HELP,HELP-TODDLER "HOLDING IT IN"

[marymary]

I am desperately asking for help. My just turned 4 yr old is holding in her bowel movements. We've tried everything from not trying to make a big deal out of it to yelling to try to get her to go. she already eats lots of fruit & we've added more fibre to her diet, but nothing seems to help when she squeezes her butt cheeks when she's got the feeling to go. We've also tried flax seed oil, and resorted to using ex-lax. I know its all in her mind, but we're at our witts end and don't know what else to do.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Valencia]

I truly understand your child's situation since I've had constipation problems since a teenager and I'm still suffering from it even now. Western doctors will give you fibres and laxatives which don't help much. If your child is having lots of fruits and fibres, then she'll need to drink more water and juice, otherwise the fibres in her bowels will just aggravate the problem. Green leaved vegetables and yam have stronger fibres than the water soluble fibres of fruits. Exercises and walking help. Avoid fried food and baked food, since it is the main cause of constipation. Milk and honey help.

Have you ever come across the Chinese term "hot air"? It means dryness in the body, caused mainly by fried and baked food and dry weather. The browner the food is, the more hot air it has. As a remedy, we drink herbal tea. Sachets of Chrysanthemum and herbal tea help. Since your child is only 4, I don't recommend her drinking it too often. Nevertheless, a proper diet without fried or baked food is the remedy. From my experience, people with constipation need 2 or 3 times the fruits and water of normal people. Fruits like orange, watermelon, prunes and prickly pear are especially good for constipation.

Massaging her tummy also helps her bowel movement. Hope this helps.

[TanyaH]

My brother swears by figs and prune juice. His 6 year old daughter had dreadful constipation.

Attached is a great link on it- which may give you some ideas. Failing that, speak to a health visitor - they are incredibly understanding and can help her to realise that this is not her fault.

http://askdrsears.com/html/8/T081100.asp

[vmsmom]

wow; please let me know if you come across a solution. my 2 yr old daughter has done this since birth. very healthy happy child but wont let it come out. we are on day 13 of no movement. have tried everything there is.

[odm_post]

My daughter had this problem for about 1 year when she was 2. That's the most terrible thing I've ever had to go through in bringing up my children.... seeing her face turn red with bead of sweats on her face and back, trying to squeeze IT out. Well..... at that time her diet was just horrible, no fruits or vegetables at all! You know how 2-years-old are!!!!

My daughter became lazy and scared of going to poo after a while, and later on we realized that she had constipation. It's a vicious cycle! She dreaded going to poo and the poo just got harder and harder. When I took her to the dr, I was explained that first we had to let her know that poo didn't always mean pain, so we had to make it soft so that she'd go willingly, not holding it back because of the fear of the pain!

It's a long term treatment, but it worked for her!
She was prescribed AGAROL, you can get it from the pharmacy in Central. Can't remember the name, maybe PANDA? It's World Wide House. She had to take 5ml in the beginning, but nothing happened, so we had to increase it to 8-10ml. It's not a laxative. I can't remember what's the name of the ingredient, it's just one kind of natural oil, that'll eventually be discharged from the body when she actually has some movements.
Is she constipated? Then, you might want to give her just 1 dose of laxative (my daughter was given SURLAX), just as to "clear away" the blockage, so the passage is clear the next time she has some movements.

The whole treatment took about 8 months.Thank God is over now! I'd recommend Agarol to anybody whose children have contipation problem.

Hope this help!

[prisneo]

Hi there

You can try give papaya, prune juice and even giving barley with barley water. Heard that pumpkin can also help but no banana for constipation.

[casparmum]

I sympathise. My daughter (now 4) started with awful constipation aged 18 months. Her diet has always been full of fruit, but she wasn't drinking enough. I gave her freshly squeezed oranges every morning, kiwi fruit, soft fruit, everything, and nothing made any difference. I bought homeopathic stuff and it made no difference. She had some anal fissures because her poos were so hard and big and there would sometimes be blood when I wiped her bottom. We tried a suppository in desperation and that was awful. I do NOT recommend it at all. It was traumatic for her, and for us. She was distressed at being out of control and we felt ilke we had betrayed her. In the end, I conceded defeat, and my paediatrician husband persuaded me to try using lactulose (a laxative, 5 ml in morning, 5 ml at night) over a long period of time c. 6 months and it made a big difference. Once we had cleared the blockage, everything was much softer, and her confidence eventually returned. Now she suffers from the odd bout of constipation if we have been on holiday, and she says ' mummy I need some medicine to make my poo soft' so we do it for a few days and then stop. It will get better. It's very common and very distressing for a parent. Hope you work it out.

[katya]

Hi,

My baby is 1 year old and she had constipation problem. She had this problem for about 3 weeks i started to give her a bit more fruits, less of the foods that may constipate her and more water by offering it to her whenever she took it. May sound too simple but it really works. I have noticed that everytime she gets less water she gets a bit constipated. Even works the same way on me. :) I also agree with a comment above about prune juce, also peaches and try in the morning warm water with a bit of lemon juce, or just couple of slyces in the water before she has anything in her tummy. This advice i had from my doctor to me.