suggestions please for how I can prevent my non-veg eating ds(nearly 3) from being constipated

[deaconblue]

He's a fussy eater. Am trying to deal with it by being as laid back as possible as the more I stress about mealtimes, the more difficult he can be. Have tried battling at mealtimes, bribery, distraction etc to no avail.
He eats no vegetables at all (I make hidden veg pasta sauce twice a week which he loves), won't eat wet food (except pasta and sauce)and only eats banana or humzingers (weird dried fruit things) in the fruit dept. He drinks plenty of water.
In the last few weeks he's only been pooing twice a week. He doesn't seem to be suffering with tummy ache or any other constipation symptoms but it can't be good for him to poo so infrequently.
So, in short, some suggestions for other foods which will help his digestive system would be much appreciated.

don't bananas make you more constipated? Does he eat soup? Fruit juice? Other than that I would vary the veg that goes into the pasta sauce and just bung it on pasta or whatever else he eats more often to be honest!

Bran flakes? I know this may sound mad but dd (also nearly 3) actually likes them, and no, I don'd sprinkle them with sugar!

If he eats yoghurts or jellies you can slip some fruit into them ... what will he eat?

Apricots
Breakfast cereals such as Weetabix, Shreddies and porridge
Gallons of water
Ice lollies
Jellies

As long as when he does poo it's soft and easy to pass, and he's not suffereing with tummy aches or a sore bum, then the frequency of pooing doesn't matter.

he likes fruit juice and smoothies, but I was worried about giving more than more small cup a day because of teeth. Soup - no chance. They told me at nursery today he enjoyed breadsticks with salsa so thought I would make some homemade salsa and see if he'll eat it at home. Eats no other veg at nursery either.
Is it only fruit and veg that are ok for fibre for children? I know they're not meant to eat brown bread, bran cereals etc but don't really understand why not. He eats 2 bowls of cereal every morning so I guess there's a decent amount of fibre there too.

Have you tried prunes?

his poos are HUGE and pretty solid and unbearably stinky, but no tummy ache or sore bum. He steals my branflakes so could give them to him. Ooh could make fruit juice lollies - he'd love them, don't know why I hadn't thought of those myself. Would need to puree fruit before putting in jelly, again don't know why I didn't think of that myself either. Thank you, mumsnet is always good for a fresh perspective.

if he will eat porridge you can normally get away with putting some puree fruit in it

We have a similar issue.

I didn't know there was a problem with children eating brown bread etc. DS only gets wholemeal bread. He also enjoys wholemeal pitta breads with hoummus, and can be persuaded to eat carrot sticks sometimes.

He enjoys the mini weetabix so also give them to him as a snack.

My friend suggested that I try vegetable crisps. I don't know what the nutrition and roughage factor is once they have been prepared, but worth a try anyway.

Wholemeal bread isn't a huge problem for children, but as it's fibrous and quite filling it can mean for some children that they are 'filled up' with wholemeal grains and won't eat much else.

I read it in the birth to 5 book from the HV but it didn't explain why. Maybe someone will come along and explain. I buy the best of both bread but that could well be a bit of a con. As I ate some veggie crisps this morning I wondered about getting him some, the sat fats are much lower than normal crisps but don't know what the deep frying process does to the nutrients in the veg?

will switch to wholemeal, he likes it anyway, and has big appetite (just for meat, cheese and bread rather than fruit and veg)

Oh lord, were our sons separated at birth ? (apart from the meat bit)

kiwi fruit

Cut the top off for him and let him scoop it out with a teaspoon, like a boiled egg.

Fluid is the key to treating constipation, preferably water, but pure juice watered down is good too.
There are lots of good suggestions here.

Olive oil on th pasta

Pineapple juice

shreddies......the normal kind not frosted...(or whatever you like of course)...cheerios too are wholegrain....

does he eat breakfast? most breakfast cereals are pretty high in fibre. ban the sugary ones from the house and only offer readybrek, shreddies, wheetabix, branflakes etc. wholewheat toast and honey is a favourite snack in our house. also have you tried dried apricots? offer them in the buggy or whenever you normally offer less healthy snacks-limit him to two a day so he thinks they are not healthy

he eats 2 bowls of cheerios every morning (they are sugary I know but decent fibre levels too), won't eat apricots. Someone told me today that apparently fruit juice through a straw is much better teeth-wise. any ideas? We have wholemeal pasta. Have bought nectarines and pears today to make two coloured lollies tomorrow, will give juice daily and stop worrying about teeth, switch to wholemeal bread and try to increase the water he drinks too.
He's recently started having a cup of milk during the day as well as in the morning and at bedtime. How does milk affect poos??

I don't know how old your son is, so that makes it a bit harder. My son would eat mashed potatoes, but nothing else (that he knew about, anyway lol). All other vegetables were cooked and mashed into his potato. I'd make vegie burgers, impossible pie with zucchini (skins removed, so no colour to give the game away ). Your vegie pasta is the way to go.
If your son is old enough, could he help you preparing meals? He may take a bit more interest and be willing to try different foods if he helps with meals.
You can make funny faces etc out of fruit and vegies.
When mine was eating his vegies, I'd always serve him up more than I wanted him to eat. I'd make a deal with him, halve the serve, tell him he could leave one side if he ate the other. He always thought he was having a win, and the other half was always for the dog's dinner later anyway lol.
BTW, apparently a child needs to try a new food 17 times before they accept it or reject it, so there's also going to be a lot of perseverance required as well
Good luck

heyvick
is it 17 times? I thought it was 10, oh well, the trick is to not give up, keep putting it on his plate and eventually he will eat it
When I started at the nursery where i work now all the veg was hidden in the gravy and sauces and I had a battle with the cook and management to get seperate veg so the children could see what they were eating
Anyway, I did win.
At first, the children were very resistant to eat the veg, but at first I just told them they had to try it
Then I moved on to a different tactic, they could only have seconds of pudding if they ate all their dinner, including the veg
this works a treat
now I tell them they can only have seconds of dinner if they have eaten all their dinner
most will eat the veg to get seconds of roast potatoes etc
bribery works everytime
but it is all about expectations, if they know that you expect them to eat it, they will
but if they know that you expect them not to even try it and to leave it, then they are going to do just that

cauliflower mashed into mashed potato

Puree vegetables & stick them in pastry. Cook 20 mins in oven at 180 C.

Similarly with meat. Wrap small pieces of meat in strips of pastry and cook in oven, like sausage rolls.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/quick-apricot-apple-and-pecan-loaf-cake,1101,RC.html this cake is lovely, and has dried apricots, wholemeal flour and fresh apples in, so v.g. from a fibre point of view.