Conference moira::parenting_v3

    
    
    What about Prune juice/fruit.  I tried both and they seemed to work
    with my 15 mo. Also, another one is raisins, what's good about it is
    joey will sit in his chair and eat them "all" one by one.  
    
    
    -Nadine
    

    Make sure she is getting pleanty of fluids.  Check with your pedi.  I
    know some people for whom prunes have the opposite effect of what is
    expected.  Make sure she is getting pleanty of fiber.  I wouldn't give
    her any over the counter meds without checking with a pedi.  I seem to
    recall times when my daughter had dificulty.  It usually correated to
    fluid intake.

    I forgot to add in my base note that her pedi was the one who
    suggested the Malt Supex.  It's ultra expensive (approx. $25.00
    for 8 oz.) and it seemed to work well in the beginning, but now
    she seems to be immune to it.  It seems I'm constantly giving her
    fruit and she's definately getting plenty of fiber and liquids,
    but always goes back to her regular (which is irregular) state
    after a day or so of relief.  I feel like I'm becoming obsessed
    with this and always the first thing out of my mouth to her sitter
    is "Did Ally poop today?"  Her reply is usually "No, not yet."
    
    - K

    If she's working so hard as to get tears in her eyes, perhaps it's time
    to have the pedi check for something other than "just constipation".
    Perhaps a spastic colon?  Also, the suggestion about metamucil would be
    a good one to discuss with the pedi.
    
    best of luck,
    

    P.S. I forgot to add - it's not the irregularity that should disconcert
    you as much as the possible difficulty in passing.  I was just reading
    something the other day which discussed the general obsession with
    regularity meaning once a day. Her pattern may differ from that. But if
    there's undue effort and/or pain associated, then there should be
    further examination as to why.
    
    Again, best of luck,
    

    My son (now 26 months) has had a similar problem since he was around
    9 months.  We've tried everything (Malt Supax,prunes, change in diet,
    etc) on Pedi's orders.  Our latest (& so far working) is to put approx.
    1 tablespoon of Mineral Oil in Rob's juice. Since we started this in
    April, we've only had 1 week of the constipation problem.
    The Pedi told me that this is quite common & he'll grow out of it, but
    to keep him on this regime for at least another 3 months & then start
    cutting back on the oil.
    Good luck.  I know this to be a real heartbreaker.
    
    Beth

    I was going to suggest the mineral oil also, that is what they gave me
    in the hospital after having my son, so it would be easer for me when I
    did go.  My son Alex had this problem when he was about 3 months old
    and the pedi suggested baby supositories and they helped him out alot. 
    He does not have this problem any more but we keep them in the fridge
    just incase.  Your daughter might have a blockage in her bowel track
    which is common in young children.  They have a name for it but I can't
    remember what it is.  If this is your child's problem be prepared to
    have her go into the hospital so that they can correct this becasue
    this is the only way that they can fix it.
    
    But try the mineral oil and also the baby/child supositories.
    
    
    Liz

    For what its worth, our pedi and most of my reading recommend AGAINST 
    using the suppositories, especially on a regular basis.   I guess the 
    reasoning is that it doesn't get at the root cause of the problem and 
    doesn't help the baby learn to move their bowels on his/her own.   So,
    you might want to consult your dr. before using them.
    
    cj/

    
    I have the exact same problem with my 2 year old.  He's had difficulty
    as far back as I can remember.  The pedi has suggested the Maltsupex,
    suppositories, prunes, bran (he hates it but I hide it in muffins).
    We also did the mineral oil for a while, but there is something about
    using it long term, like it obstructs the body's ability to absorb
    some vitamins.  Once you stop using it, that side effect goes away.
    We've had him checked out and they say that he might just be an
    "ineffective pusher" and constantly asking if he pooped was distracting
    him from actually doing it.  For a while there it seemed the more attention
    we paid to the problem, the worse it got, so I tried not to pay
    attention when he would strain (REALLY difficult to do since
    he's hurting).  Pedi says that he'll out grow it.  
    
    I'd try to force fluids.  I thought Tommy was getting enough fluids too, 
    but when I give him some extra liquids at nighttime, he seems to be 
    "productive" during the night.
    
    
    Good luck.  I know it terribly upsetting to see them strain so hard.
    
    -dorothy
    

    
    Kate:
    
    JA first experienced constipation at about 3'ish months of age.  We
    used the First-Foods-Prunes (there's whipped to death!) - 1/2 tsp every
    morning.  As she got older, we switched over to the regular-strained
    ones (Beechnut/Gerber) and increased to 1 tsp.  Now, at one year of
    age, JA gets 1 tbl. of prunes with EVERY breakfast and it keeps her
    very regular (but every kid is different!).  It's very noticeable if we
    skip just ONE dosage -- I guess JA NEEDS prunes daily.
    
    I know of people who don't "go" daily -- and are OK, and I know of
    people who used Metamucil (and other over-the-counter meds) who became
    "immune to them" after regular useage.  Not sure what the answers here
    are?  I'd probably keep pulled into my Pedi on this one.
    
    JA also drinks A LOT (even at the cost of eatting less) ... but I
    haven't tried to curtail this any as she's an average size, healthy and
    gets at least 1-2 balanced meals daily ... usually it's lunch she's
    figity with ... and gets a swig of vitamins in the morning, too.
    
    Good luck, Kate.
    Dottie
    

    You might want to keep track of the actual volume of liquids she's
    taking in.  What seems like a lot still might not be enough.  
    
