CONSTIPATION - I'm quite upset. Support needed?

[LoveMyGirls]

Warning - some of this is TMI for the squeemish.

I'm feeling very down about this, a failure infact if im totally honest.

Dd1 is now 8 and from age 1 to 3 and a half suffered with constipation ended up on lactulose and trips to see consultants at hospital so you would think i'd be an expert and not allow this to happen to dd2 - Wrong! Dd2 is now 2.3yrs and has always been fine, i've always made an extra effort to ensure she is getting the right food groups, both my dd's have always love fruit, veg and cereal infact theres nothing they wont eat.

Dd1 still has rabbit dropping type pooh, which I have never questioned because I just thought that's just the way it (and was so grateful she wasn't in pain anymore!) now im thinking either she doesnt drink enough or she had been permanently damaged from the years of constipation or are some children just like that?

Dd2 hasn't been eating large amounts but I assumed it was because I had taken on a mindee with eating issues and she wanted the attention he was getting, I have now stopped having mindee at tea time (just the way it turned out) and tbh she has been a bit better with her eating so I assumed i had been right.

For the past week or so she hasn't been poohing regularly so I upped the fruit, fruit juice, weetabix to try and help her out. On friday night she was in so much pain so we brought some prune juice the next day dp thought he was doing the best for her by giving her nearly all of the bottle (1 litre) by 4.30pm she was being sick every 20mins and about 6.30 she managed a big pooh without pain so I thought ok that wasn't the best way to get it all out but at least it's helped and she has been cleared out. Decided to keep an eye on her and see how often she was poohing and then i'd take her to the docs. On sunday she ate loads (nice to see her appetite back) but she didnt pooh, then didn't pooh all day yestedray so I thought i'll take her to gp's tuesday but then in the early hours of this morning she woke screaming in pain eventually after 30mins of having it stuck (she must have been at least 3cms wide) she managed to get it out, I had put loads of sudocream around to try and help her.

I took her to the gp's this morning and she has been given lactulose and she has eaten lots of fruit and is drinking plenty.

My questions are.....

Can children eat too much fruit and veg?
Can fruit and veg ever make them constipated?
Do I think i'm giving them enough when infact I'm not?

Am I a terrible mother because both of my children have suffered like this?

Gp says we have caught dd2 in the early stages and she will probably feel the relief of the lactulose in a few days to a week but to keep on giving her the lactulose for at least a couple of months.

Any words of advice or support for me please?

{{hugs}}
Not your fault. You are doing all the right things. Keep following the advice given by GP. Obv you will know if its getting bad and intervention is needed.
I think some kids are naturally predisposed to constipation.
You obv care enough about this to take her to the GP regularly, don't beat yourself up so hard!

Hi, you have my sympathy. My DD is just 2 and has suffered with constipation for at least a year. It doesn't seem to matter what she eats and drinks, the only thing that helps is prune juice. So long as she has at least 2 oz a day she is ok, but as soon as we stop, even if she has extra fruit, juice, water etc she gets constipated again.

You are obviously doing your best. Stick with it.

My dd (8) does not poo every day but that doesn't mean that she is constipated. Not all kids poo every day. I know I don't. Maybe she doesn't need to poo every day?

I had a terrible time with DS1 & DS2 with constipation.

I knew they were getting enough fruit and vegetables but they both used to hold their muscles in order so not to go.

With DS1 we had to use lactulose for a few months so try to train him to let himself go, iykwim.

Perhaps if she has had a sore bottom at some point she has ignored her need to go in-case it is sore?

With DS1 he still refused to go with the lactulose so I had to give him suppositories.

It was an awful time and I remember feeling really guilty. It did pass though and both Dc are now regular as clockwork. Thankfully.

I don't think you can give them too much fruit etc and I don't think it can make them more constipated. [although someone may correct me]

It sounds like you are doing great.

