My daughter just turned 2 and has had issues with hard stools and holding her poop for over 6 months. Her diet is excellent, she eats mostly organic; tons of fruits, vegetables, ground flax, fish oil, probiotics and recently started a small dose of magnesium in her juice to loosen her stools. I have also been giving her natural lax from Vitamin Cottage to just try to keep things moving. I also keep her away from dairy as much as possible - she drinks rice milk. My doctor told me to put her on Miralax which I did for about 6 weeks. Although her stools were very loose, she was still holding it in for up to 5-7 days. After doing a lot of research on Miralax, I decided that there had to be better, more natural options for helping her. This all started over 6 months ago with a few hard stools that hurt, so now she holds it in and of course that compacts the stools even worse and then when it comes out it hurts even worse to the point of having rectal bleeding (however very little). She won't go near the toilet, we have tried bribes of her favorite desserts, stickers, parties after the poop comes out, etc. Nothing helps. I realize that most of this is psychological and I am happy to hear ANY new suggestions that are out there and preferably not medication related. This is truly driving me crazy that I can't help her. It's such a tough thing for her - I am out of ideas of what to do. Thank you very much.
Both of my daughters were, and are the same way. It does get better once they are potty trained for awhile, but that could be a year away. Rice milk can be as constipating as dairy, because rice is so binding. My girls are on goat's milk now, which has helped. Hope this helps!
I've been there w/my kid and so has my sister. We both swear by this bread that was recommended to my sister by her kid's pediatric gastroenterologist. It's called Granny's Delight High Fiber Bread. It says right on the bag that it has 6 grams high fiber and that even kids love the smooth taste and texture. My 2 yr old had the same exact problem you are describing and I tried the bread. I give one peace every day at breakfast as toast w/butter and jam and by the afternoon they are asking to go #2. NO BEGGING THEM, THEY ARE ASKING TO GO. It may take a few days for this to start this but it works. When we miss a few days of the bread it's back to us begging them to sit on the potty and go and them holding it in. I found this at Walmart. Good luck. Maybe it will work for you too.
2 tsps of Miralax and adjust 1/2 tsps at a time.
My son is two and I just took him to a gastrointestinal specialist. She explained that the Miralax does not go into the blood stream. It works alot like fiber. The little granuals go into the intestine and draw in water into the stool and makes it softer. I had to do this with both of my boys and they are so much happier. My two year old will still withhold but we are slowly working up the dose to fit his own body. I highly recommend using the Miralax. I wish there was another way but no matter how much I got them to drink for eat fiber nothing seemed to help but this.
I completely understand your pain. I had cried many times watching the pain they go through in order to poop and I have had to help them on numerous occassions and this has been the most rewarding way. The doctor has also reassured me that their body will not become dependant on it since it doesn't enter the blood stream and that eventually we will be able to take them off of it completely. She also stated that dairy products are a big contributing factor but with them being so young you really don't want to cut that out. So until they are older and you can adjust their diet this really is the best way that we have found to handle it.
Hope that helps you.
A.
My son had a similar issue. I used massage therapy to help him. There are books and online resources to teach you to do it yourself. If you have a massage therapist for yourself they should be able to show what to do. It is an abdominal massage that doesnt hurt done 2-3 times a day it takes roughly 2-3 min. It helps the bowls move through the system smoothly. It should help. Good luck
I don't know how to help you with out medical help, but thought I would tell you my story.
My son is now almost 7 years old but when he was about 1 1/2 he had the same problem. We went to the doc and were told to give him benefiber and miralax. The benefiber obviously was to give extra fiber and the miralax to loosen stools. We were told that he would need to take the miralax anywhere from 6 months to over a year. It wasn't because that is how long we would need to loosen the stools, but because we would need to keep them loose while we retaught him that it doesn't hurt to have a bowel. It worked wonders and I don't know if I would have ever done anything different.
You are totally correct with problem being psychological. YOu need to make sure that she is constantly loose enough for at least 6 months so that she has a long enough experience to know that it doesn't hurt.
Our daughter had the same problem that started at the same age and only got worse. Her Dr put her on Miralax an she was on it for about two years. She still held it in and when it finally came out it would be in her pants, not the toilet, Her Dr just kept increasing her dose.It got so bad we took her to see a child therapist and that is when we learned about incopresis, and Dr Robert Collins. You can look it up online.His program saved our daughter, it wasn't easy but it worked. you have to break the cycle of her holding it in and the Miralax just makes them feel like they have to go all the time so they hold it more.Your daughter is still young so you can take care of it early and it will be much easier. Good Luck
I recognize that I am responding to an old post and believe the concern has already been resolved. Maybe issue is her attachment to what is hers. What about asking her to let the poopy out to play with the other poopy? If you explained to her that it's like a pet, and when it goes into the sewer it gets to play with others, she may be more likely to let it go.