    I read this in a woman's magazine a couple of years ago, so I
    don't know how reliable it is -- maybe one of the medical experts
    can confirm or correct:
    
    The article said that for a child, "lots of fluids" means 6 to 8
    8-oz glasses of juice, water, or other liquids every day.  For an
    adult, 8 to 10.   That's a lot of water.  The article claimed
    that's about twice what the average American normally drinks.  
    
    After that I started making a point of drinking more water, and I
    seem to feel better since then.  Not anything specific, just
    generally less sluggish.
    
    --bonnie

    Well, this note sure struck home with me! My daughter has had this
    problem since she was four-five months old. The only things that have
    worked for her have been mineral oil (mentioned in an earlier reply)
    and prune juice. When she was on the mineral oil regularly, we also
    made sure she took vitamins with iron (the mineral oil does block the
    absorption of vitamins and iron, so you MUST give the child the extra
    vitamins). It took alot of experimenting and patience, but we seemed to
    have finally found a routine that works (about 1/3 cup of prune juice every
    other day).
    
    My daughter had some terrible experiences trying to make (the poop was
    extremely hard and would be the amount that an adult would have) and I
    was desperate for a solution. Now I realize that she may always have
    this problem. So if the 1/3 cup of prune juice each day stops working,
    we'll try something else. But I will NEVER let it get as bad as I just
    described again.
    
    Please call or write me if you want to talk about this. Jamie and I
    have been through hell and back with this.
    
    Nancy

    I am at this time actively seeing a child psycologist who specializes
    in children's toileting problems.  For AJ the problem is the result of
    having a colostomy for his first 17 months of life.  He too was not
    completely emptying his bowels.  The psycologist is working with the
    surgeon and here's what he's suggested, and seems to finally giving us
    real sucess.
    
    Give him 3 (up to 4) teaspoons of mineral oil each day, with a high
    fiber diet. (Oatmeal works as well as bran)  
    
    If there is no bowel movement after 3 days then use suppositories or
    enema.
    
    For some kids elimination once every 2 to 3 days IS perfectly normal
    
    and the most important advise DON'T get hung up on daily movements.
    
    (Will be glad to give you this doctor's name off line)
    
    re .8  I believe the blockage term you're looking for is called
    "Obstapation"  translated into Obstructive (of bowel) constapation.
    
    Lyn
    

    
    
    I don't at all mean to make light of this--but please do be careful as
    your child gets older when you ask about things like "did you poop
    today," -- "let me see it", etc.
    
    About 9 years ago, we were visiting close friends in Worcester.  Their
    nephew, who was 12 at the time, was staying with them for the week.
    My husband, who was a medical intern at the time, had his first night
    off in over a month.  This was a BIG night out for us!
    
    Anyway, right before dinner was served, Michael started complaining of
    bad stomach cramps--and became doubled over.  My husband examined him
    and couldn't find anything wrong--but he was only an intern at the time
    and what did he know?  The upshot--we all ended up in the emergency
    room at Memorial Hospital.
    
    The emergency room doctors did all kinds of blood work--ran all kinds
    of tests--and after about 2 hours, determind the kids was "F.I.S."
    Translation in medical terms?  "Full of sh-t"--literally.
    
    Michael's parents had always insisted on seeing his poops before he
    flushed them down the toilet.  He did not want to have to show his
    poops to my friends--so he held them in.  He was so stopped up that
    they had to give him 3 enemas right there in the emergency room to
    clean him out.
    
    When we got back to our friends house, Michael went to bed and the four
    of us were incredulous.  But apparently, parents get tracked into this
    kind of thing and keep it going for years.  
    
    My husband and I still laugh about the time he got stuck in the
    emergency room of Memorial Hospital (with a constipated kid) on the
    only night off he was to have both that month--and the month after.
    
    The funniest of our "intern war stories!"
    
    Bonnie
    
    

    A mention of iron supplements reminded me . . . iron supplements can
    themselves cause constipation.  At least they do for me.  
    
    --bonnie

    Thanks, everybody, for all of your suggestions.  It helps knowing
    that this problem is not too uncommon.  Now, I believe it was Wednesday
    when I entered this note and that night after dinner I gave Allyson
    some raisins for dessert.  She munched them down and seemed quite
    happy.  On Thursday, everything went fine.  I gave her more raisins
    Thursday night, and Friday night, and Saturday, etc. and the problem
    seems to have cleared itself up.  (Hope I'm not speaking too soon.)
    But if the problem shows up again (meaning if she becomes immune to
    raisins) I'll contact her pedi again and take the mineral oil route.
    I'm hoping this works...
    
    re: .15
    
    I'd say your friends' nephew's parents are way passed the point of
    being obsessed.  I feel so bad for that poor kid and I hope your
    friends spoke to his parents.
    
    Thanks again everyone,
    Kathryn
    

    I'm glad to hear that the raisins are working.  My daughter also
    has this problem, but only if she has too many dairy products.
    She can only have 1 glass of milk/day and only an occasional treat
    of cheese.  She cannot have even a teaspoon of yogurt, which
    unfortunately she loves.
    
    I truly sympathize with your situation.
    
    Diana

    
    
    Diane,
    
    I am glad that the "raisins" helped!!  I still use them for Joey.  Box
    a day keeps the constipation away.  The only part I dislike is the
    after effects in the "diaper"!! YUK!!
    
    
    -Nadine