I'm not as good a mom as lots of you, so haven't been forcing the fish oils as a few I've tried (for kids, all flavored, some in gummy form) have been rejected thoroughly. Now I'm taking Mr. A (the one with constipation) to an acupuncturist who has advised (among other things), cod liver oil. So far have been giving him a tiny amount in a spoonful of yogurt and tried yesterday with the other 2 as well. They took it because I sort of sneaked up on them, but I doubt this is sustainable! So, if there's a brand you use your kids don't hate, let me know!

After about a week of nice, soft poops, we're back to same old same old hardish and dry with holding (encopresis). I am sooooo mentally wiped out as he is always on a regime of some kind for this which requires my keeping track of everything he eats, drinks, all the other stuff (flax, psyllium, etc), time and quality of poops, etc. You should see my little poop journal for him! All day I'm thinking of what to give him, when, and how. We first the peds' recommendations (we tried this for a long time with little success) and now the acu's (which seemed to work the first week but no longer working and 5 days without a real poop).

His brother eats the same diet (minus the stuff to help with pooping!) and his poops are super soft and mushy all the time. Never a single hard poop in 2 1/2 years...help!

It's strawberry lemon flavor and the kids seem to love it. It comes in chewable capsules and also a oil you can give using a spoon.

Hard poops; DD has it too. DS and DD eat the same diet but she has this and I just gave up. Nothing I did helped. She drinks a lot of fluids (docs said it was dehydration) and eats everyhting. So now that she is 5 it's not an issue...

me:43, DH 44
FSH 26
DS: born by c-sec Apr15'03, 9lbs5oz 41wks gest. (after 4 years of ttc, starting in 1998)
DD born by c-sec Oct 13 2007, 8lbs13oz 39wk gest. (after just under 3 years of ttc)
~~DS was conceived naturally the cycle following a cancelled DE IVF, using my good friend's eggs. She was on the verge of hyperstimming.
~~DD's nat conception I attribute to using OPKs like a crazy nut, eating grapefruit daily and using preseed. also 5 cycles of TCM ending 2 cycles before that lucky cycle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barleans Omega Swirl for kids. Its a creamy, sweet lemon flavor. My kids would drink it straight out of the bottle if I left it out! I have to buy it at the health food store as it is a refrigerated item. They make one for adults too:)

A friend of mine swears by Miralax for her son, and you can mix it in anything. Apparently it is not habit forming. Ask your ped if youre not familiar with it!

Sorry for the digestive issues. That must be very difficult.

Pink

The active ingredient is propylene glycol, which I believe is also in radiator fluid. Supposedly it does not enter the bloodstream, but there are some studies that show cases where it has. Anyway, I have had to give him such extreme amounts just to soften the poop and I just don't like the idea of potentially poisoning my child...even the main pediatric gastro guy we consulted with has nothing for us except Miralax and enemas. Seriously????

Its a shame that the medical community has no nutritional training. Everything is drugs.

Have you tried corn syrup? That is supposed to get things moving. Im sure you could Google for the correct amount. Or what about prune juice, or baby food prunes in the jar? I had to use the prunes a few times on my son when he was an infant, and it worked very well. It doesnt take a whole jar to get the desired effect. If your son doesnt like the taste, you could mix it with applesauce or something. My mom buys some sort of prune puree that is touted for constipation. I dont recall the name, or any age recommendations for it. I think she bought it at a local pharmacy.

If I give my one son more than 4 oz of gerber pear juice in a day, he gets diarrhea. He loves it, but I have to limit how much!!

I was having dinner with a pediatrician years ago (before I even had kids), and she got paged while at the table, and I was forced to listen to her discussion with a parent about cutting down on the childs milk to cure his constipation. I was astounded! I couldnt believe that anything liquid would be constipating.

You have probably tried all of these things, but I thought Id mention them anyway. Sounds like a very difficult case of constipation!

Pink

I keep wondering if maybe there is something more significant going on because nothing, and that includes harsh interventions like enemas and suppositories, are doing much of anything. The poor kid runs when he sees me carrying juice to him now...I have to force him to drink and it's miserable for both of us.

antifreeze is ethylene glycol, not polyethylene glycol. Big difference. One is poisonous. Miralax is OK...

It's not always innocuous and has been known to enter the bloodstream. Most importantly, it doesn't work, even in large doses, for this child!

That is doesn;t work. But it is not harmful in the bloodstream; only ethylene glycol. Poly type is harmless. Its a totally different molecule.

But hey, doesn't work!!!

Talia has poops like this and now it is not a problem, I htnk they just have to transition through the different eating stages. Now it is convenient thatshe has "deer" poops because it is totally not messy... Ever... Unless she has diarrhea... Ick.

sorry he's having troubles that way

I don't have any real trick for you. My DD has a slow metabolism and right from the start, her poops were fewer than my fast metabolismed boy. He pooped all day as a baby (probably didn't help I was on domperidone for supply) but her, she pooped once a day as a nursling and then when I started solids, she slowed right down! straining etc. So then I realized that, well, duh, I was giving her rice! so switched to oats with the odd brown rice cereal but it took me after giving her the 2 first fruits to clue in (seriously, takes me a while to process stuff. LOL no pun intended!!) her first 2 fruits were banana and apple!
ok, the BRAT diet when you have the runs is: Banana, Rice, Apple, Toast. no wonder her system was stopping up.

So when I switched to oats, I also added puréed prunes (man, I loved that cereal!) she got prunes in her cereal every two days and that helped her be regular (poop once a day, sometimes every 2 days and yeah, seldom soft.

Now, as a 4yo, I give her the extra vitamin C multiple Flintstones (the only kid vitamin I could find that uses real sugar and not some fake sugar). That girl doesn't eat any fruit! (ping! another grey hair just popped out) she'll eat watermelon--sometimes. sigh. and don't get me started on vegetables.

so all that rambling to say, extra vitamin C? you can find chewables but the problem with those is that they stick in the teeth and erode the enamel. So maybe if you do give that, give it at the start of a meal where the other foods might help "clean" his teeth.
I know that too much vitC gives very loose stools... but I think you have to eat A LOT. Never affected me when I was popping extra when I had a bladder infection but then, I too have a slow metabolism.
good luck and keep us posted.

jm


me:43, DH 44
FSH 26
DS: born by c-sec Apr15'03, 9lbs5oz 41wks gest. (after 4 years of ttc, starting in 1998)
DD born by c-sec Oct 13 2007, 8lbs13oz 39wk gest. (after just under 3 years of ttc)
~~DS was conceived naturally the cycle following a cancelled DE IVF, using my good friend's eggs. She was on the verge of hyperstimming.
~~DD's nat conception I attribute to using OPKs like a crazy nut, eating grapefruit daily and using preseed. also 5 cycles of TCM ending 2 cycles before that lucky cycle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had never heard of the slow metabolism situation, but it makes a lot of sense. My kiddo eats lots of whole grains and fruits and veggies. I've tried prunes. Mainly he can detect them and won't eat whatever they are in, but I did do a prune puree and cut up prunes in pancakes a few weeks ago and he ate those.