Constipation/Impaction

dear A.

i have a friend who has a daughter with a chromosone disorder also

and she has no motor or muscular control of anything

so thay have to keep her bowels soft cause seh cant really do it herself

anyways they give her milk of magnesia mixed with mineral oil

and that works really well for her

my son was having bad constipation problems and i tried it with him when nothing else would work and i tried it all

so try that it might work for her

best of luck

N. w

There are "natural things" that you could try before you try other things. B/c it's in the lower colon, it sounds like she's not drinking enough water. Monitor her water intake. As the waste moves though the intestines, water is pulled from it....which causes it to become hard. So, make sure she's getting enough water. Apple juice is GREAT! I have 4 kids and sometimes I have to stop the apple juice b/c the develope "the runs!" Make she's eating green leafy vegetables....it'll give her more fiber! Hope this helps.

A.,
you may want to try a daily fiber therapy. I know of one from a wellness therapy company that might be an option. Also, if you could find a colon cleanser gentle enough for a child to get her colon empty and then try a daily fiber therapy with alot of water through out the day. I hope this helps-Feel free to contact me with any questions!
M. J
____@____.com

You may want to try pure pear juice from a can. you can find this is about any store where the Mexican products are sold. Make sure that she is drinking enough water also, but not too much.
Good luck!

From people's pharmacy.com:
Try fresh pineapple. Or bran, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, prunes or Metamucil.

I know for my girls eating kiwi always gives them loose stools, but everyone is different, so they may not have the same effect on yr daughter.

At one point my pedi had recommended mineral oil but I would stick to what your pedi recommends.

Massage and apple juice are two things I found that work. Apple juice is a natural diuretic, so it may not help with impaction but it will help once the impaction is gone. As for massage there is an infant massage technique called "I Love U" here is the link http://www.babycenter.com/0_a-guide-to-infant-massage_383... you both will probably benefit from the massage. Good luck!

Have you tried glycerin sypositories? We used them on my daughter when she was and newborn and they are very gentle.

I am NOT in the medical field. Old fashion remedy may work,
prune juice and fiber.

When my kids were small we would give them dark Karo in there bottles to help with constipation. It was handed down from moms to daughters and so forth. You might try it with warm water. It can't hurt. Just remember it is DARK Karo syrup!

White Karo is for runs.
J.

I know it may sound too easy but try to get her to eat a couple of plums. It may help her, then again it may not. For the normal body if you eat a couple it makes you need to go poop and it softens it as well. I dont know if this will help your 7 year old but it helps my kids.

Good luck

I wish i had an easy answer for you. I have a 16 yr old daughter who occasionally impacts. The doctors have her take fiber pills, but I don't know that you would want to use those on a 7 yr old. They have to drink a lot of water with the pills. I can tell you that my son had a barium enema when he was 10 weeks old. He had a swollen abdomen and very high fever. The doctors tried just about everything. We never did know for sure what caused it but it did go away right after the barium enema. Other than some nasty deposits afterwards there were no bad side effects. Just remember to let her know that she may not enjoy it, but it will help her with the pain. Sometimes all you can do sit be there to support them and hold them. Good Luck

Hi,

I'm not sure what Mal Rotation is so if you haven't already, you may want to check with your dr. first as to whatever things you try.

Did the dr. mention diverticulosis/diverticulitis to you when they saw her test restuls? (more about my husbands' experience at the end.)

I myself have a 4 and 6 yr old and when my 6 yr old was a baby, she had colic alot (we tried all kinds of things, i.e. swaddling, malox, peptol, soy formula/milk home remedies OTC, drs. etc.) and she's continued to have digestive problems off/on and we both cried when she was a baby-her from the pain and me from exhaustion; the only way she and I could sleep was if she slept on my chest and i was in a sitting position or propped up on pillows. She hasn't really outgrown it completely b/c sometimes, she'll wake up from a deep sleep at night b/c of the pain but once the gas passes, she's ok.

