Advice needed for 15 Month old with Chronic Constipation

[Jason_CPT]

Good day,

My 15 month old suffers from chronic constipation.

We have given her all sorts of juices, including loads of prune juice. We have used glycerin suppositories andLacson syrup with no luck.

The Lacson and glycerin suppositories use to work but the last 3 weeks it did nothing. A week ago she got an enema which worked well in few min. Half an hour later after the enema she had another bowel movement and it was soft. A few hours later we saw her pushing again and struggled for a while to pass the poo, after a few minutes and a lot of crying she passed the poo and it was hard and dry again, this was about 5 hours later. She is currently on chronic medication called Pegicol but so far no luck.

She went to about 5 different doctors in the last year. All saying she has a fear of pooping and there is nothing wrong.

We did change her formula and it was still the same. We also changed her diet to a high fiber diet. Giving her much more water to drink also.

We have scheduled another appointment with another doctor that is apparently very good with children digestive system (we were told that about the last 3 doctors also).

Is there a laxative we can use that's made for adults but just say half the dose?

With all the doctor fees we paid the last year we could have gone on a holiday as they just seem to waste time and money with no real answer or cure.

Thanks
J

 

[NoodleHelm]

I am no MD, and I really think maybe going back to the doctor is needed.. However, my nephew has chronic constipation since he was around 9 months. Once her turned 12 months old the MDs had them start giving 2 caps of miralax a day. It helped so much in the beginning, but now he is 21 months and it isn't helping so much anymore.

I'm wondering why they haven't sent you to a gastro specialist yet?

 

[noon_child]

Good day,
A few hours later we saw her pushing again and struggled for a while to pass the poo, after a few minutes and a lot of crying she passed the poo and it was hard and dry again, this was about 5 hours later.... We also changed her diet to a high fiber diet. Giving her much more water to drink also.

I have heard that long term laxative use and use of physical stimulus to cause bowel movements can cause reliance on these things to pass a stool. I don't know how regularly and how long you have use the suppositories etc. so this may not be a factor.

From what you've said above, it doesn't sound like she had trouble moving food through her system as much as it is dry and uncomfortable to pass (which would lead anyone to having a fear and then holding it in!). Which type of fibre did you increase in her diet, soluble or insoluble or both? If she mostly gets insoluble fibre, the increased water to drink will just pass out in urine. Soluble fibre absorbs water, bulking out and softening poo so that it is easier to pass. Without this, poos can remain hard. Insoluble is important too though as it speeds up digestive transit, and the slower the transit is the more water is absorbed back in to the body.

It may just be that any medication, however successful, will take a while to show results because your daughter has to re-learn that it is OK to poo and that it won't hurt. Does she observe you going to the toilet?

 

[Left wonderin]

Have you tried kiwi fruits ? They ALWAYS have worked a dream for me whenever constipation was an issue . Eat kiwi = poo an hour or so later

 

[BlingyGal]

Miralax, LaxADay and Peg 3550 are all the same thing. Worked wonders for my 9 month old, we used it for 2-3 months until she started walking which helped her constipation. These over the counter meds do not cause dependency or reliance. But I would assume your doctors have already suggested these products?

 

[Teri7489]

My daughter suffered from it until just recently and it was pure hell. It got to the point where she would struggle so much to hold in her poo that she would throw up, purely because it was so sore for her to go. We tried all the meds available for age and the only thing that worked was stopping milk. At that point she was on cows milk but had been on formula just before that. Even now if she has too much milk she has much more difficulty doing a poo. No matter how much fruit, veg, high fibre food or oat bran she had it didnt help at all. Hope your lo is ok xxx