Dr advised lactulose for 12 month old, is there a natural alternative or food solution?

[Mummyofthreebeauties]

My 12 month old DS2 has always struggled to poo since weaning and lately it has got much worse as he is obviously in a lot of pain. Finally I took him to the drs and she think he has small cuts around his anus and possibly inside. To give them a chance to heal she prescribed lactulode, 2.5ml once or twice a day for six weeks to soften his stools.

I did this, while it did soften his stools, it also meant that he did 4/5 dirty nappies (one at 5.30am) and was in a lot of pain. He has never been constipated and has a good diet, lots of wholemeal break, pasta, fruit, veg, etc. I can play around with the dosage but don't really like the idea of giving him a drug everyday for six weeks.

Is there anything else I can try? I feel bad as he is in pain so happy to stick with this if necessary.

Thank you.

lactulose isn't really a drug per se.

I think it is just a sugar solution AFAIK.

BUt appreciate you want to try something else BTW. Have you tried prune (juice)?

I used to give DD watered down OJ to help her.

I would not worry about lactulose, it is not a synthetic drug it is a sugar solution. The pain he got would be to do with the cuts and the build-up in the bowels not the lactulose.

You can try prune juice and figs etc but really lactulose will do no harm .

Lactulose is indeed a sugar, and it isn't absorbed by the body. In fact, that's how it works - it holds water in the poo to keep it soft. I am quite nervous of giving DD drugs like Calpol unless completely necessary, but I didn't mind lactulose as constipation made her so miserable.

You are obviously doing all the right things with DS's diet. I would make sure that he has plenty of water to drink too, whether or not you use the lactulose.

fennel tea, cooled down of course. works wonders for both diarhoea, and constipation. for kids i have always added a teaspoon of sugar, as they think it is a juice and guzzle it down then.

or, the high fibre stuff. called isabghol, cant remember its english name, but you can get it in health food shops.

Lactulose is really innocuous. Just a sugar solution that goes stright through without being absorbed.

I would suggest gradually reducing the dose,until you get a soft formed stool once or twice a day, give lots of fluids, and stick with it for at least 6 weeks to give the anal tears time to heal.

As everyone else has said, lactulose isn't a drug, and it doesn't cause irritation in the gut like some other laxatives do. It just holds water in the gut and makes the stools softer.

Thanks for the reassurance on the drug element - much appreciated. I now get the sugar solution bit as he really guzzled it down!

As 3lfrogs said I think it is now just about getting the dosage right. It was just so difficult seeing him going from being in pain once or twice a day to 4/5 times in a much shorter period.