Constipation:My Boy's 3&1/2-This Has Been an on Goin Prob for 1&1/2Yrs>on & Off<

Oh poor little one!!! Just for the record, I m sorry that I don't have very much advise, but there was something in your post that made me think. I read about you keeping your son on a high fiber diet. From my own experience, when I had issues with constipation during my pregnancy, my doctor also told me to keep on a high fiber diet and or take a fiber pill. It made things worse. I don't like those pills at all. I am an avid fruit eater and trying any kinds of friuits, especially berries helped emensly. Not sure if your son is into fruit. Also made sure to drink alot of water and not go too crazy with fatty foods or high fiber cereals. Hope this helps. Apologize for not helping out more. Will keep him in my prayers, and hope things get better :)

Hi,
When we had a similar problem with our son, we were confused with what to do, too. He ate all kinds of fruit and veggies (good soluble fiber), but wasn't enough of the RIGHT fiber. Insoluble fiber is what we needed to boost in his diet, so we tried Metamucil Fiber Wafers. Just one wafer (not serving) a day has made a HUGE difference with his constipation problem.
We are so thankful to have come across the 'fix' for this. Please give them a try...they come in 2 flavors (apple or cinnamon) and both are pretty tasty...like eating a cookie.
I hope you find the the right fix for your son...my thoughts are with you! :)
lb

At the age of about 7 my son was complaining of alot of stomach aches. We had numerous of doctor visit and they also prescribe mrylax. They also sent us to a gastro specialist we did x-rays and had a few follow up visits. They said my son had IBS and to keep him on the Myrlax because all that does is bring water into the colon to keep the stool soft it will not cause any damage using it long term. We used it for about a year and I thought I would wean him off cause I to thought he shouldn't take it forever well once again brought about the stomach aches which where from constipation. I tried to change his diet but has you know that is hard! So we used it for about another year or so.

He is now 11 and is off the Mrylax and is doing fine but he has gotten use to me asking if he had done #2 just need to make sure it happens everyday.

I did notice when I gave him a Fiber tablet with the Myrlax it was way to much and gave him the runs.

Does you doc say to give myrlax and then stop it sounds like he need s to keep taking it so he doesn't get constipated so you don't have to restart and get the ruins again. My doc and gastro specialist had my son take it every single day to prevent the constipation.

Good luck I know how painful this is and how aggravating it is not to know whats going on.

Sounds like my son, I felt like it was getting to the point where I was constantly relying on Miralax or suppositories. I finally cut all milk from his diet and he is no longer constipated but of course i worry he's not getting enough calcium even with daily multivitamins. This went on until he was almost 3, now he won't even touch milk and he's 6 and rarely constipated.

Our son has had the same issues. You need to work with the Miralax to get the correct dosage so it is soft but not too soft. Don't stop using the miralax, use it daily and break it into two doses if you can. You said he needed to be cleaned out this weekend. Did you make sure he really got cleaned out? You need to give him enough miralax until the poop is runny. My son calls it his pee-poop. Once he is clean keep up the miralax and make sure he has 2-3 stools per day. Schedule time after meals to have him sit on the toilet. His poop should be soft but not too soft. Keep a log and how much miralax you are giving and what his stools look like. This will help you titrate the dosage of miralax. We have dealt with this for 4 years and you really have to make sure he poops every day. If he doesn't, you need more mirala.x

My son is in the same boat. He is 2.5 years old and has battled with constipation constantly. It has been horrible.
Everytime we go to the doctor the answer was a laxitive. I didn't like that answer. I feel like that is depriving him of nutrients cause it is just making the food pass thru his body so quickly. We had been to 2 different gastro. doc and that is always the answer. So he has been off and on laxitives.We get his bowls working again and then wean him off and then soon enough he is having problems again. Also I think by having him on laxitives you are not training his body to do what it needs to do to push it out.
We have also done the high fiber diet. But like you said it is really hard to have a kid eat exactly what you want, when you want.
We have recently switched to soy milk. We did the vanilla soy. And presto problem fixed. I don't know if it helped because he is not getting reg. milk or if it is because of the soy. But whatever it is, it worked. We had to get rid of all reg milk. We did soy one week and we started to see some improvement and then we ran out so we just ran up to walgreens which only carried reg milk so we got that and then he started binding up again.
It is such a relief to kinda figure out what is going on. We may never know exactly what it is about milk that he doesn't agree with. To find that out you have to do biopsy (which I don't think is nes.) But such an easy fix. It still gets me all mad that everyones answer is laxitives.

