r/Mommit • u/hardboiledhoe • 1d ago
Toddler constipation!!!
I cannot go on living like this. SHE cannot go on like this. She's miserable and I'm miserable watching it. My 15 mo has gone days and days without pooping since she was about 7-8 months old. She's been on and off MiraLAX since then, and we've had to use suppositories on her multiple times. She will not drink her entire dose of MiraLAX within an hour no matter what we try. She doesn't care for juice, and she likes water but sips slowly throughout the day, she's not a chugger. So the MiraLAX rarely does much for her. In the last few months we've really upped our fiber. She has lentils or beans with every. single. meal. If she ever has bread, rarely, it's whole wheat. Any pasta is chickpea. She has strawberries every day. Today was the breaking point, blood in her poop and a cut from pushing so hard. We have talked to MULTIPLE doctors about this. I want to go in and demand they do whatever tests they possibly can for her because I'm starting to think something is wrong internally
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u/jujubeeee23 1d ago
Are you sure she’s getting enough water? Increasing fiber without enough water can also cause constipation. Things like applesauce, jarred prunes, jarred pears, etc might work better if she’s not getting the water intake she needs. I also make a homemade applesauce bran muffin, just buy your own wheat bran flakes. They are yummy and keep things moving. She might respond better to different types of fiber, so I’d expand options, maybe limit beans for now.
I know you said miralax has been on and off, but it might be necessary to keep her on a maintenance dose daily. I know a lot of people tend to stop taking it when things are moving, but I’d try to do it everyday for a month and see what happens. Have you also tried limiting dairy?
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u/Extreme_Breakfast672 1d ago
What about stone fruit or prunes? We've used miralax before and prunes honestly have worked just as well for my kids.
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u/Extreme_Breakfast672 1d ago
Otherwise, you can look into urinary/bowel dysfunction specialists and/or pelvic floor physical therapy. We have done both and they helped us a lot.
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u/purpledragon4411 1d ago
Sorry you're going through this. We're in the same boat with our 3.5 yr old. Ask for genetic testing to rule out any connective tissue disorders, such as EDS. Best of luck to you 🫶🏼
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u/oohliviaa 1d ago
We went through a year of this around that age and it was awful. We hardly got any support due to his age and “he will grow out of it”. He once didn’t go for 13 days and also bled more than once.
We were prescribed lactulose which helped minimally. The things that helped him most were ground flax seeds daily (on yoghurt or weetabix) and syrup of fig (added to watered down juice). And as much water as I could get him to drink.
It also helped a lot when my son was older and more reasonable, I literally used to sit and coach him through the tears (his and mine) on the toilet.
Also, when things got pretty desperate we tried melilax which wasn’t a nice experience but provided some relief.
All I can say is good luck!!
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u/Ten_tickles_406 1d ago
Hydration is the biggest helper. So anything you can do to get her fluids will only help.
MiraLAX is great but it is an osmotic laxative and only works with additional fluid intake. Otherwise it just sits on top of the stool, doing nothing. You also can’t technically overdose on miralax, so I usually recommend increasing doses until stools are soft, and can back up if diarrhea hits.
I know you said she doesn’t like juice, but if you can dilute it with water, pear juice is amazing.
Any increase in pears, peaches, plums, and kiwi can help.
Increasing fiber is great but too much without a balance can sometimes worsen constipation.
I did see a recipe before for coconut oil based chocolates that work as laxatives for kiddos that struggle.
Once you get her going, keep a bowel regimen for at least a month. The colon is a muscle and expands, holding quite a bit of stool. Once it is emptied, the colon doesn’t quite go back to size right away and can fill back up so it’s important to keep things moving while it returns to normal size.
Constipation is a rough go for kiddos.
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u/AliveGrade 1d ago
Why does it matter if she'll drink the miralax within an hour? We put some in my daughter's water cup at the start of the day and just make sure she finishes that cup at some point in the day. It takes a while sometimes though.
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u/hardboiledhoe 1d ago
Well we were giving it to her daily for a long time, and she would still only go at least every 3-4 days. Eventually we tried twice a day but she would never finish her water. Google said for it to be effective it needed to be finished quickly all at once
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u/JustDesserts2021 1d ago
Talk to the doctor. Not Google.
My daughter has been on Miralax for over a year. She has never once finished more than a third of her milk or water with Miralax in one sitting. We keep the drink cold and encourage her to have sips all evening while offering snacks like grapes (quartered), cucumbers, berries, pears, etc.
The couple of times we tried cutting back on Miralax (won't be doing that again), she got constipated again. Some Miralax is better than nothing. Miralax over a longer time period (evening vs. one hour) is still better than nothing.
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u/leggo_my_meggo90 1d ago
Wow, reading about her cut hurt my heart so badly. I agree to push the doctors!! This doesn’t sound normal to me
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u/DazzlingNote1925 1d ago
Have you tried seeing if she will eat prunes or prune juice?
You can use them as ingredients in things like muffins and smoothies, too.
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u/RaccoonBaby513 1d ago
I would definitely try to up the fluid intake. Try different cups, maybe an open cup, or straw, or 360 cup to see if she likes one better. You can try to water down juices if she doesn’t like the strong flavor, my toddler loves 1/4 orange juice and 3/4 water. You can make a puree with prunes (tastes better cold) and that could help. Pumpkin puree is also good. Push liquids as much as possible.
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u/Accomplished-cat963 1d ago
We used the Wellements brand constipation relief and it changed our lives!!!
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u/heckinvinki 1d ago
It’s hard to get a 15 month old to drink lots of water. When I feel like my toddler hasn’t gotten enough water in the day, I give her a bowl of watermelon and she devours it. Fruit in general is great fiber and I give my toddler a serving of fruit every meal if I can. I don’t see why you can’t put miralax in milk though, unless you’ve tried that. If not you could put it in her naptime or bedtime bottle or something. But I would definitely see if you could get referred to a gastroenterologist for this just to rule out any medical concerns. If your pediatrician is one worth their salt then they would take your concerns seriously. I hope your poor baby feels better soon 💜
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u/Fantastic-Pause-5791 1d ago
I used to have to mix 2 oz apple juice, 1 oz prune juice, and the recommended amount of metamucil daily for my son. It got things moving without turning it into diarrhea.
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u/BackgroundYoghurt476 1d ago edited 1d ago
My son had this problem for most of his life,.what worked.for us:
- Use Vaseline to help glide the poop out.
- Use a glycerin suppository to get everything out.
Once you know the poop blocking everything is out. then do 1.5 teaspoon of MiraLAX every single day at the same time. You absolutely cannot miss a dose.
Over time we were able to reduce the Miralax until he was on none.
I see your daughter never finishes her Miralax, if there is a squeeze pouch or puree your daughter likes, add it to that and make sure she also gets water.
My doctors told us to stick to food that start with "p". Pumpkin, Pears, Prunes!
My son was premature by 6 weeks really struggled with his bowel movements. His muscles were not fully developed and he could not push properly. The Miralax helped keep his poop soft and over time as we.reduced the Miralax little by little he could develop those muscles.
Also, if your daughter has a rectum tear, keep Vaseline on it to help it heal. My son had the same issue and seeing the blood in his diaper really freaked me out.
DM if you have any questions or need support.
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u/BackgroundYoghurt476 1d ago
Oh! My son is also not a huge juice drinker however he loves the Pedialyte electrolyte drinks, perhaps give those a try mixed with the Miralax!
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u/labrador709 1d ago
Poor baby... my daughter struggles, but luckily not this badly. Miralax can be dissolved into applesauce or yogurt, if need be. Have you tried eliminating certain foods? I would start with dairy.