Anyhow, I try to stay with more natural remedies, i.e. foods, first aid remedies etc, whenever possible b/c I don't like the idea of putting soo many meds. in their little bodies and what I've used in the past is:

* Senekot (an uncle recommeded when she was a baby; it worked on his 2 boys very well. can be used on older kids as well.)
* Cilantro. yes the kind you find in the fresh produce area in the grocery store. Since you don't want to give her diareaha (sp?) and you don't know how well it'll work, you may want to wash 5-10 leaves and let her chew/eat it. This should work within a few minutes, I would think :30 at the latest.

Sometimes I'll notice my daughter's belly sticking out more than unusual (sometimes it's getting hard) so I'll give her some of the cilantro as a "maintenance". Another thing that clues me in is she won't have a BM or is sitting on the pot longer. My 4 yr old sometimes sits on the pot straining and I'll give him some cilantro to make it easier.

Lastly, what is your dr.'s opinion of doing a "flush"? I've heard of a saltwater flush that is done in the morning and within a matter of 10-30 minutes, the salt is cleaning out the digestive tract (similiar to a saline flush to your nose whenever you have alot of allergies/sinus infection etc.). After the saline flush, the stomach/intestines are VERY clean so you need to eat healthy/natural (raw when possible, i.e. carrots, brocolli, fresh fruits etc.) before getting back to normal eating habits.

Have you checked her out for celiac's disease? this is where the body can't process (has a very hard time) any foods that are made with gluten, i.e. white bread/rice, snacks made with flour. I try to remember to stick with things that are made primarily with corn, i.e. corn taco shells/tortillas etc.

I'm trying to change my familiy's diet as well b/c my husband was recently in the hospital with diverticulosis; which basically means he was impacted and needs to eat much more fiber! While he was there for 4 days, they gave him nothing but a liquid diet and antibiotics to help clean out his system. His dr. said if/when it occurs again, the pain would be more excrutiating than previous bouts so we want to try and avoid going thru this again. As an adult, he's done the barium but turns out he had a reaction--not sure if it was an anxiety attach or actual allergy to the barium.

Well, I hope this info helps in some way. If you do decide to try any of these, please let me know if any/which one worked for you.

Take care.

I've been battling the same issue and my gastrointerologist suggested I take a dose of Milk of Magnesia every night before bed. (They have the flavored ones out now so the taste isn't even a big deal) He said if it wasn't working w/1 dose go w/ an extra one in the morning. He said it's a nonaddictive solution that won't hurt your body. You might ask your daughter's ped. so far it has done the trick in our family.

Use Fleet Baby Lax, it's a liquid and I still use it for emergencies with my 4 year old. It's works almost immediately. I always have some on hand for those bouts of really bad constipation. You should be able to find it at Walmart, Target or CVS in the baby or laxative section.....HTH

Just wanted to share my different experience...When my son was young he often had problems with constipation. (He might still have problems but he wouldn't tell me because he's 27 :-) I tried several things but what worked for him every time was giving him sugar free lollipops which I bought at health food stores. Sorbitol and other sugar alternatives have a laxative effect. But eating too much of them can cause severe cramps and foul gas. Unfortunately I know this first hand! This is just an FYI. You might read up on it, check with a medical person but it wouldn't be something to use often or long term. It just didn't take much for my son and it worked every time. May God bless richly as you continue to take care of your precious ones.

I have given my child an enema before,by using the little bulb asperater they send home with your newborn for sucking out mucus from their noses. Just fill it with water and gently sqeeze the water into their rectim. Sometimes it just takes a little. She might tolerate it from you better. I'd try it once, just to see
~ Tess

Hello A.,

When I was young (am now 48) I had a severe problem with this. Prunes really helped...and a lot of them. Best Wishes for you and your daughter,

C.

A. R,

Hello. If you'd like to go with a 100% natural, organic supplements, try aloe vera juice & nutritional shake.

