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

[Florencemay0000]

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

Why does she need calcium enriches foods if she eats dairy?

granola? You can add the cranberries to it if you get quite a plain one. My kids love it with yoghurt.

There are tonnes of articles that link constipation to calcium supplements/enriched food. I really don't think she is eating too much bread OP. Bread (especially if you make your own isn't the devil its made out to be).

I found fresh orange juice with the bits in it was quite good for relieving constipation.

She doesn't seem to eat much by way of fibre if I'm honest and a lot of it comes from fresh veg which you have already said that she doesn't like... I know that blitzing veg into sauces etc can add to nutrients but will macerate the fibre bit... Would she try raw mange tout, broccoli, sugar snaps perhaps?
What I did find interesting though when my DD suffered from constipation as a baby/toddler was that my GP told me to ignore midwives advice and to dissolve a teaspoon of brown sugar in some warm water and to serve that ...I said that I wasn't sure about that as I was concerned about her teeth.. He said it was to be an occasional thing and that a plain fairy ( Madeira type ) cake would work wonders... He was bloody right !... I had been too hung up on HV and parenting magazine advice... Oh and her teeth are just fine!

Sorry Forgot to say she's 20 now!

The only dairy she eats is a bit of cheese in a roll for her packed lunch, she has just started having the calcium enriched drinks 2 weeks ago but her constipation has been going on for 9 months. She hates milk and yogurts. Her younger sister is dairy intolerant.

If it's been going on for 9 months, the dietary changes are good, but she will need the Movicol - probably for at least as long as she's been constipated if not longer.

The gut gets stretched by the constipation and it takes a looong time to return to normal so she can poo normally again.

Toast + sandwich + crumpets is a LOT of wheat. I would say reduce that by removing the crumpet asap.

Taker her to docs and they will help suggest diet/meds that can help.

I just have to say, doctors are happy to prescribe movicol purely because the time and energy it takes to educate people on a varied diet which most probably won't be enforced is not worth it. Frankly, I'd do the same.

Your daughter is just really fussy. If she's all about the bread, try some protein bread or rye bread. If the school isn't supporting you, point out to them that YOU are the one who has to deal with the result of their incompetence, and that if they aren't prepared to help you then they must at least stop giving her anything you haven't already agreed to. If you're worried that your child might starve, take her shopping and let her choose what she wants to eat (within reason of course) and also develop a simple recipe together. Ask her what she'd eat in a restaurant and get as close as possible to that meal visually at least. Get her to cut up this that and the other. Also, ask her what changes she'd like to see to her lunch box and use some compromise with her.

What would be a good daily diet for a child with constipation?

Cut out the sugary drinks and processed food. How about some porridge for breakfast? If she really will not drink plain water, give her water with just a splash of apple juice.

Try chia seeds soaked overnight in fruit juice. My 9 year old suffers from very slow transit and stress completely blocks things up. Chia seeds every day from now to eternity pretty much. A teaspoon a day will do it. No wheat or dairy for 2 months. Then test one food a week.
I would encourage hunger as the best way to motivate trying new foods. Mine eats loads of raw fruit and veg. Encouraged by explaining different colors contain different vitamins. All helped down with a sauce (in our case one of Mary Berry's posh salad creams).
The only other thing is creating entertainment to encourage spending enough time on the loo to get the job done.

Oatabix for breakfast?

Watching with interest as one of my dts is horribly constipated.

He has quite a balance varied diet, nothing really seems to help and it seems to flare up with no real changes to his diet, then go back to being okay again.
Someone up thread suggested bananas, I have limited these as I thought they were a "binding" food...?
We try to just give brown / wholemeal bread and to have veg or fruit with most meals / snacks.

My dt loves porridge, weetabix and fruit and fibre for breakfast, I know it's supposed to be full of sugar, but I really don't know what other cereals are high in fibre and taste nice, are nuts and seeds good for constipation ? I am sure I have heard something about it.

He usually has a small bowl, with a slice of toast and some fruit - Apple, pear or grapes on the side.
He has school dinners, which are supposed to be healthy, not too sure that they are though. They're quite "pudding heavy"
We give him a sandwich or omelette, pasta etc with salad or veg sticks for tea, then fruit and yoghurt or fruit and cheese and crackers.

He drinks loads of milk and water at home, sometimes juice or squash.
Any suggestions would be great, hope you don't mind me joining in op

Oh and op, blowing bubbles on the toilet really helps. Nothing to do with diet obviously, but it helps the stomach and sphincter relax a bit whilst pooing.

If you are concerned it might be wheat, why not try gluten free breads and pasta and see if it improves? Give it a week without making other changes and you should see an improvement if this is the problem. It would be good to know if this is the problem. If not you can try adding more fibre.

If you're worried about the wheat, could you make your own pancakes and bread with spelt flour or buckwheat or something? Agree that it's probably not actually the wheat that is the culprit, but it can't do any harm to vary things a bit. Also definitely drop the sweeteners.

My ds has suffered from a few bouts of constipation & I found that prunes (in own juice) works wonders. I added a few to his weetabix in the morning or served with ice cream and waffles as pudding.

Cut down on sugar, increase water in take, replace white flour products with wholemeal and reduce junk food. Get her exercising daily as it will help with her bowel movements.

You're at a loss as to how to improve her diet so you post on a forum to get the advice from a bunch of non-qualified strangers!?

Seriously!

Just feed her a balanced diet! Balanced. Get more variety in there. Don't start ridiculous exclusion diets or any of the other crappy advice you've had on here.

Note: a lot of this advice is pretty good, but how would you know?

For immediate help with constipation I'd recommend a heaped teaspoon of jam (!). My pharmacist recommended it and it works a treat. But not a replacement for sorting out the diet properly.

I was (like the poster above) a bit thrown by your last question
"What would be a good daily diet for a child with constipation?"
That's very easy to look up on the Internet as its a factual medical/ nutritional question. Or better still by being referred to a dietician/ nutritionist by your gp.

What do you expect by asking on here? Are you looking for tips and practical help? Or specific ideas within the constraints of your dd's fussiness? Or a basic grounding in nutrition?

If the first two absolutely right place to come, but if the latter I don't quite understabd what you're expecting from a discussion board?

Obviously your right to post and ask whatever you like, I'm not being thread police, I'm just concerned that you're overlooking better sources of information.

OP seriously, you think the only calcium she gets on a school days (other than the drinks) is in the cheese?!

White bread or bread products (eg crumpets) seem to really cause constipation in my dd. Multi grain would probably help your dd.

I would also cut out the squash as the sweetener is unhealthy. Sugar isn't much better, not just for teeth, but for general health.

She's drinking milk too? And having beans? These have calcium in.

You actually need to talk to a dietician.
.my two are dairy intolerant and we got advice from a paediatric dietician.

Re the constipation, get more fruit and veg in. Just keep offering veg with every meal at home (except breakfast of course) and make no fuss if she doesn't eat.

If she eats spag bol, you can add red lentils when cooking and keep it on a low simmer for an hour. Add extra water as the lentils soak up a lot. Lentils keep things moving!

How much movicol is she on?

How often does she poo?