Picky Eater with Constipation Issues

K.,
I work in early intervention...most doctors will tell you, it will not hurt a kid to miss a day of meals. Or even two! As long as he's getting enough to drink. Sounds like it's time for tough love. He gets what's offered and when he's hungry, he'll eat. Trust me, easier to nip this now than when he's older!

1 mom found this helpful

Dear K.,

You may want to check out a book that has been very helpful for me and my son. He eats better and there are no more struggles now:
Child of Mine: Feeding with love and good sense. by Ellyn Satter.

I is in most libraries.

I hope this helps,
A.

My son was/is also a picky eater w/constipation issues all his life. He's always been a huge fan of fruit, however. Try giving him different granola bars until you find one that he likes and then give him one a day. I also build fruit into every meal of my son's. He's 7-1/2 now and although he's still somewhat picky, he's starting to come around more.

Hi K.,

I have a 2 1/2 yr old with similiar issues.... Here is my 2 cents worth. Water, water, water and a probiotic. I used to watch my daughter strain and it was awful. She would cry and I knew it was painful. She even passed some blood from straining. I can always tell when we're headed down the constipation road by her bowel movement, it starts to get rocky (so to speak)(sorry for the descriptive). But anyway, on the advice of my naturopath, I introduced just an 1/8 of a teaspoon of a probiotic powder that I got at the health food store and what a difference. The combination of the two (water/probiotic) has made a huge difference. Good luck!

I thought someone was writing about my son.LOL. I used to give my son prune juice - if he won't drink it straight then I mixed it with apple juice - then I found Activa yogurt and Dannon has a yogurt drink out now that works even better. My son is 4 now and although he's still a picky eater - he does poop better.

Hi K., A very quick and painless way to safely eliminate constipation issues is to bring your son to Dr. Ellen Blomerth who is located in the Hallmark Bldg. which is at the corner of Rt. I and Lowell St. in West Peabody. Her ph # is ###-###-####. Dr. Ellen is a chiropractor specializing in children and infants and women with her unique gentle-touch method. She is the only chiropractor on the East Coast who is using this method. Please tell her that I gave you her name & # as she likes to track her referrals. Dr. Ellen can probably take care of his issue in one very quick visit. Good Luck. I hope you try her. E. Taft ____@____.com

I'll try not to repeat some of the great suggestions you've already gotten. ;-)
Bolthouse Farms makes a blueberry juice w/ 8 gm fiber per 8 oz serving. They also have other fruit/veggie blends. I sneak applesauce in yogurt and pancakes. I also add wheat germ and ground flax. I've heard there's bran you can add to foods as well. I've started substituting some whole wheat flour for white flour in banana and pumpkin breads. Anything to increase the fiber content.
As a last resort when poops are very hard, a glycerine suppository works well.
Good luck,
J.

Give him a little Glyocolax powder in one of his drinks each day. Talk to the pharmacist - you can buy it over the counter now. It is odorless and tasteless (but make sure you stir it enough so it dissolves, or it will be gritty). My daughter was prone to constipation, and her doctor prescribed this (back when you required a prescription) - and he said it is the safest "drug" that he knows. It's the only drug he would give a 12 month prescription and renew willingly without seeing the patient again. He said it has absolutely no side effects and has been around forever. Now you don't need a prescription. You don't have to give the full dose at his age, maybe the first day give the full dose, but maybe just one teaspoonful every day consistently after that. It will take a little experimenting. Good luck.

Hi K.! My son is the king-of-all-poopers, despite the fact that he's a picky eater. He loves dates (I know, go figure), so I always put a few on his plate at a meal or mix chopped ones into snack mixes, along with whole wheat crackers. Have you tried those? He especially loves the whole wheat crackers when I plop a little hummus on his plate. Hope this helps you and the little guy!

Hi K., I have 2 kids, Abby is almost 3 and Corbin is 18mos. I can totally sympathise with both your issues!! Abby has battled constipation issues for quite some time, the miricle for us has been mineral oil!! My pediatrician recommended it -- about 1 tablespoon each morning. If you can stir it into chocolate milk or something, Abby has never noticed it!! She did have some oily residue -- not much, but well worth her going every day. DR. said she may even need to take it up to a year, it will not hurt her in any way. Still firm poops, but their sliding right on out!! Corbin on the other hand would live on easy-mac and cherios. Can't get a vegie in the boy to save myself!! I can often get fruit in him, but other than that, nothing!!! I am sure lots of kids go through this, not to worry, they won't fade away!!! I give carnation instant breakfast to my kids, at least I know it's got some good stuff in it!! Also, another thing that makes me feel like ive "won", is I can sometimes get him to eat spinich and cheese ravioli, granted, there's not much spinich in there, but a little is better than nothing in my book!!! good Luck!!! L. C.

