CONSTIPATION,TODDLER,PAIN,HOLDING IT IN, BABY

Hi my son went through a similar thing. He got that bad I would find him hiding in the corner with his legs crossed jumping up & down in pain & trying to hold it in. I took him to several doctors & they kept telling me to change his diet & give him more water. This went on for about two yrs. His stomach would get that bloated & you would see & feel lumps in their. I Finally got very persistent & pushed to see a specialist who prescribed him with strong laxatives. This did not work as he started vomitting up brown gunk (poo?). By this stage he didnt poo he had what they called overflow. He would regulary have poo liquid that would flow out without him realizing. Every 2 hrs would have to change his pants. They ended up admitting him to hospital & put a tube through his mouth into his stomach & pumped water to flush him out. They said this would only take a couple of hours. It ended up taking 2 days. His bowel was so stretched that it was full & that was why their was overflow he wasnt actually passing number 2. For two years after he had to do special excercise to try and get his bowel back to normal size as it ended up being 5 times bigger than an adults and had to keep him on laxatives so that he passed every day. If he missed 2 days he was back in hospital to be flushed. They have no idea what started this but could have been all due to a sml tear or cut. So my advice is dont weight get a second opinion or push to see a peadiatrician.
Tash

hi my daughter is 1yr old and she has problems with constipation also, it is the most terrible thing watching her try to take a pooh and cry about it. I'm going to try the hemp seeds (i figure it can hurt) prunes do seam to help but i don't want to her to have slow bowels from them. what are we to do it seams doctors can't even help???? It realy gets me mad, i wounder if it an allergy or iratable bowel syndrom???? Since she is only 1 i worrie that she will associate poohing with pain , in the future, which woulf make things worse...i'm hoping to get it under control before she associates it with pain........good luck to all of you..this page helped...conserned mommy

After reading everyone's posts from the last few months, I feel a little less isolated but no less stressed. My daughter has been on profolaxis antibiotics for the past year because of a urinary issue (VUR) and has been struggling with constant yeast infections. For the past month, she has been having trouble pooping on and off and is so stressed out about the idea that I can see the habit forming in front of my eyes. She is getting more and more interested in using the potty, but is still resisting pooping anywhere. She has such a pathetic look on her face when she is trying to hold it in. I am at my wits end and have no idea what to do. I agree that we all need some more progressive advice. Our kids are not only illustrating "mind over matter" (in a very negative way), but probably developing immunitites to all of the traditional remedies. Their bodies and minds are adjusting.
What should we do?!!!!

Been there and done that for 1 year now....my daughter is 2.3 yrs old and has had the same problem you guys are talking about...it all boils down to them being scared to death that the 'hard' poos are going to hurt. I know and you know it's their heads....not sure how to make her realize it except with time (or hypnosis which I don't really believe in but willing to try anything now)....I hate to see my child in pain and feeling helpless. We are on the percription laxitive now too and things seem to improve but I want it FIXED b/f she goes to school b/c you can't control things there. Thanks for all the advice and I am going to look up soluable fibers like the one mommy suggested and give it a shot too.

