constipation

[Margy]

Anyone got any great ideas on constipation? I have a 4 year old pre schooler who has suffered since last June. She drinks loads, eats loads of veg (doesn't like Macdonalds, pop, chips or crisps!) does lots of exercise. We are presently on 2 lots of medicine from the doctor which we keep altering the dose on but After ckeanin and changing for the 8th or 10th or more time each day I'm getting to the end of my tether!!!!!!!!!!!Any ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rivi

I cook the linseed with porridge for breakfast. She's not overly keen so it's always a bit of a struggle (and we're only on day 4!!). Someone suggested soaking some overnight in fresh orange juice and drinking it in the morning. Haven't tried that yet. Was thinking about maybe trying to bake cookies with linseed in as it can be used for baking purposes (never baked a cookie in my life but would willingly start if I thought it could help!).

My son is 14 and has problems pooing all his life. I now believe that the problem is mine or other peoples. He is happy to poo just once a week, he sits in the tolet for 25 minutes after Rugby on a Sunday! I have often had to go in after him and break it up with the toilet brush as it won't go round the bend! (Sorry, graphic but true!!)
We tried lactulose, raisins, apple juice etc, but now just leave him alone.
He will very rarely poo on holiday, so sometimes he'll go or rather not go, for two weeks!

Some people just seem to poo less than others, I'd rather he was like this than had my problem of going five/six times a day, three before breakfast and then about half an hour after every meal. That can be inconvenient and a nuisance!

I'm not criticising anyone, but a lot of bowel problems are caused by obsession with a daily poo!

You'll also find that boys in particular will never poo anywhere but their own home, they won't go at school even if desperate, this causes problems, retaining the stool and it then becomes dehydrated and hard to eventually get rid of. It is a viscious circle, toilets at school need more privacy. Most infant class toilets I know of are in the classroom itself, with open tops, so everyone knows whats going on and can smell it!

Good luck everyone, I do still worry about my son, but he's happy enough!

Alibubbles I agree with everything you have said. I would be happy if our son went once a fortnight (or month even) if he wasn't in agony and didn't keep trying to go without any success. We have even had to do all sorts to try and take his mind off it in the hope that when it's more than ready to come he can just go and get on with it. At one time we wondered if he just wasn't happy with the strange feeling etc etc etc. As for school loos here I agree again he does like privacy so even at nursery where the doors remain open and children come and go (or watch even!) he will not go for a wee and by the time I collect him it can often be a mad dash for the nearest loo. Must say that I did worry about getting obsessive but I have a family with very very different bowel movements so don't expect daily or weekly events.

KIZZY I tried the orange juice soaking but it didn't work for us. I think if the yakult doesn't work then I'll try the baking though I better get practising too but only because the Linseed did work really well when I could get him to have it - I tried it in cereals he likes, but most ended up in the bottom of the bowl and unfortunately he doesn't like porridge type cereals. I tried yogurt too but not easy to get down - have you tried it? I just found it difficult to get it along my mouth to the point where I could swallow it, so thought if it's that hard for me how can I expect our son to cope! Wish you well.

I haven't experienced this problem with any of mine but a friend who was constipated after having post-op morphine was in agonies. She resolved the situation with liquorice, the proper stuff you can buy in packets, called Panda Liquorice, I think, from health food shops. (Not liquorice 'flavoured' sweets.) My little one would eat liquorice till the cows come home, so maybe it would appeal to other peoples children too.

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I just wanted to add a message of hope and encouragement - I didn't want you all despairing after reading Alibubbles' message that her son still has problems. It is a dreadful situation to be in, and hard to get support. Hang on in there ...

My eldest was always prone to constipation, from 5 months when he started on solids. It was always a battle, and a constant watch on what foods he ate. He never got so chronically bunged up as some of the children below, but it still got to the point that it dominated our lives. When he was constipated he was in pain, and his behaviour deteriorated rapidly too. I was always aware of when he had last done a poo, and how critical the situation was. Whether or not he'd done a poo would dictate how we spent the day ...!

Anyway - to the 'hope' bit. There is no problem for us at all now. He is nearly 4.5. I do make sure he has plenty of fibre in his diet, but don't worry further than that. I no longer necessarily know when he does a poo, and I don't constantly think about it - it is simply not an issue.

How we got there was by making a massive amount of fibre in his diet (recipe to follow), so that he simply could not hold on. And then insisting - with rewards - that he sat on the toilet until he did a poo every morning. At this time he got to listen to cassettes with stories on - the only time of day we did this. Once he was regular, it stopped causing him pain, and we just gradually scaled back the pressure until he went by himself.

