Constipation

[Bobbybobbins]

Looking for some advice - my 14 month old son is constipated. It is the first time. In the past 3/4 days he has only passed small very hard poos. He has done several each day but they are rock hard. We have been giving him more to drink, prunes, high fibre etc but nothing working yet.

We don't know if we need to seek medical advice or not, or what timeframe? I can't imagine them giving him medicine at his age but worried it will become more and more compacted.

Thanks

High fibre can cause constipation in children. Stop giving any high fibre cereal type things like muesli. Satsuma are good, sweet corn is good, prunes are good. It might be that he needs a little lactulose for a few days to sort him out because childhood constipation can become cyclical.

I would say its worth getting him seen. He may need medicine like lactulose to soften the poo or something like movicol which would help if he was backed up with poo. I wouldnt ignore it as you don't want to start him associating pooing with pain and then holding it in which can make the problem worse.

In the mean time keep encouraging him to drink as much as you can get into him and fruits are good too. Fiber is important to help prevent constipation but once you are constipated it doesnt really help as it just adds to the back log.

Thanks so much for the advice. Will give the GP a ring tomorrow. There must definitely be a backlog by now. Poor little man.

WE used to give little ones sugar solution in this situation - it is basically lactulose. I know that sugar is a no-no nowadays, but it really does work.

He is on Movicol now so thanks again for the advice. Hopefully will kick in soon xx