Seeking Other Moms' That Have Dealt with Chronic Constipation in Their Infant

Hi A.,

As you can see from all of the responses, you are not alone. My son is now 13 and this has been a problem since he was little. Prunes, prune juice, fiber, water all work well. They also had me add mineral oil (casteroil) to applesause and this helped some, too. I would see another doctor. No one paid attention to me until my 3-yr old had a hemmrhoid. The pharmacy refused to believe the medicine was for my toddler and not for me. This is a serious issue. When she gets older, she'll refuse to go to the bathroom because it hurts and "saving it up" causes lots of other problems (including appendicitis). Once she starts on food, add corn. You want to "fix" this before she gets a complex and you're having to ask your teenage when was the last time they went to the bathroom! Embarrassing for you both. Good luck! If this persists, when she gets older, you can try a stool softener. Take care! L.

1 mom found this helpful

My son is 11 and still has some issues with constipation, though he didn't have any strictures. What I did was to start giving him juices that had a great deal of fiber in them. You can get them at health food stores. One of them was green and looked evil, but he loved it. I also gave him lots of apple juice between meals. You can also get Senacot (sp?) for children. I don't remember how much I gave him though. I started giving him cantalope and honeydew as well. Ask your ped about starting on fruit I don't remember how old Christopher was when I started giving it to him. I want to say he was on soft foods by 8 months... OH!!! butternut squash also did the trick <G> He loved it because it was sweet and... WOW!!!

Good luck. I know how rough it is. My son was a premie and I was a terrified mom because the nurses told me if he didn't stay a certain temp or eat exactly so much at each feeding he would die. I was a basket case!!! Anyway... hope this helps :)

1 mom found this helpful

Hi A..
Try adding pumpkin (all natural, no sugar added) to her diet. At least one teaspoon in the a.m. and one in the evening. Or if you can't get her to eat that much, whatever you can will help. Pumpkin has fiber in it that helps with constapation or loose stools. I use it for mine and my dogs and swear by it.
Bless you in all you do for your daughter!
W. from Indiana

1 mom found this helpful

No one mentioned taking your child to an allergist. My son was extremely allergic to almost everything. Outside it was the trees, grass, flowers etc. Inside molds mildews dust etc. Foods milk wheat peanuts chocolate and everything made with these products. His problem was diahrea but the doctor also told me it could go the other way with constipation for children. Allergies are serious business. They can have psychological effects as well. Wheat is poison to some children. And one of the respondants mentioned iron in baby foods which I agree is very effective on the bowels. Make sure that you know what your child can tolerate when it comes to food allergies etc. You might find your problem and be able to correct it and if the child is allergic to certain ingrediants (even though there are no outward signs of hives etc) hives can be present inside the child. Weird I know, but that's what my allergist explained to me. There are many things in today's foods (chemicals etc) that affect all of us. Why would a child be immune? Good Luck

1 mom found this helpful

My oldest daughter had and still has problems with this. We stayed on tralax until she was 5 years old. At that point she was old enough to drink 6-8 oz of water every 2-3 hours. When she started 1st grade I asked the doctor for a RX that said she had to drink 8 oz of water every 2 hours (the school is required by law to administer a Rx) and her she went from going every 2-3 days to going poop every day.

To be honest when I asked the doctor for a Rx for water she was shocked. Then she smiled and said she had 4-5 more patients that she was going to do this for too. The school nurse did give me a little grief. She said my daughter was old enough to know when to drink water (yeah right, like a 6 year old wants to drink 8 oz of water every 2 hours and the school gives them plenty of time to drink that much at the water fountain and go potty.)

Now I know your daughter is only 8 months old, just keep this in mind for when she starts school and good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

I am a grandmother of a 18 month old that lives with us and I raised my own 2 children. One thing that experience has taught me is that a second opinion is best. If you do not feel that the GI MD is open to finding solutions, I would look for answers from a different MD. Many times we have done that and have been happier with the results from the second opinion.

My granddaughter gets extremely constipated, this only happens when we travel and she is in her car seat for many hours. Is your daughter getting water bottles to help loosen her bowels? We started giving our granddaughter at least one water bottle with Karo syrup in it a few days before, during and after a trip and she hasn't had any problems the last few road trips. Your daughter has a medical condition so that may make a difference how you handle things but I think if her bowels were looser, it would make passing them easier for her.

