably order it for you). My daughter still drinks some of this if she hasn't had a BM in two days.

You want to stay on top of elimination, so that it doesn't back up and completely fill up the colon track (been there; daughter did the same thing when she was 2). In fact, my daughter backed herself up again when she was 10; that time, I took her to a colon therapist, who gently washed her colon out. It worked and got her cleaned out. However, my daughter's decided she'd rather do what she needs to do to keep herself regular rather than having another one of those. ;)

The thing about Miralax is that you have to continue to use it as long as constipation is an issue. The only way it stops working is if you aren't using enough of it. If things are really bad, the doctor may have you give her a few tablespoons of mineral oil - this will clean her out for sure (make sure you have that diaper strapped on tight, because when she goes, she will REALLY go!). The other thing you probably need to think about is reducing the dairy in her diet - this can really cause huge problems in kids this age. Both of my daughters became extremely constipated when we switched from breastmilk/formula to cow's milk. We had to remove all dairy from their diets until they were around 2.5-3 years old; their little digestive systems just couldn't handle it.

So... more Miralax, less dairy, possibly some mineral oil to get things moving. You may have to make her bend her legs when you know she has to poop (so she can't hold it in). It's soooooo awful to have to go through this, for you both! Been there, done that. Good luck!

My little one is only 5 months old and we've had issues with constipation since she was 2 months old. She also ended up with a small fissure. Her doc suggested adding 4 ounces of juice to her daily diet. Half juice/half water (well, we are up to 4 ounces now...started at 2). We do the white grape (apple gave her diaper rash...pear gave her awful gas) and it really seems to help a little. Also, if it's only used once in a while, the glycerin suppositories are ok, too. But if you use them too often, she won't poop on her own, but will hold it in and depend on the suppository. Since she is 18 months, she should be ok with pure juice. Try the Gerber white grape and give her a little everyday, after about day 2 we saw softer stools and the fissure slowly, but surely, began to heal up. I kept Aquaphor baby healing ointment on hers and just applied it with a cotton swap at every diaper change. Hope this helps ya a little!! :)

Try natural stuff. Fruits, prune juice, raisins, grapes...lotsa liquids!