I had a similar problem with my 2nd child and the only thing that stopped him from holding it in anymore was going to the hospital because he couldn't pee. He had held in his poop so much that he was extremely constipated and the pee couldn't come out. After that experience (he was almost 3 at the time) he has never held it in again.
I don't really have any advice on getting her to stop holding it. I just wanted to share my experience so you know you are not alone. Good luck!
Make it a GREAT day!
S.
I feel for you! We went through the same thing with my daughter. It sounds like you are doing everything right as far as diet and supplements go to help her poop not be so hard. You could try adding prune juice. As far as not wanting to go, we just asked our daughter if she wanted a "special poopoo diaper" and usually she did. We'd put her in a diaper to poop and then change it and go back to the undies. We only did this for about 2 weeks and then she started having interest in pooping in the potty again. I don't know what it is about pooping in the potty for little ones but there is definitely some psychological things that go on. I think that if you make it so they HAVE to go (prune juice) and then maybe let up on the potty for a bit, maybe she can relax a bit. Good luck, I know that feeling of helplessness :)
Hi,
I don't have much advice, but I wanted to share one thing. I have a little boy who is 2 1/2 and for about the last 3 months he regularly goes about 5 days between going poopy. He goes on the potty and tells me when it's coming and everything, so he's not holding it in. He's just on a 5 day cycle instead of a 24-48 hour cycle. So if she goes 5-7 days, that might be natural for her. Just something to think about.
Hi there,
We have experienced a few of the same things with our daughter. We did miralax for over 7 months, then I decided I didn't want my daughter on miralax for the rest of her life so this is what we did.... Half prune juice half water with 1 heaping tsp. of the Natural and Clear (not the gritty stuff) fiber mix in her first sippy cup of water for the day.
1 x a day we either give her a baby food container of prunes or pears. These both help keep her regular and if she does get a bit backed up, we will give her 2 containers of the prunes or pears. It has worked like a charm and for us, much healthier than Miralax, even though her dr. insisted Miralax is ok and not habit forming.
Warm water with lemon 1st thing in the am is good to if you can get her to drink it.
Good luck to you!
No reason to worry about using MiraLax--the stuff isn't even absorbed. All those other things you are giving is what is worrisome. A person can get too much magnesium...what is in that fish oil? Any mercury? What makes you think dairy is making her constipated? Kids need a lot of Calcium and Vit D!
Those "natural products" have no regulation so the company can put whatever they want in the product, and all the company wants is to make money. Nobody ensures the label says what is actually in the product.
We have needed to use Miralax for my son, who is now seven. I have a very conservative, low-intervention pediatrician, an he said it's always better to treat any bowel problem from above (starting orally and moving through the digestive tract) than from below (with suppositories and the like). Miralax is inert and just adds moisture to dry stools; since our son has an extra-long colon that removes too much moisture from his stools, this was the right fit for him. We used Miralax for a week or so at a time with a dose every day, and then when we had a couple days of regular, non-straining stooling, we went back to a regular high-fiber diet or occasionally something like Senekot, which was also recommended by my pediatrician. You might like it, since it's all-natural--it's pretty much baby prune juice, concentrated. The Miralax was just to get re-regulated.
Human milk has a natural laxative effect and definitely qualifies as "natural"! If you are no longer nursing, consider asking a friend who is for some milk to offer your daughter in a sippy cup or the like. Maybe that weirds you out, but it would be very wholesome and nourishing while softening things up.
It also sounds like she just might not be ready for toileting.
You definitely do not want this to turn into encopresis, since that can damage the colon area. Getting things moving in a regular (and that may mean less than once a day for her) is important.
Best wishes!
We had something similar happen with our daughter (now 5). Try setting up the bathroom with books to look at, even an etch a sketch or something fun just for "poop time". Sounds like you're on track with her diet - we also did a tablespoon per day of Calcium Magnesium from Vitamin Cottage. Also sometimes we'd give her 2-3 prunes with breakfast.
Is she more comfortable going in a diaper? If she just turned 2 then maybe she is not ready to go in the potty yet and that is the real issue. I would suggest putting her back in diapers for a couple of weeks or even a few months to see if she is happier and going more regularly. You can always go back to potty training when she is a little older.
She may just not be ready to go on the potty at this time.