Go to: www.foreverliving.com
click come-in,
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click "Drinks" &
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These 2 items are goimg to both improve your daughter's digestive and immune systems!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Thank you A.,

D. P.
###-###-####
____@____.com

When my daughter was young she was severely constipated. I tried everything too. We finally got relief from an herbal product

http://tinyurl.com/2zg3ow.

I would suggest calling them and discussing as they do have other products as well. My daughter wasn't on meds at the time, so be sure to check on interactions, etc if you are continuing with the Miralax.

Good luck.

A., I can understand where you are coming from. My granddaughter has cystic fibrosis and we are always on the verge of an impaction with her. We also do a daily Miralax dosage and work with how much she is going to the bathroom and what it looks like.. (I know, TMI>> LOL) and then adjust the dosage daily. Miralax is used to keep them from getting a solid impaction, which your daughter must not have yet or they would not have let her go home w/o the barium enema. So, I would work w/ her reg ped or specialty dr on adjusting the dosage.. we had to give Tara a full adult size dose, twice a day, for three days until she just had it running out of her! But, thankfully, now we know how to watch and adjust. We are teaching her to let us look before she flushes, but it might be harder w/ a seven yr old. Also, we write down when she goes, bc we always think we will remember, but of course are then not always sure.
HTH. I know the enema sounds horrible, but if she stays in pain, I would have it done and get her cleaned out. If they have a bowel rupture, it is life threatening. God Bless, GramVal

At any health food store you can find Vitamin C (chewable tablets or powder in water or juice)that has been known to loosen the bowels 500 to 1000 mg. In the pharmacy there is also something over the counter called Senekot syrup for children. At the Korean grocery store you can buy what is called "Digestive biscuits", which are good too. Good Luck !

We have all had similar issues in my family and Fruit-eze has been a miracle for us. www.fruiteze.com or 1-888-734-8527. All natural and really works. check it out.

when my younger brother was badly constipated as a 2 year old I remember my mom giving him Karo syrup. Not sure how much, probably a tablespoon or so.

Also, I am a massage therapist, and for constipation you can massage the colon. Start at the right side of her belly button and in downward strokes massage counter clockwise and end up on the other side of her belly. Maybe that will get something dislodged.

hi. i know what your going thru. my daughter has incropesis (not sure how you spell it) the miralax along with colace did miracles for my daughter.

My daughter suffered with constipation from the time she was in diapers until sometime in elementary school. Her doctor instructed us to limit her protein intake to no more than 4 ounces a day (at age 5) and to eat foods higher in fiber. Every once in a while she will have problems and will ask me to buy her some prune juice which usually helps. Here's a couple of site to check out...

See these foods that are high in fiber: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582
and http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49479.asp

Good luck!

Try plain Flax Seeds in cereal. Natural and quick. Bob's is the brand we use. A couple of teaspoons and they taste fine, if you can taste them at all. They are small like sesame seeds.

Go to www.herbdoc.com and purchase either the children's liquid Formula #3 or if she can swallow pills, Formula #1 for adults. It is herbal and all natural and gentle. On the pills you try one the first day, if you don't get the bowel movement you want, then take two the second day and up from there. My husband and I have both used them and my husband has done the entire 5 day bowel cleansing program. It is gentle and works great. Make sure she is drinking non-caffinated drinks. Take her weight, divide that number in 1/2, and you have the number of ounces at a minimum that she should drink per day.

You could try ground flax seed on top of her morning cereal and tell her it's a special brown sugar. My nephew had problems with holding his BM's until they became too hard to push out....the ground flax seed worked beautifully. You can put ground flax seed in any muffin recipe as part of the flour, like 1/4-1/3 cup of it. She won't know it's in there and it will help her colon.

Best Wishes!