((((Love)))) I think you are doing everything you can, but it's one of those things.
My ms has very bad constipation problems, and we are now in the process of getting a referral to the Paeditrician...he's been a year on Movicol already and is still soiling himself...he is 5y old now and it is taking it's toll on all of us

My ys recently pottytrained and started to withold his poos, which of course bunged him up and I was terrified we would have problems with him, too...I gave him some figsyrup, which helped get it out and also smoothed it, which made it easier to come out and thank god, he has stopped the witholding now. I htink that was all he needed...he obviously has seen his bigger brother struggling , which possibly made him feel apprehensive and then when they withold, it of course does become painful, which will make them want to withold even more...but the painfree poop has, luckily, broken the cycle!

I hope that the lactulose will help your little one and that you won't have any firther problems!
With your dd1, it can take a long time for things to return to normal when a child had longterm constipation! Are you still seeing a consultant? Is she still on medication?

Movicol, movicol, movicol.

its fab stuff and will do the trick. Go back to GP and demand it. And you can expect to use it long-term - for as long as they have had the problem, at least.

Can I just say you ,ust clean her teeth after lactulose. I had all the same problems with constipation which we have overcome now with the help of homeopathy and a cranial oesteopath. But ds did have to have two fillings from the lactulose..... It never even crossed my mind it is sugar.

I mean must

I have a DD with chronic constipation and still feel guilty that for ages I didnt realise and was getting annoyed at her for all her accidents.
I do recommend Movicol.
Also on the fruit front, dont think you can ever give too much except for bananas - they can actually cause constipation if more than about 1 per week. Similarly dairy should only be in moderation not extra lots of it.
Fibre is really important and we now eat wholemeal bread and pasta etc as well as weetbix.
Drinks are critical - I think this is where we really didnt give enough esp in summer - she now has permission to have extra drinks of fruit juice at school and smoothies at playtime as she just doesnt like water enough to drink very much of it. I do recommend the kids Innocent Smoothies although they are expensive
The rabbit dropping poo does indicate that he is still tending to be constipated I am afraid to say - probably needs more liquid and more things like wholemeal pasta/bread. Given that he has been on lactulose for so long and still not sorted would really recommend Movicol.

We saw a constipation clinic specialist for ages and she did say that however long they have been constipated for then it will take that long to recover although that was only her rule of thumb. And some children will always be prone to it - as they get older they learn to read their own body though and control it more.
I still monitor DD like a hawk and if we go away and go off the usual diet for more than 2 days I can almost guarantee problems - I have to take food/drink with us now.

Sorry to ramble on so long. HTH.

Thansk everyone for making me feel less like it's my fault.

Dd2 has now had another pooh (in the bath) so thats really good it means she won't be in pain in the middle of the night i hope!

I've been out and got her some wholemeal bread, tin of prunes, bran flakes, and a smoothie.

Today she has eaten

weetabix
1 n half apples
some grapes
some melon
raisens
fruit bread
chicken, chips, green beans, carrots and sweetcorn.
a fruit bar thing
chocolate mousse
smoothie

And she's had 2 doses of lactulose.

I really hope this isn't going to end up as bad as when dd1 had it.

I'm also going to make dd1 drink more too.

Even when they are both fine I don't think I'm going to stop being paranoid about constipation! I've even been a bit constipated myself lately but i've put it down to being stressed. (not just about this)

Has anyone got any other suggestions for foods to help?

and lots of water. dd2 gets constipated a lot cos she has cerebral palsy. Some weeks we have to use a suppositry but mostly we get through it with lots of fruit and veggies plus a session stood in her standing frame - gravity is fab.
ds2 (13) gets bouts that are linked to lots of sitting and not enough exercise but I'm guessing with younger kids they never stop running around.
But we've had this on and off for the last 15 years with 4 kids. Only dd2 is the real prob.

I also use plastic lolly moulds to freeze fruit juice - another portion of fruit and a drink substitute

I've been reading up on constipation a lot (just encountering it now with an 8-month-old) and have found that many types of fibre can actually make matters worse if not accompanied by enough liquid. So drinking lots of water together with the fibre seems to be key.

Oh Love, it's awful isn't it. We have had problems with ds pooing too so I know how you feel. Other foods to try: dried apricots, dried mango, but make sure enough fresh fruit & veg as well (I find grapes and kiwi and sweetcorn good for ds) and plenty of water and diluted fresh orange/prune juice.

Hope there's some improvement soon.