I am in the same vote as everyone else when it comes to toddler constipation. My daughter is almost 3, not potty trained and suffers with severe constipation. This has been going on since November 2006. I have been to the family dr. numerous times and his theory is FIBRE! I was told to use metamucil and glycerin suppositories. What a flaming mess my baby was in. She was is in so much distress, pain and fear to the point of not eating. I tried helping her out with getting her large bm's out and I was so scared for her health. I finally went to a pediatric walk in clinic, and the dr. was furious the family phsyician didn't refer my little one sooner. Oh I forgot the most important thing.......my family dr. said it was psychosymatic on my daughters part (I couldn't believe my ears). I had to give my daughter senokot liquid 1 tsp everynight before bed and 2 tbsps of mineral oil a day. This was almost impossible as senokot is hideous tasting and a toddler can only handle it mixed in the same thing for so long. It has been a huge battle, we also had to give her a fleet enema. Two weeks later she was still blocked and we had to give her another fleet. Finally we got it all out however she has a fissure and she screams bloody murder everytime she bm's She was having soft bm's for quite awhile and I stopped, assuming that she was finally okay. NOPE! I am back to square one. The senokot is natural and it is a great stool softener, the mineral oil is not good for a long period of use as it absorbs all the fat soluble vitamins found in the intestinal tract which essentially steals the important vitamins from the body that the body can't replace. This will eventually cause deficincies. I use flax seed oil with the senokot everyday. The flax seed oil that I get comes from a health food store in a bottle and has to be refrigerated(the freshest). This is the best I find and I have tried many. The oil helps soften the stool even more naturally and as well helps lubricate the intestinal tract so the stool comes out alot more smoothly and more importantly moms......less pain for your little ones. Google flax seed oil, mineral oil, talk to the nutritionists at health food stores. Check into family history as there may be more than toddler constipation(withholding) If your little one is constipated consider holding off on the fibre as this can cause the stool build up even more and become very hard causing a severe blockage. This I experienced first hand. I am in no way any kind of specialist or doctor or nutritionist. I am a mom who is trying to help my little one get through this ordeal and try to make it normal again for her.[/i][/b]

I just wanted to tell you all that I totally understand how helpless you feel when your child is hurting and you cannot really help. My daughter who just turned 2 also does the "holding it in" and goes into almost a rage when she has to poop but does not want to. This is affecting how much she eats, which is affecting her weight - which is concerning the doctors enough to warrant trips to a pediatrician. The doctor told me prunes and lots of liquid (she won't eat prunes anymore...) and stimulating the anus with your finger when you know they need to go. We also tried suppositories which don't really help and then another doctor told us to try Lactulose syrup. NOTHING WORKED. She has to get over the psychological part and then it is fine, but it is especially important that we as parents do not let the child get to the point of the hard hard stools which is what causes the horrible anticipation. I really had to encourage and pretty much demand my daughter to consume more liquids and fruits. and you really do have to be careful that you are not giving foods that cause constipation. And one more trick - although she will not drink prune juice or eat prunes anymore, I started giving her the prune juice in the same syringe as medicine and that gets her to take at least 5ml a day which helps a LOT with the hardness of stools. WATER WATER WATER! And I try and talk her through and get her to relax, and tell her to push it out and it won't hurt as much if she just pushes it out. Forget the potty training and let her squat wherever she wants until she can figure out that it is not the tragic event she is so scared of - sitting on the potty only makes it worse. The other thing that worked before is doing the deed in the water - but now she tries to jump out of the tub when she knows what is coming. Also a suggestion to keep the area well lubricated with vaseline when you know the event is coming - this will help with stretching/tearing from hard stools.
I know, it is torture for the little ones and for us adults that go through it with them. I hope this post helps!

It really is helpful to hear everyone's postings. My son is almost 3 and is starting to have trouble with "the poopies." He's had some large painful ones, and the idea of pooping is really starting to upset him, so he holds it in for a couple of days. We're not as far gone as some here (my heart goes out to you), and we're trying to keep things from getting too far gone. There are some great suggestions here.

One suggestion that I have not yet seen is a chiropractic adjustment. My little guy has been going to the chiropractor every 6-8 weeks, and she almost always has to do an adjustment to his SI joint. Evidently, all the falls that toddlers take can aggravate the SI joint and the process of elimination. It's not a miracle-cure, but we've found it does help.

So, we'll add that to the arsenal:
more water
Milk of Magnesia
more soluable fiber
less milk (he's got a dairy allergy, but rice milk tastes so good to him)
a chiropractic adjustment adjustment

mishine wrote:

I know exactly what you are all going through & I wish I could help you all. My daughter, who turned 3 in March, has had bowel movement/constipation problems since she was about 6 mos old. It has been horrible & has caused many problems. Her pediatrician told us to give her juice, give her apples, increase her fiber, etc. She was put on a laxative by the time she was 1 yr old. We finally got so fed up that we went to a pediatric GI specialist when she was 2 1/2 yrs old. He continued her on the laxative (Miralax powder) but w/a weaning schedule that would take about 8 mos. Well, with 2 mos to go and just 1/2 dose every other day, we're back to square one. I thought going to a homeopathic allergy specialist/nurse was helping, but after today I'm not sure what to think. She did determine that my daughter has food sensitivites that can cause constipation, so she's working on that w/her. There's no question that my little girl associates pooping with pain & physically holds it in. On the laxative, it just came out. Now that she has to push a bit on the lower dose, it freaks her out & she holds it. We're at our wit's end & don't know what to do. She spent 35 min on the toilet this AM holding in her poop. My husband & I are frustrated, angry, sad & scared by this. It sounds like you are all in the same boat. I guess it helps feeling that we're not alone, but in the meanwhile is there someone out there who can help our kids? If it's all in my daughter's head, is our next step a therapist? I just want her to poop normally & see it's no big deal. How do we end this vicious cycle? If anyone can suggest a way, please help. Thanks.

WOW! I am relieved to hear what you all are going through and that I am not the only mother who is in tears over this. My daughter, who turned 2 in August, has been dealing with constipation issues since she was 11 months. This has effected our family and our most patient baby sister. It can take more than 24 hours for her to pass a bowel movement. In this time, she will stand with her legs stiff as a board and scream, when we put her on the toilet she will fight us and keep her body straight not wanting to bend. During this she screams. The heartbreak is unfortgetable. The amount time we have spent in the bathroom with tears and extremely sore arms from holding her is unthinkable. I now think this is becoing a mental thing as can only be expected. Why would a toddler want to do something that would result in an "Ouie" However, this did not start out as a mental thing and that is why I am frustrated. I have made emergency trips to the doctor and have gotton the same feedback as all of you. We too are on the Mirilax schedule, but WHY? This doesn't seem right. When the doctore kept saying this was normal while not once even examining her down there or feeling for abnormalties in her tummy I demanded an ultrasound of her intestines and surrounding areas. How can you tell me nothing is wrong without looking? Luckly, well according to the same doctor, there was nothing irregualr, except a stool waiting. SURPRISE. Now we live in fear of the next bowel movement. The other horrible thing about this is when it happens in public or around people that do not know her history. They look at us like we are making our child suffer when if fact we are trying EVERYTHING to help her. How much and for how long to you take Mirilax, what do you do when SOY doesn't help after 8 months, how long do you forbid a child from bananas, cheese, or yogurt and is 40oz of water a day enough? Thanks for hearing me out. I wish we all could have more answers.

Yes, I agree with "roo", absolutely try flax oil! It also worked for my daughter. It's very good for the immune system, with all the essential fatty acids, but it also helps with constipation. It acts as a lubricant and has a laxative effect. My little girl was regularly holding it for 5 days at a time, now she can only hold it for 2 days, or 3 tops and she tries, believe me. Prune juice also helped, but she doesn't like it any more, so I couldn't force it. Flax oil is a good replacement for mineral oil, too. It's a lot healthier. Flax seed meal has good fiber, as well as the good oils. 2 tsp flax oil daily for toddler, maybe more for an older child. the recommended adult serving size is 2 Tbsp of flax oil. 2 Tbsp flax seed meal daily for a toddler to help move things through. I also give her fruit 4-5 times a day, as much as she will take. Pears, grapes - any fruit she will eat. Whole fruit is better than juice by far, but not dried fruit! They will need lots of water to rehydrate dry fruit, so no raisins. I give her sprouted grain bread, so it has no flour in it. I also give her high fiber pasta - 5 grams in a serving. It seems to help, but I avoid all white bread, tortillas, pasta and any grain products low in fiber. No bananas, rice, cooked carrots or cooked squash! They can constipate. I hope this helps. My daughter still has painful poops and doesn't want to go because it hurts, but it's much better than it was. When she was first constipated, she would go 10 days without pooping, but after making these changes to her diet, we're down to 2-3 days, usually 2. And I never have to help pull out a 3 inch diameter poop that she can't push all the way out. Not anymore.