Well, have you tried a little bit of dark Cayro syrup? It works good for babies in their bottle, perhaps you should try a little for your child in her food?? What about adding extra fiber, like apples w/the peel, etc. What about an all natural colon cleansing product? The Health Plus Super Colon Cleanse with Herbs And Acidophilus from www.bodybuilding.com CAN be taken by young children 6-up (using 1/2 the adult dosage), perhaps this will work. I order things through them all the time & they have good products & are very inexpensive, the product I mentioned is only $6.49 for 120 capsules. Hope this helps!

Hi A.:

Have you tried Colon Cleanse? That's the only thing I can think of. It takes a few days and I'm not sure if it works better than an enema but they have a really good one at Whole Foods.

Here is a link that also may help:
http://children.webmd.com/tc/constipation-age-11-and-youn...
Good luck.

try dss, it comes in gel tablet and in liquid. make sure is getting enought water. allso add bran to diet.on top of cerial again i mention the water. now to get her cleaned out start off with mom at night and then a childrens lax, and if nothing moves and i mean it should move her do a fleets,but i would start with oil retention and then 1/2 hour later the fleets. good luck.

A.,

I would try good old fashioned Milk of Magnesia. Maybe not even a teaspoon with a lot of water after it. I recently had to take it for a renal ultrasound and let me tell you it really works to clean your bowels out. Good luck!

I would advise Senekot. It's a natural vegetable laxative that can be found atwalmart or heb. It's pretty effective for medication side effect constipation.

Some herbs to try would be cascara sagrada to get her moving. It is not for long term use though. Try more fiber in her diet and lots more water. She could possible have an allergy to wheat gluten products. She may have trouble digesting them. Look into some different diets and more natural products for her diet. Psyllium hulls would be a great way to get more fiber in her diet and they should not mess with her meds as long as you administer them at different times. You should never give vitamins or supplements at the same time as prescription meds. Happy to help.
V.

Hi,

My name is P.. I live in Lake Pointe, and have a nutritional store.

If you would like to come by we could visit and try to come up with a solution that would be effective,healthy for her and keep her on the right track.

I hope to hear from you. My # is ###-###-####.

Truly,

P.

Prune Juice, prunes, raisins, oatmeal, dried friuts that have fiber.

when i was pregnant with my second child i had constipation, and this product called nature calm helped so much. i took it for anxiety, and it worked at relaxing everything. it is a really easily digested form of magnesium, a powder you put in water. it actually tastes pretty good, too, so it might work for your child. i found it at the peoples' pharmacy in austin, but i bet you can find it at any wholefoods or some place like that.

I believe all the advice given is right on the money. I just wanted to throw in exercise. Is it at all possible for some sort of physical activity? It was always my understanding that some body movements can help to promote a BM. I'm not talking about high impact work-outs but, perhaps some light running in the yard with a frisbee or a ride on a bike? Something that is fun that gets the body moving.
Just a thought.
Margaret:)

Try adding a little magnesium supplement to her diet. I have given it to my babies since 8 months.

Peoples Pharmacy sells "Vinco Magnesium Glycinate Powder". You can add a pinch to her milk. It really helps!! Talk to the pharmacists at peoples, they are always SOOO helpful!!

Yes, her regular diet will be a factor. For my granddaughter, I cooked (boiled/steamed) fresh carrots and mashed them with a little brown sugar and fed it to her. Molasses is better. Feed her as much as she will eat, and give her water.

My son (who is 14 and has Down syndrome) struggled with the same problem for years. The thing that has helped him the most is ground up flax seeds (I buy them in bulk at whole foods and grind them up - keep them in the freezer so that they do not go rancid) and prunes mixed with applesauce which I give to him everyday. Also, Accidophillus (sp?) really helps to regulate BMs. Believe me we have tried EVERYTHING and this is the only thing which works for him!

I would try to stay away from Miralax - I remember reading something bad about it although I don't remember what exactly.
hope this helps

Orange juice has always worked for me.

Just wndering, has/does your pediatrician have any gastro-intestinal specialists that they could recommend or a special nutritionist that may be able to construct a diet for her to keep this from happening?