Hello, I sure hope you find some answers!!

I recently heard that pears are a natural way to help with constipation. . . they are high in fiber and supposedly have something in them that helps put the water back in too....

Good luck!!

I am going through the same thing with my 4 year old daughter. She started about a year ago with urinary problems, but they said it was because she was constipated. She never had a hard time going and actually went a few times a day. The xrays showed she was stopped up though. We did the clean out with Miralax and they said it worked. However, she is still having stomach pain. We had her tummy scoped and they said she had inflmation. We are continuing on the Miralax once a day and now they have her on an antacid. She's back to going only a little bit each time she goes so I don't know if she's getting stopped up again or not. We pretty much do the same thing with high fiber and low milk consumption. Have you had an allergy test done? I think that's our next step. I'd love to hear what else you try and how it works! We mommys have to stick together and fight for our kiddos!!!

Have you tried apple juice? Or applesauce, always loosened up my kids when they were growing up. When my middle daughter was a baby, the doctors' told me corn syrup in the formula, but since your son is 3 I think apple juice and applesauce is fine.

look up chlorophyll. I gave it to my 6 year old to help her regular.

I haven't read the other responses, but my daughter had this issue from the time she started solids. The ped was no help, and as an infant when she went 3 weeks with no poop, they said, "don't worry, the record is four weeks". What really helped her and I felt really comfortable with was giving her magnesium. If you research it, lots of people are deficient and it's really important for a lot of body functions. I bought 250 mg tablets, figured out the dose for her (from my research, 1 to 3 year olds, 65mg a day, which is 1/4 a tablet). I use a pill cutter to cut the pill, crush the piece with the back of a spoon, and add it to her juice in the morning (but you could also put it in applesauce, etc. It has no taste). Worked like a charm. Now she's four...we've actually cut back to 1/6 of a tablet because it was working a little bit too well :) Good luck!

My son has encopresis, which is probably the diagnosis you will end up with. Keep him on the Mirilax, YES it is working the way it should. Especially if he has an anal fissure, you need to keep the stools soft and easy to pass, the Mirilax is NOT hurting him in any way, in fact it's helping his colon heal. I am very glad you are getting in to see a gastroenterologist, this person will help you understand the condition better, will give you advice on how to help the healing process along, and will do tests to rule out any other conditions that might be going on.
Hang in there. I know how frustrating and painful this is for everyone. My son is now 12yo, it took many years for his condition to heal. The colon becomes damaged, the nerve endings are damaged, and the result is that it simply doesn't work the way it's suppose to, so there will be certain bathroom protocols you will have to implement as well as a regular regimen of Mirilax and a high fiber diet.
The original website where I found a lot of info about this is now nowhere in site, unfortunately. But I did find this one:
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/e/encopresis/intro.htm
I hope it helps. Feel free to contact me here if you need more info or want to talk further about this.

My husband has had this issue for the past 10m. His dr. recommened laxatives and high-fiber. He was on high fiber bread, cereals, snack bars. Drinking 2 gallons of prune juice a week! He ended up in the hospital with an infection. We think from the backup. Anyway, it turns out that having a diet with TOO much fiber has the same reaction as not having enough fiber!

There is a condition called Diverticulitus, which is small pockets in the intestines that can become infected. Cronic constipation, and fevers are key symptoms.... anyway.... once he was given an all liquids diet for 2 days, and then started following the diet for people with Diverticulitis, he has had no problem.

So, my advice is to go back to basics. Start with a clear liquids diet for a few days: apple juice, jello, chicken broth/soup, water, etc.
Then start with the easy foods: cheerios, fruits, etc.