I do think a lot of the problem is psychological - sometimes they pick up negative vibes from you, about mess and so on.

Two other stories of 'hope'. My younger son has never had a problem with constipation. He's now 2.5, and out of nappies, clean and dry. He takes himself off to do a poo twice a day. So don't worry that you will necessarily go through all this again with another child!

Another friend of my son got chronically constipated, and nothing seemed to help. His mum was convinced it was psychological, and certainly no dietary changes, or medication seemed to make a lot of difference. Then one day when he was 4 he saw his young cousin (aged 2) do a poo on the potty. Since that day he has not been constipated at all, and takes himself off to do a poo when he needs to without prompting! Honest - it's an amazing story isn't it? But sometimes it just takes time and a change of attitude of the child.

Good luck all of you, let us know how you get on

OK - recipe as promised. This recipe comes from Susan Reimer's book 'Muffins', which can be bought from Lakeland Limited, (cost about £4, I think). The book is full of loads of dead easy foolproof muffin recipes, all of which sound much more delicious than the one below, and are simpler! buy it! (Lakeland also sell muffin trays and paper liners).

I calculated that each muffin of this recipe contains a massive 4g of fibre - so go easy with them, especially for very young children.

ORANGE-DATE BRAN MUFFINS
7 oz plain wholemeal flour
2 oz natural wheat bran
1.5 oz wheat germ*
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
.5 tsp salt
4 oz butter or marg (softened)
finely grated rind of 1 orange
5 oz soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten with a fork
10 fl oz milk
3 oz dried dates, chopped (or raisins)

1. Prepare muffin tins, preferably with paper liners as these muffins do tend to stick. Preheat oven to 375-400 deg F (190-200 C), gas mark 5.
2. Combine wholemeal flour, wheat bran, wheat germ, baking powder, bicarb of soda, and salt. Stir well with fork.
3. In a large bowl, blend together butter, orange rind and sugar. Add egg gradually, beating well until smooth.
4. Use a minimum of stirring for the following steps: Add half of dry ingredients to butter mixture. When this is mostly incorporated, add all of milk. After a few strokes, add remaining dry ingredients and continue stirring just until evenly blended. Add chopped dates during the final strokes. Batter will be thick.
5. Spoon into muffin cups. Makes 12 standard size muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Tops should spring back when touched. If liners are not used, cool for several minutes to make removal easier.

My sons and I enjoy these split and buttered. But they don't appeal to everyone - my husband can't stand them. But then he doesn't like anything that he suspects of being healthy. healthy!

*Wheat germ is great. Add a spoonful to just about anything - yoghurt, salad, stew, etc. It's very high in fibre and extremely nutritious.

Dear Hedgehogpie,

could you please explain what do you mean when you write that you supplement your daughter's diet with "flora and fauna from the health shop"?

Is she taking a supplement? Could you tell me which one exactly? I am very interested in the long term effects of lactulose, because unfortunately my son has been on lactulose for a long time now. I am going to try anything to help him with his constipation, but I don't want his digestive system to be messed up. Thanks

Can anyone tell me if linseeds are ok at 6 months? We've had another 2 days of straining and spewing - she always manages to do a poo but it's just that it comes out at both ends simultaneously. This weekend I'm going to start her on Weetabix to see if the extra fibre helps, but I was also going to sneak in some linseeds too.

Tilda

We used to mix some well-ground All Bran with her cereal (pop the All Bran in a plastic bag and grind it down with rolling pin). I think someone told me to wait until she was one year old before starting with Linseed but my memory may be playing tricks on me here as I've tried so many things at various stages. So if anyone else knows for sure?

Good luck.

Just to inject a bit of levity into this thread. I think i've discovered a weird, non diet solution to my son's constipation. He's been pretty irregular (every 3 days on average) since he was only months old and although nowhere near as bad as some on this thread he has been known to hold on and cry on occasion when it gets really bad.

Anyway... We're decorating the hall and landing at the moment and in one of the bedrooms upstairs we've got a long ladder lying on the floor with a slightly longer scaffolding plank lying on top of it. My son loves jumping up and down on it mainly, I think, cos it makes such a racket plus it's just loads of fun to jump anyway when you're 2. But... it makes him poo. Four days on the trot, so to speak, to date!!

Touch wood, so far Weetabix seems to be doing the trick and haven't had to mix in any linseeds. The idea about the All Bran sounds good, might give that a go if the situation changes. I'm just glad that I can stop shoving fruit juice into her because her first 2 teeth are coming through and it's hardly the best start.