Good luck and remember it is important to have a MD that is willing to listen to what you are telling them. Nobody knows your child better than you!!!

A.,

I totally understand what you and your little one are going through. As a family we have started using a Probitic from Shaklee. It is a very small capsule that I usually put in my kids applesauce that they swallow. It has made a huge difference in my daughters bowel movements. I only give it to her when I can tell she is starting to have a little trouble going. I give it to her once a day for a week, and everything is back to normal within a day or so. Our doctor also told us that she would just have to stay on MiraLax indefinitely. That was not a reasonable solution for us. She is now four and is doing great. If we go out to eat a lot or she is not eating her vegetables well, I will also give it to her for a few days as a preventative.

http://www.shaklee.net/lthigpen/product/20639

We all take it after we have been on any antibiotics. It is just a great little thing to have around the house. We are never without it.

I hope this might help your little girl. Shaklee has a 100% Money Back Guarentee if does not seem to be the right solution for her.

We are also seeing a GI DR they think my 15 month old may have CF or Celiac Disease. They are going to do on endocopy and biopsy soon and she also has big poo probs! It's a lot more common than I thought! Do you live in Winchester? I'm new to this thing.

I completely understand where you are coming from on this. My daughter, who is 6 now, had very similar problems as a baby. We tried all the different formulas, didn't give her oatmeal, etc. The doctors tried to dialate her but nothing seemed to help. A friend told me to try giving her a lactoce free formula and see if that made a difference. I still consider it the miracle drink! It worked wonders. All that time trying different things and seeing her in pain and all it was is that she was lactose intolerant. The doctors didn't even offer this suggestion, but thought it was a great idea when I told them what I did and that she was better. She has grown out of it now and can drink regular milk again. You might want to give it a try. When your daughter is not on formula anymore you can get lactose free milk in the dairy section too. It costs a little more, but for my daughter to be happy and not in pain it was well worth it. Good luck, I hope this helps.

Hi, Let me say I feel your pain. I have a 17 month old who has been impacted more than a few times, and if you have dealt with that at all you understand how bad she has it. We have tried all the remedies, Karo, fruit etc. with no relief. I spoke to by ped. and he recommended Miralax in her food. (it is over the counter and is a powder)we started that when she was pretty little and we continue to do now, we alternate it a little depending on how her bowels look.(too lose, hard, etc.) I started with a very low dose and increased it to make sure she had a dirty diaper atleast once a day. She doesn't taste it at all. I mix it in her morning cereal.
I hope you find some relief for her. This has been alot better than the liquid lax I had to do with my son when he was little(he is 13 now)

L.

I had the same problem with my daughter since she was 2 months old. We tried everything...Miralax, warm apple juice, etc. Seeing her strain was painful for me to watch. The only thing that helps her (even now at 3 years of age) is giving adult Fiber One. I spoke to her pediatrician and he said that you can't ever go wrong with fiber. We added it in her formula and now her strawberry milk. Doing this has helped her significantly as even potty training was becoming difficult.

Please be careful with the Miralax. It is supposed to be used for occasional constipation. You dont want her to be dependant on Miralax to have a bowel movement. If your pediatrician is not listening go to someone that will. I know with insurance this is hard. The good news is you normally have to get a referral from your regular doctor to see another doctor. If he/she gets the picture you are concerned enough to request someone else maybe they will do something like take you serious. I cannot stress enough that you know your child better then anybody else and you know when there is a problem. Be persistant about the situation.