J.

Try prune joice. Doesn't taste bad and really works!

The same very thing happened to my 7 year old daughter this past year. She has always been regular and all of a sudden right after each holiday when she gets candy from relatives the next week she becomes constipated and has really sharp pains. We tried all kinds of things but the only thing that finally got her back on track was Dr. Schulze's Intestinal Formula #1. I called to talk to the company and they said to give her no more than 1 at night with dinner. It did the trick. I was ready to try anything but she was hurting so much and we didn't want to take medicines or Barium Enemas. I'm not sure if this would do the same for your little one but it is just what worked for mine.

All of what was mentioned below and some hot tea with honey instead of sugar. By the way what is her diet like? That makes a big difference. Maybe too many foods that constipate and less with fiber. Sugary cereals or high fiber cereals? Too much dairy-cheese and milk to be precise? Yogurt is very helpful! I BELIEVE DR'S SAY A DIET HIGH IN FIBER IS THE BEST REMEDY FOR DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS AND CONSTIPATION.

P.S.-I just discovered this great yogurt by yoplait YO PLUS THAT I EAT DAILY AND IT MAKES ME GO GO GO! NEVER BEEN CONSTIPATED ANYMORE SINCE I HAVE BEEN USING THIS AND I WAS A WHOLE LOT. ALSO YOPLAIT HAS ONE CALLED FIBER ONE (GENERAL MILLS MAKES THE CEREAL TOO) THAT WORKS GREAT ALSO. TRY IT AND I AM SURE YOU SHOULD SEE SOME RESULTS IF YOU ARE CONSISTENT! BLESS YOU AND YOU LITTLE GIRL.

Go to yoplait.com to read more or do a search for "how to get more fiber in a child's diet" or "how to cure constipation in a child"

Our daughter was having constipation problems and our pediatrian recommended Benefiber. I just put 1/2t-1t in her juice and no problems. It doesn't give her extra gas or any other problems. Her pediatrian said it was one of the safest fibers to give her. Good luck

Hi A.- You might try some sauerkraut juice, if you can get her to drink it. Maybe just dilute it some the first time to see how she does first. It might cause some cramps, though, but it should work for her. It would not be something to do every day, of course, but in a pinch it might be worth a try. Hope it helps.

M.

Do the regular dietary/nutritional things like pear juice, plums and prunes(most kids will eat them, they're sweet) work for her? Looking at what she eats and making sure she drinks plenty of fluids, especially water, might help, in addition to trying the usual foods. Raisins and grapes often help, too. Hope she feels better soon, no fun to have a hurting tummy!

Little tummy's has a constipation medicine that you can give over the counter. You give the dose by wieght. My daughter has a horrible problem with getting constipated and this works like magic for her. She used to not go for days. Now if I see her getting constipated I give her the Little Tummy's and within a few hours she "blows up the toilet."

Good luck! Keep me informed!

D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!!
www.formyrugrats.com
"The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

My prayers for you and your little girl.
Herbalife is great, I have a friend that sells it and it work wonderful, Do they have something for kids and constipation?

Look into what XANTHONES can do , check it out at the National Library of Medicines, www.pubmed.gov enter xanthones or mangosteen on the search box,

We all know that the health of our children is at risk.
It's no mystery that rates of once uncommon problems are skyrocketing among our kids. Most illnesses only manifest themselves when they reach a certain point of severity.

What if you could give your kids each day an ounce or two of a delicious fruit juice that would provide a boost of vitamins and mineral and disease-fighting phytonutrients??
This fruit is full of beneficial nutrients, scientists believe mangosteen receives most of it's health promoting properties from compounds called XANTHONES.
xanthones have lots of bioactive properties, such as AntiOxidant, AntiInflammatory and Antibiotic capabilities.

Do your research, I know it helped my grandkids and my daughter.

good luck,
Oly