20 month old - need help was Re: Hello

[Guest guest]

Also wanted to mention to you that even at 20 months, you can still

start to get her to " sit a spell " . In our house that is our lingo

for, it's time to go sit on the toilet for a bit. There is nothing

attached to this-- no expectation that you 'have to' go, and no

negative comments if nothing comes out. If the child does do a bowel

movement after sitting, then lots of positive comments ensue!

Start with having her sit for just a few minutes after each

mealtime. With mealtime, there is a natural peristalsis that occurs

with digestion and so this will encourage her bowels to move, in

time. Over time, she can sit for longer than just a few minutes.

If after what seems a reasonable amount of time has passed, she can

get up.

When we were starting out, I did encourage my kids to 'bear down' and

push a bit, as if you are going to make a toot come out, to help them

get the 'idea' of what is going on in their body. It wasn't too long

before my son was able to 'go' at that time, every evening. For

years, we kept up the reminder to go sit a spell. The last year or

so, he really does get urges on his own and will take care of his

business whenever he needs to. But we still do remind him to sit

every evening before bath, just in case he didn't have one earlier.

My daughter, we ask her to sit. She reads, which I know isn't the

best thing for hemorrhoids when you are an adult, but hey, at this

stage in her life, anything that gets her to sit long enough to have

the bowel movement, I'm happy about.

She will go just about every other day. Still a bit nuggety, but I

am still playing with what to give her, how much, how long, but this

is better than where we were at your dd's age, which was,

constipation set in at 8 months post vaccination, and we had to use a

babylax almost daily, to keep her from getting humongous hard

stools. If we did every other day for a week, she'd end up with a

big round stool that was like having childbirth for her. So she

really needed every day, most of the time, a babylax liquid glycerins

uppository. Now they are called pedilax, by Fleet's.

anyway, just saying that we have come a long way! And the sit-time

is a part of a good training regimen.

W

>

> Hello-- I'm going to put my comments within some of your text with

> *** marks...

>

> I'm changing the subject line to possibly attract more people than

> just the Hello part. :-)

>

> > We took her

> > to a GI specialist at 8 months and they ruled out all physical

> issues

> > and said babies can go up to a month without going!! What??

>

> **** Yes, I second that--What?? That would be horrible to go a

month

> without having a bowel movement. It's shocking to think that there

> is actually a GI doc that believes this is " OK " ... wow...

>

>

>

> >

> > Our doctor recommended 1 tsp of milk of magnesia a day and we did

> > that but she would wait longer to go while taking that.

> ****** You mentioned below that you tried 2 tsp's... I would say,

go

> ahead and try the milk of magnesia again--yes, some people on this

> board are using it, and try the 2 tsps for a few days, while also

> giving her some type of fiber, such as Fiber Choice chewables.

Some

> fibers to me, seem very drying, and Fiber Choice chewables do not

> seem to make the stool dry...so give her a half a wafer to start

with

> and work up to a full wafer per day, and stay with the 2 tsps of

Milk

> of Magnesia until you get a sense of how regular is she being. If

it

> is turning to diarrhea again, then back down to 1 tsp and maintain

> the Fiber and then see what happens. There is a delicate balance

> between enough of something to make the stool soft, but sometimes

> when it gets TOO soft, then it seems like the kids will go longer

in

> between because it's so soft that it's not stimulating much

> peristaltic action in the gut to get it moving through...so that's

> why giving some bulking fiber along with something that will keep

it

> soft, is usually going to help. Each child is different though...

>

>

>

> Now, the

> > Miralax prescription. I REALLY don't want her to have it. I

took

> it

> > for a week in pregnancy and was allergic to it and had to stop.

>

> ***** Yes, some people ARE allergic to PEG.

>

> Is there an

> > amount that is too much to give? I don't want to make her sick

or

> > have other problems from too much MOM.

> ****** well, not generally a problem with too much MOM. Magnesium

in

> high doses can cause a problem BUT the kind of magnesium in milk of

> magnesia, is not one that is absorbed well by the body, and you can

> play with the dose to see what will work for her.

>

> We did have to give her 2

> > tablespoons for two days in a row to get her to go recently, but

> then she got diarrhea.

> ***** you could always try a table spoon for two days in a row, and

> then back it down... yes, diarrhea in little ones isn't good if it

> goes on for days but getting her to the point of diarrhea, and then

> backing down, isn't necessarily a bad thing... it at least shows

you

> that you've reached that point of making the stool flush through

and

> then you can back down and increase the fiber, to see if you can

find

> the happy medium of a formed log shaped stool that is easy to

pass,

> even if it isn't coming every day--you're wanting to see that log

> shape, easy to pass stool...

>

>

> >

> > In some posts and in the file section I read about aloe vera

juice

> (I

> > think that's what it is called) and have seen that in the store.

> Is

> > that a stool softener? What does it do?

> ***** aloe vera juice is supposed to have healing properties and

> helps heal the lining of the gut that has been irritated by rough

> stool and too much mucous being formed to protect itself. It's

> supposed to help the stool come through in a more log-shaped normal

> appearance. 's aloe vera is one brand that tastes like

water.

> I don't care personally for a lot of the aloe veras only because of

> the taste of them--can't get my dd to take it, but george's aloe

vera

> was one that she would take, because it tasted like water and was

> easily hidden that way.

>

> >

> > Also, I have seen some probiotic supplements and digestive

enzymes

> in

> > the vitamin aisle. They say adults only, but I am thinking that

in

> > the right dose they are ok, as the docs say the laxatives are

> right?

> ***** Oh yes, absolutely probiotics are OK for kids. Particularly

> the lactobacillus acidophilus ones. You may even be able to get

her

> to start eating Activia brand yogurt or any of the other ones that

> advertise the high ratio of live cultures.

>

> > How do you determine what is the right dose? My daughter does

not

> > like yogurt, so the activa challenge was out for us.

> **** Oh bummer. I typed before I read down here. Well, you can

> still get probiotics of lactobacillus acidophilus and other ones,

and

> then open the capsule and sprinkle the probiotic onto her bread, in

> her cereal, and you can 'shake it' into drinks to mix it in well.

>

>

> >

> > And magnesium supplements, I have seen those too. Which ones

work

> > best? Any long term side effects? Any ideas on dosage?

> **** Some people like kirkman labs magnesium citrate--adds a tart

> taste to juice. Some people like natural calm brand.

>

>

>

> > Maybe as a remedy in a bind, but that's all. Right now my

daugther

> > just got over a stomach bug and that caused diarrhea for her

until

> > Friday. But, she is on day 3 now without going.

> **** Yes, after diarrhea, you can expect at least a few days with

> nothing coming through.

>

> I have been giving

> > her 4 ounces of prune juice a day (she doesn't like it much

unless

> it

> > is mixed with other juice & water) and 2 tsp of children's

> benefiber

> > a day.

> **** There is a juice box sold online called Juice Plus Fibre, and

it

> IS pricey, but look into it because you may even live near a place

> that sells it. I had purchased some and had it mailed to me and a

> half-box a day of the grape flavor, would produce noticeably softer

> stools in my daughter. Great stuff! It was made with Acacia

fiber,

> and it just seemed to make things nice and soft. The only other

> source of Acacia fiber I have found is 's Tummy Fibers.

But,

> the tummy fibers, you needed to use several spoonfuls of it in

order

> to get it equal to what was in the juice box, and so the juice box

> really packed in a lot of fiber per box. I'd give her half per day

> and refrigerate the other half so I could get the most bang for my

> buck and not waste juice.

>

>

> W

>