I've heard through various sources that Karo syrup is not recommended anymore. Sometimes the diet (I'm not sure if you're still breastfeeding or using formula) high in iron can make babies constipated. I think Vitamin C helps them absorb iron but I'm not sure if that helps the poopoo problem. My little boy only had one problem with constipation, and that was because his grandmother gave him more infant cereal to eat than formula! I do know that prunes helped, and peaches gave him the runs, so maybe a little extra fruit might help.
I don't know if this will help you or not, I'm totally not a doctor, but I DO know of the problems that can result from constipation, I've had a baby this year and 5 weeks later had gallbladder surgery, all of which contributed to lower GI problems. Good luck!

our daughter had problems as a infant our doctor had us add a little veg oil and karo syrup in her formula I dont know how It works but it did so we continued until she was off formula.
during that time my daughter had projectile vomitting and we found she was lactose intolerant she went to isoymil formula and later to lactade milk for over a year at that time she couldnt drink juices because they blistered her even at half strength but after a while she drank whole cows milk but it was fresh from the farm where my husband worked no chemicals and we had no more problems.I beleave that the chemicals used to process the milk was really what she couldnt handle.you never hear of many children having that problem that were born befor processing.eather way I hope this helps and I hope she gets better soon.

My mother used a small amount of sugar or karo in all bottles and this worked great (1 tsp )

My son has become the same way, I just put a LITTLE bit of prune juice in with some other juice everyday and he's been fine since, the Dr. said that's ok too.

Our pediatrician prescribed magnesium citrate. Works great.

yes I have had that problem also. No one ever really examined her and said that she had any kind of a stricture. We were just told that she held it too long. I never felt that was the case. She was too little at the time to know to hold it and besides, I thought that was the reason you couldn't potty train before 2 because they didn't have control of their muscles. But that is what we were told and told to give her Miralax so that is what we do alone with apple juice and now that she has teeth she can eat an apple and that helps. That is all that we know to do. Now that she is a couple of weeks shy of 2 it seems to be getting a little better, kind of like she is starting to outgrow it.
I do tell you what it does seem like. It seems like she goes better when she doesn't drink as much milk. Whether or not that has anything to do with it or not, I do not know.
Hope yours will outgrow it in time and things will work out alright.

I am a mom of five year old but my son fortunately does not have such problem. I had constipation from infant and dealt with it all my childhood days and till now. And my both brother has the same problem and my dad also had it. I believe it runs in the family.

I do some simple home remedies like drinking lukewarm water first in the morning, and eating fruits. I understand for a young child it might be difficult but my mom did to me from infant and now in our house it is a ritual to drink a glass or two glasses of warm water before tea or coffee. Eating food that have more fiber such as whole grain, greens and fruits. and also drinking more fluid has helped me. There are ayurveda medication that also helps,oops i forgot the name it is just a bran from a grain.

my grandson had it so so bad he would sweat and scream and shake so so bad..he is 4 now and is goin on his own without having to help it out..FIber foods seem to work really well.. I will pray for her and for your sanity..It can sure take a toll on you when our little ones are sick/miserable.. Good Luck .. T.

A.,

That GI MD should be reported. Find a new one in your area, get the medical records from the current one and find someone that can help. I believe it is baloney when a doctor, a man who is supposed to help improve the quality of your life, doesn't do what he can to help a small child. Telling you that it is something she will have to live with is wrong!! There are some good doctors out there, you just have to keep looking.

I know what I am talking about. My husband had 3 stroked 4 years ago. We found out later that he had blockages to his brain and only had 15% blood flow and the neurologist told me to take him home that he could go back to work in 3 weeks. Luckily he did not have any paralysis. My husband got steadily worse and his internist and I were not happy with what we were told. We got all medical records from the hospital and then we started calling around to the area neurologists until we found one that said he could help him. WEll, my husband is alive today due to that doctor. By the time they got him into surgery, the constriction was 8% and he would not have lasted another week.

I know my husbands problem is nothing like your daughters, but my point is that you have to keep looking until you find someone to help her. Telling you that she will have to 'live with it' is the worst thing a doctor can say to a parent. Please keep trying to find another doctor. Unfortunatley every doctor is different and it all depends on how they keep up with the new procedures and techniques that come out all the time.

I wish you good luck with your daughter and hope you find someone who can help her soon.

E.

i feel your frustrations. my daughter had horrible constipation at that age. she frequently had to have glycerin suppositories. now she is five and things have gotten better. she still has to have 6 oz. of juice a day to stay regular, and mirilax on occasion. i think that what helped my daughter the most at this age, was a lot of water between meals, lots of fruits and veggies, and no baby cereal. baby cereals have so much added iron that they will constipate even the most regular babies.