constipation, what do i do?

my little tommy i think is quite constipated. while its always seemed hard for him to poop (and when he does its usually very smelly little pellets) even with those its a struggle for him to pass them. and lately its been really hard for him. so hard that he gets into a pushup position and grunts and grunts and cries.
i give him fruit and juice and stuff, and hes only 12 mos old! he has a doctors appt next tues, so im going to talk to her about it then, but what should i do until then? i dont know of any childrens medicine to give for constipation!
help!

~~Mel

I hope he feels better try prune juice

This post has been edited by gr33n3y3z on May 16 2007, 09:21 AM

my son has the same issue. he's 9 mo and when he poos it's usually very hard. what i do (pedi instructed me to do) is t give him liquids (water mostly), like an extra 8oz bottle or 2 of just water and it makes a big difference. i also give him plenty of apples, pruns, and bannas (high fibor foods/juices)

good luck

juice and prunes and such never worked for Eliana. she has chronic constipation. Miralax is now over the counter. cheapest place to get it is at walmart. it's in a fushia colored bottle.

We've dealt with this ongoing issue with our daughter...

Avoide foods that constipate... the big culprits are bananas and cheese. My daughter loves these but we have to eat them in moderation. French fries seem to really constipate my daughter as well.

Eat lots of "P" fruits (Prunes, pineapples, pears, plums, etc). Will he drink prune juice? If not, white apple grape juice is a good thing as well.

The "hot cereals" such as oatmeal are good and full of fiber.

We have a prescription for "emergencies" but seldom have to use it if we follow the dietary recommendations listed above.

Lauren is now on a daily ration of 1 cap of miralax, 2 t mineral oil and 1 fiber con tablet. With that specific formula, she will poop every day sometimes twice. Before that, she was so clogged up that she'd gotten a fissure and then it got really bad. Things have been moving well lately (pun totally intended) and we don't have to go back to the GI doc for a month. If she keeps going well, we will slow down on the meds.

Talk to your ped about miralax. I'm not sure about the age/dose for a baby but basically, what it does is reconstitues the poop making it softer and easier to pass. It's much more gentle than other laxatives and the pediatric GI said it was not habit forming.

Any idea how much dairy your son is consuming in a day ? When Sammy was about 1, he started getting constipated. Turns out it was because we were giving him WAY too much dairy. I cant remember how much is too much, though. ( I think no more than 24 oz total (total as in formula, milk, cheese,,etc) - but I'm not sure of the exact amount.)

I wouldnt wait until your appointment next week -- I'd call your pediatrician right away.

Constipation sucks -- I always feel so bad for them

Good luck.

he drinks usually 3 bottles (sometimes 4) 6 oz bottles of milk. most of the time he doesnt even drink all of the milk in the bottle. he does eat a slice of cheese for lunch usually...but thats about it. he eats a lot of pasta. could that be doing it?
i am going to go look for that lax when i go shopping this weekend, thanks for the advice. i am also going to call his dr probably this afternoon.
im just glad hes pooping. i know its bad when hes constipated, but when he was 1 week old he wasnt pooping and that led us to take him to the dr and found out he had pyloric stinosis and had to have surgery! i hope that its not coming back..... my moms friend had to have the surgery twice.

At what point did you go to a GI? My daughter has chronic constipation too - has since she was about 1 1/2 - she is on miralax too - without it she goes almost everyday but they are like little rabbit terds (sorry TMI) - I am wondering at what point I should push the Ped for more investigation into it...her biggest effect from it is it hurts to go and she doesn't eat as well - probably cause she is backed up.......but I have to be careful with the miralax - if I give it everyday she gets the opposite effect....

ok i dont know what i did, but now hes far from constipated! hes been pooping twice a day and has a horrible rash. i think it might be the new juice i bought for him. i got him the v8fusion juice, with fruit and veggies in it. im not sure if thats it. i feel like such a horrible mother! how could i let his bottom get this red???

One of my four month olds Alayna was so constipated. Her doctor said to try apple juice, it helped almost immediately. Good Luck.

Prune juice, prune baby food, Karo syrup in his bottle (just a little will get him going).

My dd has had consipation problems since she was only a few months old and only brestfeed. She is now also on miralax everyday. Before the doctor had Madison prescibed (it is now over the counter) to the Miralax, she had me give her mineral oil 1-3 tbs and milk of magnesia 1-3tbs as well. She had her trying that at only a few months old, although it did not work well for her.

I am trying to get the doctor to refer her to a GI doctor too, I will really push it at her next visit. I mean it can not be normal to have to take miralax everyday so that she can poop. Good luck.