What you are going through is sooo common. My little guy that is now six went through the same thing. The tricky thing is that your son may begin to hold it in when it starts to hurt....then he will get scared just to go. Our doctor had us give our son Miralax. It has no taste so you can mix it in his juice or milk and you can give him just a little a day to keep him regular until he gets older and his diet has more variety in it. Miralax is sold over the counter now-so many kids go through this.

My son was constipated from age 2 months until about 4 years old. Our pediatrician recommended up to 3 tablespoons of mineral per day. We found that 1 tablespoon a day work. By the time he was four we started taking him off the mineral oil and he was fine.

DOes he drink juice? I know they say not to drink too much juice but I bet that will loosen him up a bit. Good Luck!

Our older daughter also has constipation issues and if left alone can cause more problems down the line as the intestines stretch out (look up encoparesis). We put her on Mirolax. We mix it in her juice once every other day and it just helps soften things up and keep everything moving smoothly. Good luck!

Hi, I have a 10 yr. old who has been a picky eater since she started eating. We have had issues with constipation since she was born. We recently bought the cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. She loves a lot of the recipes so that has helped with the fruits and veggies. We also use benefiber in her drinks to help keep her regular. She doesn't even know that it is in there. Hope that helps!

My son was a picky eater too (not quite as bad)! I started having him help me prepare meals and he was so proud of what he had made that he would eat almost everything he had helped cook. Another suggestion is, if your son will eat meatballs you could hide finely chopped up veggies in them--broccoli & carrots. Now that summer is around the corner fruit smoothies are always fun to have kids help make in the blender. Let him pick out some of the ingredients such as berries or bananas and have him put the ingredients in the blender. Good Luck!

Hi K.,
As a mom of 6, I've definitely dealt with this fun issue! I started sneaking fruits and veggies into pancakes. If you can possibly get freshly milled whole wheat flour, it's a lot easier to digest because it still has the bran and the enzymes that aid in digestion. I actually invested in a flour mill and grind my own, then make pancakes and add all sorts of things: baby food carrots and sweet potatoes, applesauce. You could even add prunes. My kids loved them. And I use either maple syrup, of make a syrup out of berries, honey, OJ, and water, thickened with corn starch. Blueberries could help with the constipation. Also, I think all kids love to dip things, so we eat a lot of fruits and veggies with dip to get those into the diet. Whole grains and fruits and veggies are huge for keeping them regular. Fried foods will make the constipation worse. To get my kids to eat meat, I let them dip that, too. Catsup's a fruit, right?! You also might look into some of the probiotics for kids. There are some that are powders that you can mix into their drinks, or you can get chewable tablets of acidophilus, for example. These can really help restore intestinal balance. Also, if your son is picky, like mine was, you can try to involve him in meal prep. Sometimes if he "made it" he'll be more likely to eat it. Good luck -- it's definitely a challenge.

I have the same problem with my 3 yr old and picked up Benefiber for Kids at the local grocery store for him last week. It seems to be working :)

High fiber cereals like Cracklin' Oat Bran and Kashi's Autumn Wheat are great snacks that my 4-year old loves to eat. Also, Lifeway brand Kefir smoothie drink is high in fiber. It's like drinkable yogurt. I get the strawberry or raspberry flavor and both kids love it. Check the label though because not all Kefir drinks have the high fiber. Lifeway does.

Hi,

Our five year old granddaughter has had the same problem. I solved it by peeling cutting up apples, sprinkling it lightly with cinnamon and sugar. She loved it. She also like peeled, sliced and lightly salted cucumbers. Also, raw green beans. I learned from my mom to prepare raw vegetables or fruit and leave them with in reach for them to snack on. I got better success with this tactic than formerly eating them at the table.

About me, 59 year old grandmother, kinship caregiver. Two adult children in their 30's. The five year old is our son's child.

Hi K.,
Arbonne has a gentle Orange Fiber Shake that children can use. My girlfriend mixes it up with orange juice (i use water) and uses 1/2 the amount recommended and her children are now regular. It tastes great (that's why I drink it) and it works naturally without chemicals or dyes. It is plant based so the body can utilize the soluble and insoluble fibers. If he is only going to the bathroom that little he is probably scared it will hurt again and holds it in. Give this a try and watch your worries go away. I am listed on Mamasource businesses and will give you 20% the purchase. $21.20 for the product and it will last for months. Good luck either way. www.seethedifference.myarbonne.com L.

You are the MOM, you are in charge, give him grapes, and apples, he'll eat eventually if he's hungry, or you can try to fry some veggies in same batter as chicken nuggets, he may not notice if you use yellow string beans. Or throw some bran flakes in with the pasta, or yogurt to help the little guy poop.

