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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to let dd eat so much bread? Constipated 5 year old

55 replies

Florencemay0000 · 29/05/2015 18:24

5 year old dd has on going constipation it turns out, she has always complained of stomach ache. There are not many fruit and vegetables she will eat, only cucumber, strawberrys and dried Cranberrys. She always asks for bread. This is her daily diet:

School days:
Breakfast: slice of toast with Nutella, calcium enriched tropicana
Snack: drink of milk from school, she refuses the piece of fruit they provide
Lunch: wholemeal finger roll with grated cheese, cucumber batons, pot of dried cranberry, calcium enriched ribena
After school: a crumpet
Dinner: example: jacket potato and beans, strawberrys and a tablespoon of Greek yogurt

Weekends:
Breakfast: slice of toast with Nutella
Snack: two fig rolls
Lunch: beans on toast, strawberrys and tablespoon of Greek yogurt
Snack: crumpet
Dinner: spag Bol, strawberrys and tablespoon of Greek yogurt

I am at a loss with how to help improve her diet

OP posts:
hels71 · 29/05/2015 18:25

My DD suffers with constipation if she does not drink enough.

Original poster
Florencemay0000 · 29/05/2015 18:27

She drinks about a litre and a half of squash a day in addition to the above

OP posts:
RandomMess · 29/05/2015 18:30

Wheat and bread can cause constipation I would try to reduce the amount of wheat she eats and see if it makes a difference.

dingit · 29/05/2015 18:30

Could you persuade her to eat bananas? They are my answer to problem tummies. You can quote minions, or chop them up and use a cocktail stick, fruit kebabs, or whizz them into a milkshake/smoothie.

SuburbanRhonda · 29/05/2015 18:31

Does she drink water?

retrocutie · 29/05/2015 18:31

My DD had terrible constipation, in spite of eating a very balanced diet. After some research, I came up with a list of things that relieve constipation and gave them to her on a daily basis (for packed lunch):

  • rice with steamed veg
  • popcorn (great for constipation!)
  • dried fruit
  • carton of orange juice (in addition to water)
  • Digestive biscuits.

I stopped giving her bananas and yoghurt and apparently these are both bad for constipation. So is bread.

The constipation stopped within a couple of days. And has not come back.

CrohnicallyInflexible · 29/05/2015 18:34

Have you tried fruit smoothie with breakfast? My niece has a small portion every day, if she misses a day she gets constipated. Has to be smoothie though, not juice, because of the fibre. You could make your own with strawberries and yoghurt in, and add other fruits too.

I'd keep trying other fruit and veg, maybe experiment with different ways of cooking them (eg honey roast parsnips) or tinned fruits. Just put a spoonful of whatever you're having on the edge of her plate, don't comment, she can try them or not.

Or you can try hiding them in sauces- you can put onion, carrot, peppers and goodness knows what else into a bolognaise sauce. What about a thick blended chicken and vegetable soup? If she likes baked beans you could experiment with adding other types of beans to things like Spag Bol.

But drinking lots is indeed important, if you don't drink enough then her poo will be too 'dry' to pass easily.

MerryMarigold · 29/05/2015 18:41

Fruit juice is good - apple has fibre in it and orange is good for constipation. Not sure if squash makes it worse. I have a vague memory that sweeteners can contribute to constipation. I think eggs are supposed to be bad. She has a lot of sweet drinks. Does she drink enough water?

That is a lot of wheat products.

She will probably moan if you say no bread for a bit, but just stick to your guns. I think the only way is to explain that it's making things bad for her, so she needs to stop and you will help her/ reward her efforts to eat things which are good.

Also she really does need to start eating some veg. Corn on the cob? Peas? Brocolli? She is 5 which is old enough to understand health benefits. Keep giving it to her and if she is hungry she will eat it. Unless she is very underweight, it will not do her any harm to eat less if the bread is removed.

And really, doesn't she get bored of that diet? My ds1 is EXTREMELY fussy but he eats a more varied diet than that!

NorksWar · 29/05/2015 18:42

Is it white or brown bread? My son gets stomach ache from white or 50/50 bread but is fine with wholemeal

MerryMarigold · 29/05/2015 18:43

She may be gluten intolerant. I'm not allergic but if I eat a lot (daily) I get a lot of tummy aches. I always have but only recently realised the gluten thing. I can have it a couple of times a week and be ok.

sparklepopsicles · 29/05/2015 18:44

White flour is the worst so would try and exchange the crumpets for an alternative snack, would she eat a wholegrain cereal bar with fruit and nuts in it for example?

