My Four Year Old Constipation

I don't know if you have tried pear/prune juice, but if not, I recommend it. My children had problems with constipation too. I used the pear juice because it not only works as a natural laxative, but it doesn't stain clothing and kids seem to prefer that taste to prune juice. One other thing is to make sure he's getting enough water into his system. Dehydration is the number one cause of constipation in children now-a-days. Also, the foods that kids love, i.e., mac and cheese, bread, cereal, all of those carbohydrates, tend to absorb the water in our systems, so cutting down on those and increasing his fruit/vegetable intake may help too.

how is his diet? does he eat enough vegetables and fruits and drink enough fluid? Diet is very important for bowel movement. You can also add oatmeal and ground flax seeds to his diet to stimulate BM (lots of fibers). I give my daughter a bowl of mixed fruits mixed with granola or raw oatmeal and flax seeds and yoghurt for breakfast and a cup of fruit smoothie to drink every day and it really helps constipation. Good luck! J.T.

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Make smoothie with banana, hydrate! In deed it is all about Diet! Eliminate Apples, apple juice, aplpe sauce for a week! In stead give him grapes, lots of fresh fruits strawberries, banana, yogurt, sit down withhim eat yogurt with him, relax too! we went hrough this & its tough, poor little one.

Veggies, fresh warm mashed potatioes with butter

We had our son in a very warm bath too! Our last resort was glycerine suppositories they help and it was not bad, yet feed him healthy

Good Luck! Our chodlwodul cry it was tough and scary

No rice either...

Use the baby fruit jars of pears or plums. They loosen and taste good.

Try some alternative medicine. Find a naturopath, or an herbalist in your area and see what they have to offer. My daughter has chronic constipation, too. I am giving her some wholistic supplements from a naturopath and they are helping her for the most part, but she does have occasional "flare ups". I used to give her miralax every day, but now she only needs it about once a month or so. Good luck.

does he drink enough water? i give my son lemon flavored flaxseed oil ..he likes it..and he's picky..also suppositories help in a "jam" they make them for children..also exercise..does he run around enough? maybe have him more active after meals..and have him eat things that will jump start a bowel movement..

give him baby food prunes everyday. More fruit in his diet. My son had the same problem and this really helped.

Dried fruit for snax might help. Is his diet high in dairy and starch? He might need more natural fiber as well as more water. Good luck

His diet may need to be softened up a bit, what does he eat? How about a lot more water, some apple juice, some fruit, things that go through him pretty fast? That might help. When mine are constipated, it is because they are only eating the snacky things, like crackers and such. Good luck! Oh, and if he is really stuck, a little bit of oil might help, I don't know which tastes best, but canola or peanut, maybe?

hi R.,
my five year old has this problem from time to time-- esp after we get back from a trip. We make sure she is eating lots of fruit and veggies as others have said, but what really works for us is i give her half a fiber one "pop tart" they have a different name for them, but i call them pop tarts -- she likes the brown sugar flavor. if I notice she hasn't gone for two days, i give her half of one and she goes in the next hour or two! she doesn't usually get to eat "pop tarts" so she gobbles it right up :) we do this maybe once every two months or so-- works like a charm! am going to bring a box with us on our summer trip!

good luck, i know how stress it can be

J.

How's his diet? You should give him food with fiber in it and eliminate any sweets. My niece is like that and it one weekend at my brothers house for her to get backed up all over again because all the kids were having snacks high in sugar. I told my sis to get a second opinion (a specialist maybe). She's such a tiny 8yr old but she clog a toilet in on sitting. My sis also gives her sunsweet pruns and prun juice. Hope this helps, good luck.

Along with the other info the moms gave (WATER, diet, exercise), maybe try a good probiotic? Sometimes the GI tract isn't working because there isn't enough good bacteria in it to help 'process' things; especially after a round of antibiotics. Also gentle massage (circular motion as if you are following the large intestine as it empties) and reflexology. The one I used when pregnant was the point at the dip just below the lip/above the chin. I used both gentle massage and reflexology when I was pregnant and constipated. Worked like a charm.

I have used natural Aloe juice from Market America. For me, it's the only thing that has ever worked. It is safe for children as well. My kids love the strawberry kiwi flavor. Check it out at www.marketamerica.com/autumnlugo or contact me direct for more info

My daughter goes through bouts of constipation. I give her fruit at every meal and I will chop up a couple of prunes with whatever she is eating for lunch (they are great with oranges). She eats prunes every other day and they seem to be helping quite a bit. If your son won't eat prunes try making fruit smoothies and mixing in prune juice.

I have just been going through this same problem with my four year old. I finally found a Nurse Practitioner that specializes in "poop" through my pediatrician. I was using miralax and it was helping, but my child needed to be completely "cleaned out". We put her on Milk of Magnesia for about a week. We gave her 1 1/2 Tablespoons in her chocolate milk twice a day. It took a couple of days to kick in, but it worked. Once her stool was very watery without any chunks in it, we knew that she was "cleaned out" completely and then we put her back on the miralax to keep her stool soft. She had been constipated for so long that her bowels were stretched out, causing her to make very large stools. Cleaning her out and then keeping her on the stool softener allowed her body to heal itself. I would definitely talk to your pediatrician about this before doing anything. These treatments have to be adjusted for each individual, so doses vary. If you don't find the ped to be helpful for you, find someone else. I dealt with this problem for a year and a half before I finally found someone who could help me. I feel your pain (believe me!). This is an easy fix! There was also a great article in Parents Magazine last month that talked about this exact same problem and it was extremely helpful! One more thing, my specialist told me that it had NOTHING to do with the diet! It was a physical problem that a lot of times is hereditary. Diet will do nothing! The child has rock solid stool in his system that has to come out, before anything will work.

Hi R.,

Fiber! Fruits and veggies and lots of water. Avoid fast foods and processed foods. Everybody should "go" about an hour after EVERY meal. Laxatives can help for the very short term but they can have backfiring effects as well. Long term use can result in causing constipation by creating dependence on it.

Exercise helps. When he can't go, take a walk around the block with him. diet and exercise are the only things that can help him now. When he gets older if there is still a problem there are natural fiber supplements that can help but it is always best if this can be fixed with diet. It will also teach him a healthy lifestyle as well.

God bless,

M.

my son has the same problem. I give him children's benefiber in his drink at each meal. For a while we wold have to give him enema's when his BM was too far overdo. They are always quite large. His GI doctor had him on miralax too, but it started working too well. I use it every other day in the morning instead of the benefiber and he does much better now.
I have noticed that part of it is in my son's head though. He associates going poop with being hard and painful. So he tries to hold out and that makes it worse. Once I tell him his medicine (the miralax) is in his juice he goes into the bathroom and goes. We have told him that it will make it easier for him so sometimes I think he wait's for it. Good luck!