constipation...updated

[gatorsmom]

I would try Miralax, it's otc and very commonly given to children. It's tasteless and easy to give, it's not really a laxative in the sense of a true laxative (not like milk of magnesia). I know lots of adults and children who take it without issue.

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I've been taking Miralax and giving it to my kids for years. They frequently get constipated. The miralax is so gentle and is just nice for getting things moving again. In the past 12 years of using it regularly for myself or my kids, I've never experienced a side effect or heard of one.

I am also a big fan of Citrucel but not the pills. I find the pills don't do anything. But the powder works and tastes ok. I'd also consider giving your DD a gentle stool softener. If your daughter is making skid marks, that's a sign her intestines are impacted with old, dry poop. Getting things softened in there should make it less painful. Also, I'd let her read a book or comic while in the bathroom. That might help her relax and not avoid going to the bathroom when she needs to go. Sometimes when the poop is hard and it hurts, kids will avoid going which just makes the problem worse.

[mom2binsd]

Yes to the comment about the poop getting hard. DS had never had issues and then about a year ago he complained of stomach pain, said he thought he had a bladder infection (not sure why he though that), anyway, went to the ped who did a UA, no UTI, but did an external exam, felt around his abdomen and sent us for an ultrasound at the hospital across the street. Got a call back that evening, his colon was FULL of impacted poop, even though DS had been going everyday, it just got built up. We did a 3 day Miralax clean out, and boy did it work, DS said he couldn't believe all the poop that he pooped. The clean out involved 4x the regular dose. Most people will see gentle movement of the bowels within 12 hours of the regular dose, without cramping etc. I also don't know of any side effects, after my hemmorhoid surgery I had to take it for a long time as the healing took forever.

I also like the idea of having a book or something in the bathroom, isn't that where everyone reads????

[boilermakermom]

I would start Miralax and see if that seems to help. I used to give it to my DS every other day and it seemed to do the trick, no side effects. Try to up the water intake. How is her diet? Cheese often binds people up, maybe cut back.

You could add watermelon into her diet as well.

[dogmom]

If this is a long standing problem as opposed to just as few weeks to month you need to visits your pediatrician for an assessment. Unfortunately that may or may not help depending on how up your pediatrician is on these things. They can assess for constipation and enlarged colon and may even do an X-ray. So you are looking for at two scenarios here.

1) Short term problem: She needs a clean out. The easiest thing to do is dose her on one cap of miralax twice a day until she basically has diarrhea and then cut back to 1/4-1/2 cap for a week or two and see if she can get back to something more normal. It sounds like she is really backed up and she is too far behind to do this naturally.

2) Chronic Problem: May eldest went through this, it was a long saga. He was younger, but basically he both was prone to constipation and withheld his stool when he was young. This led to him have a chronically enlarged colon. It happens in kids and adults. This is where some pediatricians mess up. Because the colon is enlarged you can do a clean out, but it’s just going to fill up again. The colon take 6-8 months to heal and sort of go back to normal. He was on a daily dose of miralax, chocolate ex-lax at lunch time, sitting on toilet after dinner. (It doesn’t have to be after dinner, but it should be after a meal and clearly that wasn’t going to be lunch time in school.) He was younger so there was a lot of positive reinforcement and reward charts. He also had trouble with urinary incontinence, partly due constipation in pre-school. Also wet the bed until puberty. So something wasn’t quite all wired right down there. (At 17 and perfectly find I’m sure he’s thrilled I’m sharing these details.)

I would say go with 1, and if this is a one chronic problem do some reading on chronic constipation in children and see if you want to explore 2 as a possible issue. Some people see a diet connection, I kept track and could never find any correlation so gave up on that angle for my DS, but clearly it’s a factor for some kids.

[elizamom]

My DS2 sometimes gets constipated. We had one bout that was severe and he needed an enema. Every other time, I just have him drink a lot of water and get moving. Sometimes he gets into a squatting position on the floor--he seems to think this helps to begin to get things moving.

[diamond]

Updated in the original post

[MSWR0319]

I suggest talking to an allergist before assuming she does have a dairy allergy. A lot of times there can be false positives, so you'll need an allergist to help decipher if it's a true allergy or not. Dairy can definitely add to constipation, so reducing it isn't a bad idea but it may not be necessary to cut it all out. All too often non-allergists run allergy tests and tell you you're allergic to something when you aren't and you're cutting food out unnecessarily. DS's pediatrician ran blood tests when he first reacted to peanuts and told us to cut out wheat and dairy. Allergist said, no way, false positives and we've never had issues since. He based that on a negative skin test and no reaction when eating.

[diamond]

I suggest talking to an allergist before assuming she does have a dairy allergy. A lot of times there can be false positives, so you'll need an allergist to help decipher if it's a true allergy or not. Dairy can definitely add to constipation, so reducing it isn't a bad idea but it may not be necessary to cut it all out. All too often non-allergists run allergy tests and tell you you're allergic to something when you aren't and you're cutting food out unnecessarily. DS's pediatrician ran blood tests when he first reacted to peanuts and told us to cut out wheat and dairy. Allergist said, no way, false positives and we've never had issues since. He based that on a negative skin test and no reaction when eating.

Thank you, I think we will see an allergist...

[MSWR0319]

Coming back because I didn't answer some of the questions. Usually allergic shiners are not caused by food allergies. Not saying they can't be food related, but more often they are caused by seasonal allergies or something like dust mites, as are the runny nose, sneezing, etc. Another reason to get an allergist involved is because some kids can eat different forms of dairy depending on their allergies, which is where an allergist can also help you sort out if it is a true allergy. So even if it is an allergy she may be able to still eat some forms. My nephew can't eat anything with dairy without going anaphylactic. My friend's son can eat baked dairy, and I have another friend who's child can eat anything unless it has liquid milk in it and hasn't been heated. It's all about how your body reacts to proteins.

[NCGrandma]

Coming back because I didn't answer some of the questions. Usually allergic shiners are not caused by food allergies. Not saying they can't be food related, but more often they are caused by seasonal allergies or something like dust mites, as are the runny nose, sneezing, etc. Another reason to get an allergist involved is because some kids can eat different forms of dairy depending on their allergies, which is where an allergist can also help you sort out if it is a true allergy. So even if it is an allergy she may be able to still eat some forms. My nephew can't eat anything with dairy without going anaphylactic. My friend's son can eat baked dairy, and I have another friend who's child can eat anything unless it has liquid milk in it and hasn't been heated. It's all about how your body reacts to proteins.

Very good advice. The only thing I’d add from my own and my family’s (extensive!) experience is the importance of a good allergist. If the first one you see seems to use a cookie cutter approach to a very individualized condition, keep looking. Also, don’t be surprised if some allergists focus mainly on seasonal/environmental allergies and may not be as up to date about food allergies.

I’m NOT trying to be discouraging — hopefully you’ll have some options and find a good fit the first time.


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