DollsHouseTeaParty · 29/05/2015 18:58

How about crudités with a dip (broccoli cauli, baby sweet corn etc) or cauliflower cheese? Peas are nice too. Maybe replace some bread with rice cakes or crackers?

Fruit wise, Apple chopped up fine or satsuma segments - grapes? All easy to eat and not really a strong taste.

Original poster
Florencemay0000 · 29/05/2015 19:06

She likes popcorn, does it really help constipation?

I could try a smoothie and tell her it is a drink that will help her poo, that might work as that is how I get her to drink movicol. She will not drink any water at all, only apple squash, not even another flavour! That is interesting about the sweeteners, I have recently changed to sugar free.

OP posts:
Royalsighness · 29/05/2015 19:22

You can buy popcorn from the supermarket that you cook yourself in the microwave so it's always fresh, salted or sweet and It makes you as regular as clockwork, if my DS has some we can guarantee action within a few hours and The same with me, TMI I know but popcorn is a great source of fibre.

If she eats dried cranberries do you think she would be brave enough for prunes or dates?

icelollycraving · 29/05/2015 19:30

My ds really suffers with constipation. If he eats too much bread & dairy it seems to make it worse. Ds favourite things are bread & dairy.
I find drinking enough certainly helps. Also,very warm baths really help.

dingit · 29/05/2015 19:36

I do not give my dc anything with sweeteners. Google it, it's pure poison. I'd rather rot their teeth than their insides.
Don't know if it's a coincidence, I bought some sugar free squash by mistake, ds has had an upset tummy for 3 days Hmm

Randomrandoms · 29/05/2015 19:37

Try dried apricots. About 8 of them each day. Increase or lower dose when you know how she reacts to them.

That's a huge amount of wheat she's eating! Is it mostly crap white wheat? I'm not surprised she's bunged up.

Wheat is very blocking for me. Can you consider porridge for breakfast instead? With a blob of Nutella. Also change naff crumpets for oatcakes. Change spaghetti to wholemeal spaghetti

sneepy · 29/05/2015 19:49

If she has chronic constipation and tummy ache she needs to see a GP.

MerryMarigold · 29/05/2015 20:10

Maybe if the doctor tells her she needs to eat more of this or that she will listen to him. I took my ds2 to the doctor when he was very small (less than 3!) as he wasn't eating well for a while, and I was worried. Doc told me to cut out all fried products and sweet things for a while as they block appetite. Guess what? Went home and he ate ALL his dinner. He didn't want to be denied the goodies Grin.

Purplepoodle · 29/05/2015 20:12

If she likes dried cranberries try dates

RB68 · 29/05/2015 20:20

carrot and courgette blend well to go into bolognaise.

Some kids just do get more constipated than others, but I think you need to try and expand what she will eat - kills me that mine loves berries - they are so expensive but she eats them so I wince and get them

Original poster
Florencemay0000 · 29/05/2015 20:25

The doctor was happy for her just to be on movicol. I rely want to make diet changes though. She hates porridge, what other breakfasts are good to try?

OP posts:
Artandco · 29/05/2015 20:32

Will she eat eggs?

What else does she eat? Will she eat meat and fish?

Def more water. Keep diluting the pole juice so there is more more water than juice

tootiredtoknow · 29/05/2015 20:34

Its quite possibly the calcium enriched drinks.

SmillasSenseOfSnow · 29/05/2015 20:34

I get constipated really easily and had a few bouts of being incredibly constipated in recent months (think movicol not working and needing to go buy rectal remedies...). I initially tried to up my fibre but it seems there are different kinds of fibre and some of them slow down transit instead of speeding it - oats were some of these I think, and dried apricots, and bananas, and beans, so I would probably avoid them.

I found that upping my intake of wholegrain bread to 2-3 rolls a day (over 6g fibre per roll, IIRC) and drinking upwards of 4 litres of water a day helped keep things regular around those times. The bread was only because it was the most obvious thing I could find to encourage transit. I started to get worried about whether a given veg/legume was going to be one that slowed it rather than sped it up. It really, really was a struggle to get that much water in me (six litres one day) but it was only when I really got that much in me that things moved.