My 21-mont-old is constipated, straining and crying when passing big hard poos :(

[Jacksmamwahahaha]

I don't know why this is happening - his diet hasn't changed, neither has mine ( am still BFing him on demand), he drinks lots of watered-down juice, eats lots of fruit... this has been happening the last week or so, and we don't know why. He has been straining so hard his little legs are trembling, his face is bright red and it obviously hurts because he cries.

I've been giving him glycerin suppositories yesterday and today to help pass the hard poo. It's been the first poo of the morning that has been giving him trouble, after that they're much softer and don't seem to bother him.

He's a bit of a picky eater, so I'm going to try to get him to drink prune juice or eat prunes. I've been giving him those Activia yoghurts the last couple of day, the ones that have fibre in them, he eats about one per day, but it hasn't seemed to help.

Any advice?

What about veg-you didn't mention. Perhaps you could sneak some broccoli into some potato soup?

Does he like dried apricots? I find they keep me regular.

avoid banana, they can really dry out the poo and make it difficult to pass

can you get him to drink more water?

poor little thing

damn, no nanas, he won't be happy

does prune juice really help?

i'd stuff him full of prunes but he's a bit picky if he doesn't like something he WILL NOT eat it

what the hell is this new format, i don't like it!!

bananas are binding, so good for diarrhoea

lots of high fibre food, certain dried fruits are good, like apricots, and i think pineapple, lots of water

you can buy a lactulose solution over the counter at a chemist and give that too, or failing that something like movicol

ds2 was constipated almost from birth until he was about 2 or 3, at his worst i used to have to physically help him get it out

massaging the tummy in a certain way can also help, but i cant remember exactly how, sorry

I second the lactulose recommendation. Without wanting to worry you even more - its important ot nip this in the bud as we didnt manage to and it has morphed into serious poo witholding. We are just making headway after battling with the GP to prescribe movicol.

I make hot chocoloate abotu 3 times a day as its the only thing DS will drink a lot of. Try dried apricots too.

Hope you can help your little boy.

There's a concentrated papaya thing called Caricol which we use and find it really good. It's like fruit puree and we either mix it into yogurt or add to smoothie to make ice lollies. You get it in health food shops. We found it worked as well as lactulose but dd is possibly less constipated than some. It's hideous when they scream with pain though isn't it? Good luck!

you cant really overdose on lactulose either

it is important to get constipation sorted, it sounds so innocuous, but if it isnt sorted it backs up and gets impacted and its really quite painful

i know this from experience with my dc's

thanks chunglimum - ive never heard of Caricol and ive been googling like a woman possessed for months. I will get some in pronto. Much prefer to use something a bit more natural.

What I find very odd is that it's only the first poo of the day that's horrible. After that they're nice and soft. (Sorry ).