Yes Tilda - stick with the Weetabix. It really does pack a punch. How much are you giving her at the moment - half? If you can get her up to a whole weetabix in a few months' time, then this will be giving her a real fibre kick, without resorting to anything 'stronger'. Is she a good eater? Some children go off Weetabix after a while, but my youngest (2.5) still has one every morning, and I think it does him a lot of good.

Kmg, she currently eats between half to a full Weetabix - she has a good appetite and enjoys her food (most of the time). If at any point she refuses Weetabix I will try other things (baby cereal etc) but will hide All Bran or even crushed Weetabix in them. It all came as a real shock to me that she could get so bad, she was fully breastfed originally and pooed constantly, even now she gets 2 breastfeeds a day, so I didn't think there would be such a bad effect. I'm going to keep myself much more aware of how things are going in terms of what she is eating and what effect it is having on her. I'm just glad I've managed to solve it without having to give her any medicine.

This discussion seems to have ended a few months ago, but I still want to write how happy I am that after almost three years of constipation we have been able to stop using laxatives and lactulose for the last three months.

I think it is manly due to the fact that after such a long time on lactulose he did not associate going to the toilet with pain anymore. I keep on giving him at least a kiwi a day and I now give him Yakult almost every other day and that has also helped a lot. So thanks for yor suggestions!

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Another success story here! My son (now 2) was so severely constipated that he sued to scream and writhe several times a day without passing anything. Long story, but we saw 3 GPS and a Paed on the NHS who all dismissed us as paranoid parents and prescribed variations on a theme of more juice/ prunes/ fibre etc (all of which we'd been trying for over 6 months anyway..) so finally, as we were so worried, and had that parents' sixth sense that 'this just isn't right' we self-referred to a private paed. gasterentorologist (I KNOW that's mispelt, but for the life of me get it right!).
We even took video footage of our little boy in angst. Within seconds the specialist said he clearly had a VERY slow bowel, and also his previous problems had probably created a pyschological barrier too. The remedy was a very old-fashioned one, but very simple - a dose of liquid paraffin oil twice a day. I know that this is a mineral laxative which is rarely used these days, and prolonged use has been associated with vitamin absorbtion problems, but it worked wonders for us almost immediately. And I'm pleased to say after about 6 months we gradually reduced the dose over time and ds is now fine!
If all else (natural?)fails, it may be worth talking to your doctor. It is actually available over the counter (try Numark/ independent pharmacies - Boots didn't stock it)but not generally recommended for under 3s without GP advice.

I have found some of the ideas on this thread so helpful - our son, aged nearly 3, is currently suffering badly from constipation. So I am off to buy some linseeds, for starters.
It has been such a worry for us as he is trying to go almost continuously and only passes a very small amount of soft poo. He has not been properly for six days and I am trying to get him a GP's appointment right now. But I suspect that from what others have said here that he has hard waste matter somewhere in his bowel that he can't manage to pass unless it softens. Can anyone enlighten me? Is lactullose a stool softener? Is there anything else I can add to his diet that will help soften stools? He gets what I think is plenty of dietary fibre for a toddler and he ate dhal and prune puree for tea last night, so I don't think he needs a laxative per se. I'd really appreciate some advice on what else we can give him to make this easier. And he is making such good progress on being dry, it's such a shame!

We have also had a perennial problem with this and finally solved the main difficulties by finding a sympathetic homeopath.Another tip we have found is swimming,this seems to stimulate things and we have frequently had to leave the pool to visit the loo!

Have just done a search on constipation and found this thread. I couldn't believe the amount of good advice there is on it. I'm also so relieved to hear of other people's stories (and eventual sucesses)as I am feeling really worried for my dd at the moment. She is 11 months old and only goes to the toilet every 6 days when we can not bear what it may do to her to leave her any longer and give her a suppository. She is in absolute agony and her eventual poo following the suppository often gets stuck half-in half-out for over 10 minutes which is excrutiatingly painful for her. I had tried many of the suggestions, but will be off to the shops tomorrow to purchase some of the others. Anyway, wanted to thank all the contributors on this thread, as you have given me renewed hope!

Ellaroo - its really distressing isn't it. I've had DS stuck in that position in the past and felt so bad that I've had to pick him up and cuddle him despite the possible consequences (ie an explosion following the blockage). Have you had medical advice on this?

I was going to tell my exp on my dd severe constipation but I thought I would just refer anyone interested to the constipation thread dated for fri 23rd rather then retype it.

can imy friend take senokot she is 6 weeks pregnant and constipated and 39 years old

Senokot is one of those drugs that advises you see your doctor before you take it if pregnant. She might be better off using a Glycerol suppository.

stephw - tell your friend to try Lactulose - it is safe to take regularly during pg and you can buy it over the counter.