constipated toddler

[twiggiez]

hi mummies,

sorry if there's already another thread about this. did a search and nothing came up...

k my girl is coming to 19months. she's become constipated lately.
around early last month she strained for a couple of days before pooping a really hard and black stool. during the days she strained, she only stained her diapers. i've read that this is a sign of constipation.
we've brought her to kkh. dr found that she has a tear just outside her bum. suspected she may have a tear inside also. gave her laxative. a follow up check up, the tears are healed. continued on her laxatives.
prescribed to give 2 times a day for 2 weeks then once a day for another week. her poo returned to normal. now after 2 weeks of no laxative, she's getting hard stools again.
her diet's been the same since she was 12 months.
milk and biscuits/fruits in the morning. introduced corn flakes recently. porridge for lunch and dinner. usually with vegs and some meat/fish/chicken. sometimes she'd have rice with vegetable soup. milk when she naps. biscuits or fruits or yoghurt as snacks. then milk before bed. she'd have at least a tumbler of water throughout the day.

i dunno what to do. my hubby keeps on blaming her diet. indirectly blaming me and my mom coz just so happens she gets constiptated when it's my mom's turn to look after her. but her diet has always been the same.
should i change her formula? she's been drinking similac stage 3 since she was 12 months.

 

[pixie]

My girl rarely has constipation. I have switched her formula milk a few times since newborn until now (she's almost 14 months old). She had Mamil, Similac, S-26, Enfalac and then back to Similac (Gain IQ).

What I have avoided giving my girl since she started her semi-solid food is cereal and cornflakes as these dried snacks do cause heatiness if the toddler started to produce hard stool. What I have NOT give up is give her mashed/puree pumpkin, sweet potatoes (which is very regular in her diet), rare tomatoes (she self-feed) and Vitagen/Yakault (given to her when she didn't poop for a day). She is always happy to drink plain water which I give her daily/regularly.

Try adjusting her diet for a week such as cut down on biscuits and no cornflakes to see if this will improve her bowel movements?

 

[twiggiez]

i'll try. she doesn't seem to want biscuits these few days.
you can give toddlers vitagen/yakult? i always thought it would be too harsh on their tummys. i'll try that too.

or could she actually be afraid to poo? coz before she started getting constipated, hubby keeps checking her diaper whenever she says "poo" or shows that she's going to poo. as in he'd literally spread her bum cheeks to see if there's poo coming out. could it actually be a cause? now she doesn't even tell us when she does poop.

 

[pixie]

I started to give my girl 1/2 bottle of Yakult/Vitagen when she was 12 months old - when she constipated for 1 day. So I don't see why not.

Checking on diapers shouldn't cause any phobia. I did that to my girl (but I don't spread her cheek bum....hehe) - check if she soiled her diaper. My girl sometimes would walk near the potty and say 'wawa' which in her language could mean pee or poop and then we will remove he diaper and put her on the potty.

Your child at 19 months, I would think Yakult/Vitagen is fine as she is already on solid food.Just don't get those with collagen type.

 

[twiggiez]

ah ok i see.
thanks for the input

 

[pixie]

Yakult and Vitagen contains Probiotics which is the friendly bacteria to help in indigestion.

Yakult/Vitagen is suitable for toddlers 12 months and above. BUT if your child is allergy to Cow's milk protein, then s/he should not be given this. Otherwise, you can give him/her a bottle.

 

[isabelandrew]

hi there,
black stool does not look normal.... ?

My daughter got constipated once when she is being potty trained. We brought her to KKH for repository. Then gave her eat probitics. She was given lactose - a kind of sweet syrup to ease the constipation. We gave her when necessary.

Hope this help.

 

[twiggiez]

hi there,
black stool does not look normal.... ?

My daughter got constipated once when she is being potty trained. We brought her to Kandang Kerbau Hospital for repository. Then gave her eat probitics. She was given lactose - a kind of sweet syrup to ease the constipation. We gave her when necessary.

Hope this help.

yeah black stool as in really tarry black. but her poo is returning to normal now. thank goodness.
i was afraid of brining her to kkh and end up giving her the repository. she cried like hell when they had to look inside her bum for tears. but thankfully no more bleeding and just have to leave her be when we see she's trying to poo and she's fine.

 

[Liviern]

My 3 yrs old girl has the same prob too! I was told by my PD that it's common for toddler to get constipated, as they are too 'busy' with their activity & always ignore their urge to poo. My girl always poo every 4-5 days, very hard stool. Sometimes with blood stain too. Initially I was very anxious & keep forcing her to poo, scold her if she refused & even put the enemal (something like soap water bought from chinese medicine hall) into her rectal. It make the condition worse! She always hold her poo when she has the urge, make the constipation worse... Nowadays I try to make her poo session relax. When she has the urge, I leave her alone. Everyday a cup of prune juice, plus blended fruit juice (not extracted juice. I blend a few type of juice, mix with a little water. Let her 'eat' the blended fruit using a spoon). Encourage at least 800ml water (exclude milk & soup). Reward with sticker if she drink lots of water by her own etc. oh ya, sometimes she drink Yakult too. The condition is getting better now and sometimes she can poo everyday!

 

[isabelandrew]

now, I set a time for her to poo. sit with her make the poo sound.. later I smell d fart. I tell her after poo her tummy will feel comfory.. u know like a physiological game....

 

[Eliza]

yeah black stool as in really tarry black. but her poo is returning to normal now. thank goodness.
i was afraid of brining her to Kandang Kerbau Hospital and end up giving her the repository. she cried like hell when they had to look inside her bum for tears. but thankfully no more bleeding and just have to leave her be when we see she's trying to poo and she's fine.

Trying giving:
Prune Juice (1 part prune juice to 3 part water)
Banana with water (my dad's 'formula': one bite/ scoop mash banana and feed water. just need about 3-4 bites and 3-4 times water, works like a charm) =)
Yellow pear juice (just 1/4 to 1/2 a pear juice NOT cup)
Pumpkin mash (orange food not more than 3x a week)

The above is tried and tested. If all else fails, then can get a green pack of suppository from Guardian pharmacy (the words are in japanese, but they're used in clinics). There are two tubes in it. Use one tube at a time. You just need to insert into her rectum and squeeze the whole tube. Though I usually only squeeze 3/4 of it.

BTW, I use the suppository before I found out the banana and water 'formula'. So if the natural way works, use the natural way instead. =)

Cheers!

 

[twiggiez]

i've found that if she hasn't pooed and we bring her out, she'd be "embarrassed" to poo or is distracted. end up she hold it in till the next day. and that's when it hurts.
happened just over the weekend. we went hari raya visiting. she hadn't poo since friday. saturday morning she started straining but nothing. throughout the day she strained. then at night i guess she pooed in her sleep. woke up feeling uncomfortable because of the hard poo in her diaper.
i'm trying to stick to natural remedies. kept emphasizing to hubby not to use laxative. i know he doesn't want to see her in pain. and i of course don't want DD to suffer in the long run.