Hi K.!
I'd switch him to rice pasta and rice milk and see if that helps. He probably has some wheat and dairy allergies. Also try and get him to drink more fluids...mainly water. There's a company that makes a flavored kid's water in boxes like juice boxes and O Water has some great flavors that he might like. Just make sure whatever you get (if you go the flavored route) isn't sweetened. That could make his problem worse. Good Luck!

My son didn't like cook vegatable but he like to eat them raw. So used to buy them and wash them cut to finger size and let him eat it this way.
The Doctor said uncooked vegatable was okay.

Have you tried Prune Juice? It works very quickly with my son (17 months). He has very difficult and hard poops. We have tried varying diet, but he too, is a little picky. Lots of Peaches and pears when they are in season plus the prune juice works great. I usually cut it with white grape and he will drink it right down. I have also heard of trying Karo syrup. A spoonful in juice.

Good Luck,
Danielle

Hi,
We had this problem at one point. I spoke with the Dr. and he put my daughter on a fiber supplement that you need a script for perhaps because it has a stool softener in it? Anyway it was very safe and gentle wish I remembered the name but it was a white powder that could be mixed in any liquid. So I would speak with your Dr.

My daughter was/is the same way. Does he like cereal? If so try a fiber rich cereal. If not there are some fiber suppliments that have no taste or color that you can stir into anything, like pasta sauce or milk. Try these. It might also be a phase. My daughter used to never eat veggies at all. Then one day at about 3.5 We had salad for a side dish. I let her make hre own and put her own salad dressing on and she actually ate a few bites and LIKED it! I was so amazed that I took pictures! Good luck, hope this helps.
-A.

Puruee veggies into your pasta sauce. (For example, cook carrots, put them in a blender... and put them in your sauce).

Increase apple juice, it's a nature laxative....

Hi K.,
My niece was having problems with constipation and her parents started putting Benefiber in her water. It has worked fabulously. I don't know if you have seen the commercials, but it dissolves totally and is tasteless. My niece doesn't even know that it is there! You can put it in anything; yogurt, ice cream in the cheese sauce of mac n cheese, juice....you get the picture. She no longer has the painful bowel movements.

Good luck to you!
K.

Hi,

I have a four year old that has been on medication since he was about your son's age with the same constipation issues. Our doctor put him on GLAXCO LUX - (I think that's how you spell it) I would call your ped and have him put him on something. Our doctor thought it was way more imporatant to have him on the medication than struggle - especailly with potty training. He doesn't need the medication as much now so I have lowered the dose since he loves grapes! Try also raisins - another big help. Try to keep him away from cheese if possible since that really binds him up. Good luck!

Hi K.,
Does you son like fruit, try pushing the fruit--- peaches in a light syrup, fresh grapes, fresh apples. Yogurt and add wheat germ. Good Luck.
S.

If he likes pasta maybe you can chop up some spinach into tiny "herb" sized pieces to put in the sauce?

Also Miralax is a gentle fiber that mixes completely in drinks, can't taste it at all. Check with his Dr. but I don't see why it wouldn't be OK. Would just need to know how much.

Good luck! My daughter was scared at that age and basically had the same prob. Didn't know any tricks back then.

H.

I used to put all kinds of stuff in my son's pancakes - soy powder, ground up veggies, etc. - Put enough maple syrup on it and he won't know the difference! You can grind up veggies in spaghetti sauce if he will eat that, and switch to whole wheat pasta if you haven't already. Add oatmeal, black beans and ground up flax seeds (available in health food stores or some supermarkets) to hamburger patties. I put spinach in too - he thought it was parsley for years!

Now he's a teen and eats better, but I still make pancakes and French toast batter using soy powder. You can probably make French toast with whole grain bread - I put cinnamon in the batter and add more while the French toast is cooking, and that makes the bread "brown" so that white bread looks the same as whole wheat!

The best product out there for digestive issues and regularity is Reliv - its kids product has all the nutrients and vitamins you are worrying about, plus fiber. It is delicious - it comes in vanilla and chocolate, and can go into a smoothie (add fruit if he'll eat it!), a glass of milk, a glass of soy milk, etc. It can be added to yogurt. The vanilla can even be mixed in with applesauce. A lot of moms even mix it with a small amount of milk and the kids eat it like cake frosting! It helps the entire immune system so the kids just aren't getting sick either - reduced allergies, and more. It also contains DHA which is "brain food" to help the developing brain and improve focus.

Reliv is patented and has been around for 20 years, improving people's health. The company is extremely well rated for ethical business practices and product purity. (Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, & Success magazines, the Direct Selling Association, etc.) The scientific head is Dr. Carl Hastings who formulated ProSoBee and Enfamil formulas, which as you know are trusted by millions.

Reliv is available through distributors - many of them stay at home moms earning extra income. The network and the advice/tips are fabulous too - you get lots of ideas and lots of support. Let me know if you want more information.

Good luck!

