HELP PLEASE!!!

[Alexis & Kadyn's Mommy]

We've been having problems with my dd since she started on solid food.  She is now 2 yrs 7 mo, and seems to be only getting worse.  The minute we started solids she started getting constipated.  Been to 4 different doctors and they have all said the same thing.  There is nothing physically wrong with her, hopefully she'll grow out of it.  In the mean time my doctor has advised no milk or anthing with milk in it and no white flour or white rice.  Everything high fiber and try to get her to drink lots of milk.  Also now have to give her lactulose every couple of days, and sometimes suppositories too    She still only has a BM every couple of days, usually longer.  I don't really know how much is enough liquid for her either, I've asked doctors and they have never been specific.  She currently drinks 1 - 8 oz container of half unsweetened juice, half water,  1/2 to 1 container of plain water, and usually anther one of soy milk.  Sometimes we give her a second half juice half water to just try getting the liquid in her, but the doctor said she shouldn't really have more than one a day.  I don't know what else to do.  She complains about stomach pain all the time.  A nutritionist said that that is usually caused by milk, but for the past week she hasn't had any milk at all and she is still in pain.

She is a great eater and usually eats whatever I give her.  Loves fruit and veggies, eats raw carrots and tomatoes all the time as they are her favorite.  I give her All Bran Buds with her cheerios every morning and make home made fiber cookies with wheat bran, whole wheat flour and raisins which she loves.  She even loves prunes and eats a minimum of 3 per day.

She has long since gotten to the point where she is scared to go, even though her bm's are not as hard as they were a week ago.  She holds it and then it gets worse and harder.  Any suggestions would be appreciated, it breaks my heart watching her be in pain.

Thanks in advance.

[dkjokisch]

Dd is 25mos, and we have had the same problem with constipation.  We actually switched peds over this as I felt our old ped wasn't taking the problem seriously (not to mention different docs in the practice were giving contradictory advice).  The best advice we got was actually from a friend's ped and that was to give her a dose of milk of magnesia once a day, which we did for about 6mos.  She was 18mos at the time, and the dose was 1tsp per day.  For the first month or so she would just drink it straight (try the flavored kind), and once she started refusing it, we would mix the unflavored kind into her morning oatmeal (also mixed it in pudding, yogurt, and mac+cheese).  When she was in a bad spell, we would use a suppository if she hadn't had a bm in 48hrs.

She is off the MOM now (I forgot to pack it at Christmas and she did ok), but I do make sure she gets fiber for breakfast.  Luckily oatmeal and bran flakes are her two favorite breakfast foods.  Be advised though that raisin bran has lots of added sugar, so I just add my own raisins to bran flakes.  However, all the fiber in the world won't help without enough water.  At her 2yr checkup, our ped rec'd 24oz of milk AND 12oz of water per day.  When she is not drinking enough, I feed her lots of high-water fruits like grapes and melon.  Soups are another way to sneak in liquid.

I need to go make lunch for dd, but I'll try and post back later.

[Alexis & Kadyn's Mommy]

Do you know if liquid magnesium does the same thing as MOM?  I started giving her 1/2 tsp a day a week ago and haven't seen any changes yet.  We also eat soup with lunch almost every day.  Thanks for the guide on the liquid, that helps.  I don't know why none of the doctors I've seen would just give us a guide like that.

I'm pretty sure milk is a problem for her because she never drank much, and then suddenly wanted it all the time.  When she started drinking lots of milk she started getting worse.  A week ago she went a 5 day stretch without a BM    then when she finally went it took her an hour and she ended up prolapsing, that gave me a good scare.  Fortunately it went back in on it's own.

I'm definitely going to follow you in giving her a suppository if she hasn't gone in 48 hrs.  Hopefully it will help her get over her fear of going.  This is even affecting potty training because she doesn't want to sit on the potty as she is scared to go.  It is just hard to give her the suppository as she hates it and cries every time.  Makes mommy cry too.

It is good to know I'm not alone in this.  It is hard to watch her go through it.

[ryan's mum]

What really works well for Ryan is pure white grape juice diluted with water .Ryan is also on lactulose daily and this with grape juice keeps it soft and regular ( daily bm ) . Soya milk can be very constipating .

[Alexis & Kadyn's Mommy]

I didn't know that about soy milk, maybe I'll have to try almond milk or something. 

I worry about the lactulose as it says on the bottle that regular use of it may cause dependence, but at the same time they need to go??

Thanks for the tip about grape juice Ryan's mom, I'm going to try that.

[dkjokisch]

The generic name for MOM is magnesium hydroxide, so I would guess it's the same as liquid magnesium.

Dd's situation was complicated by the fact she has an anal skin tag which tears when she has a particularly hard or large bm.  The tear makes it more uncomfortable to go, so then she holds it, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

Suppositories are not pleasant (and I know as I had to use them after my first pg due to some minor complications), but they are better then the alternative.  The longer things stay in, the more water is absorbed into their systems, and the harder the bm gets.  Try talking to her first to get her good and calm.  We actually used some visualization techiniques.  Dh would distract her and talk to her about her going to the park or the beach while I did the dirty work.  Eventually I could just tell her to go her her "happy place", and she would relax for me.

This has delayed our potty training as well, but I wanted to get her comfortable going in her diaper again before we attempted the potty.  Now, if she hasn't gone in 24hrs, I ask her if she has any poos to squeeze out.  Often, that's enough, and she'll need a diaper change within the hour.

I hope things get better.  I would stick with cutting out mik for a while, keep with the magnesium, and try to up her fluid intake.  Our ped also rec'd Gatorade if we were having trouble getting fluids in her.

[ryan's mum]

Ryan's constipation was worse when we started cow's milk so we switched to rice milk .Ryan has been on lactulose since he was 5 months old    , he was constipated anyway and then starting solids and reflux meds made him worse , he was straining soo much and crying that i had to give him something to help him out . We have recently been able to cut his dose down without any problems , it's hard for us as Ryan is a poor eater no veggies/fruit . We have a combination of things that work together to keep Ryan regular ....... diluted grape juice /water /lactulose if he decides he only wants to drink water 1 day he's fine but he must drink grape juice the next day or we start having problems .

[Alexis & Kadyn's Mommy]

Thank you guys so much for the suggestions.  I'm hoping we can find a combination that works for her.  Breaks my heart so see such a sweet little girl suffer so much.

XXX