Thanks for the support, i'm going to keep this thread going so I can write down everything she is eating to see if I find a pattern or anything that makes it worse etc and also so you lovely people can tell me if i'm giving her enough etc

Today she has had

Bran flakes with raisens
2 cups fruit juice
1 cup squash
few grapes
sausage sandwich on wholemeal bread with tomatoes
some orange

That's it so far for today, i'll be back later!

When DD was really bad we attended a special clinic, I had to keep a chart for a month. Had to record each day if she had done a poo (and if so I had to note what type it was off this picture chart - rabbit droppings being the worst, a smooth sausage being the best and right through to diarrohea being not good as probably meant we had given too much medication - sorry if TMI).
Then we had to note what medication she had; how much drink (roughly measured in mls - we were aiming for at least 1 litre per day for a 4 yr old in cool weather - more in warmer weather); how many portions of fruit/veg (aim was 7 per day) and how many portions fibre (aim was 3 good portions - eg weetbix, 2 slices wholemeal bread, 4 tablespoons of wholemeal pasta). It was useful as some patterns did emerge.
You need to do it for about a month so see real trends as opposed to all the one-off things like party food/Xmas food etc.

Sounds like your DD eats lots of diff fruit/veg which is great so maybe concentrate on how much she is having to drink? On a school day, we are in a routine now of drinking at morning, snacktime(smoothie), lunch (carton of kids juice which is diluted juice), after school, tea, after bath, and milk before bed. Each drink is between 150 and 200mls.

Not sure if this helps as not sure how old your DD is but maybe it gives an idea.

Forgot to finish yesterday's food diary...

orange
grapes
roast beef dinner
More drinks but can't remember how much exactly but I've basically been making sure she has access to juice all the time and encouraging her to drink regularly.

Meant to say thanks dusty road, your post is very helpful, I was thinking along the same lines of giving her drinks and snacks at certain times as i do that already but i've started taking fruit out with me so that she can have that instead of a biscuit at toddler groups.

Hi There. Sorry if I am hijacking this thread but I am having similar problems with my dd who is nearly 20 months now. Our GP has just prescribed Movicol 2 sachets a day, with 2 tsp lactulose a day. Previously she was on docusate but that just wasn't working. Started giving her the Movicol on Friday evening and only had a small BM on Sunday and another small this morning (monday) - is this common ? She has not been eating much lately I guess because she is so bunged up and Saturday she was miserable all day. Sunday much better in herself and ate really quite well in comparison. Has any one got any tips for making the Movicol more palatable ? At the mo I am putting in with a large beaker of orange juice as she doesn't like the taste and won't just drink it down on its own. Can I put it in her milk ? I feel so sorry for her as she has been struggling now with this problem since October and I am getting stressed with the not eating/not pooing etc etc.

She had to have Gaviscon as a baby as she used to bring some milk back up after a feed but gradually that improved, but I guess here digestive system seems to be more delicate than most. I am wondering if cow's milk is causing any probs as I can't tolerate it well (that developed later in life tho'). Help !! Would appreciate any advice/reassurance please.

Just to say you can put the movicol in with milk (or any liquid basically) if you want although I think it is better with juice/squash - my DD who is old enough to say so, says it makes the milk taste funny and she has hers with apple juice - it is actually a fairly bland taste (have you tried it) and should be reasonably covered by the juice.
Might be an idea not to give too much milk anyway by the sound of it. Apart from anything else it can dull the appetite for other foods/drinks which she might need at the moment.
2 whole sachets movicol per day for a 20 month old is quite a lot actually - would normally only be if she is really blocked up I think. In my much older DD, the movicol takes about 2 days to work and then you really notice the results. So it sounds like it hasnt worked yet. I think to work effectively they do need to eat something so that something is moving through the bowels.
If you are not seeing results in a day or two I would check again with your GP - esp if she seems more unwell in herself. Also if you are giving lactulose as well she really needs lots of fluids.
Hope you see some improvement soon.

Thanks for your post dusty road. I have tasted it and agree it is pretty bland but dd (who was ok with the docuate which i thought was yuk) is not impressed. She is having about 6oz milk in the morning and another 6oz in the evening, which my health visitor said was ok. Might give apple juice a go tho'. Here's hoping that something happens over the next day especially as she ate quite well yesterday.