I would suspect food sensitivity, honestly. Grains and dairy products are among the toughest things for people to digest, believe it or not, and as odd as it may sound, people who can't process them can actually crave them. My son used to be a picky eater, too--he only wanted crackers, bread, cereal and occasionally some fruit. Without going into too much detail, we discovered that he is celiac: his body can't digest gluten which is the protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Almost everything he was *wanting* to eat was hurting him, he just didn't know it. And we didn't realize just how bad it was: he was growing and energetic still. Luckily, we caught it before it became too severe.

Once we removed gluten from his diet he stopped being picky! He was 20 mos old when we cut out the gluten and miraculously in the first 48 hours his appetite took off. He went from eating a few bites a day to eating *all* day! He happily dug into veggies and meats and almost anything else we put in front of him! It was remarkable. And I was worried that he wouldn't eat at all if I took away the crackers and cereal etc! And we began to see all sorts of other wonderful changes too--we had no idea he was struggling until we saw the difference once we changed his diet.

I know that the same can be true of kids with dairy sensitivies, too. I would try going to your local healthfood store and replacing his staples with gluten-free, casein-free alternatives (casein is the protein in dairy that people have a hard time digesting). There are replacements for everything from waffles to pasta that are good-tasting and safer to eat. I would also consider adding a good probiotic for kids to your basket while you're there. It will help add the beneficial bacteria that his gut needs to more completely digest his food and to heal from any insult it might have incurred. I would try this for a couple of weeks and see what happens. You might be surprised!

If you think this is worth trying and want to talk to someone who's done it, feel free to email me!

my baby is still on formula, but when she was constipated, the drs recommended some prune juice in her bottles - we went from adding pj to every bottle to every other or every few bottles (to keep her regular) and it worked like a charm.

my daughter has always had constipation issues - since she was aobut 3 mos old - we'd put 1/2 to 1 oz of prune juice in a 1 bottle per day - and that made her somewhat regular (movement every other day). if she was having problems we'd also add karo syrup every once in a while.

she's now 20 mos and we can use a little more variety in her foods to help. if she has banana's or cheese of any sort - we counter act with grapes/raisins. still on the prune juice - i do aobut 1oz prune, 1 oz apple juice + 2 oz water in a sippy cup and she drinks that pretty well.

she has 1 packet of oatmeal every morning (fruit and cream varieties) - and that seems to help - like this past weekend sat am she had mini waffels and sunday morning she had mini bagels - and she didn't poop at all, this morning we were back ot our regular oatmeal routine and she went within 2 hours of eating.

i avoid cheese and bananas at all cost - but there are times when she sees them - that's all she wants - so i give her a limited quantity - but then make sure she also has grape and/or raisins.

Also fig newtons are good - they have the little 100 calorie packs and those are great - b/c she has this thing about eating out of the package/box - i can just give her the pack and she eats the whole thing.

Dear K.
I know what you mean I had a daughter try grapes every a hand ful of grapes if it work it did for me a hand full of red grape before bedtime and stool got normal, if he prefer the green try the green grapes.
GOOD LUCK

HI,

I wish I had more advice about picky eaters but as the mother of one myself, I can only recommend patience. Kids change their habits all the time.

But for the constipation, make sure your son is drinking enough water or juice. Spinach is a good veggies for provoking the reverse effect - try mixing a spoonful at a time into the tomato sauce for pasta or even pizza. tell him its a spice and if he doesn't like tomato sauce, tell him it's ketchup (I do that with my daughter). Cucumbers and applesauce are good seemingly neutral foods that most kids like that also reverse constipation. BTW, the ONLY fruit my daughter will eat is, strawberries, and those also, in quantity, can help.

Good luck.

Well, lack of meat isn't why he's constipated. He needs more fruit and veggies. There's nothing like grapes and raisins (cut/careful for choking) to get the poop moving! I found that my kids really enjoyed yogurt. My three year old son has a yogurt smoothie every morning for breakfast. EVERY morning since he was 1 1/2. You can buy Yobaby drinkable yogurt or make your own smoothie with fruit, yogurt and a little juice. My favorite is the creamsicle-- orange juice, vanilla yogurt and a little ice. Yum! My sister swears by mixing silken tofu into everything, like scrambled eggs, smoothies, etc.

As for meat, that's tough. Solid 'meaty' meat is hard for kids. They tend to like nuggets and fish sticks because the meat is softer inside. Did you try meat balls? Or American chop suey? (ground beef in tomato sauce with pasta). Try mixing ground chicken into rice, too. I make a casserole that he enjoys: grilled chicken chunks over rice; top with gravy and stuffing mix and wam in the oven.

And another tip, limit the snacks and juice throughout the day. I found that when I stopped worrying that the little guy would starve to death, he would be hungry for meals! Go figure. Good luck!