Help for Toddler...

[Guest guest]

I have a 2.5 year old who has been constipated from day one. His longest no go

was 9 days. I actually still breast feed him as he has severe allergies to eggs,

walnuts, dairy and soy. Because of these allergies he is on an almost pure

veg/fruit diet. He doesn't really prefer grains or meat, so those are pretty

limited. His favorite foods are broccoli and carrots and watermelon. The one

meat he does eat willingly is bacon, and since he is under weight, we encourage

this but it is uncured mostly turkey bacon.

At two weeks old he started only having a BM every 4-8 days (he did have a round

of antibiotics after his belly button became infected), he just kind of plugged

up from that point on. At 6 months I was feeding him 4 jars of prunes a day

mixed with fish oil, probiotics and flax seed and nothing else beside breast

milk. He did actually get referred to a specialist at OHSU and they did a

barium enema and all they could see that could possibly be causing a problem was

that he may have an extra loop of colon. The Dr's suggestion was, of course, an

adult dose of Miralax. My pediatrician had suggested we do 1/4 the adult dose

and I had tried that for some time with out great results so I had stopped. The

Dr assured me that an adult dose was what he needed. I tried it off and on but

was never comfortable with it. He would go back and forth between being impacted

and having diarrhea. So, fortunately, I haven't exposed my son to it too much or

too often. I read on here about Epsom salts helping and I tried that this

morning and that DID seem to help as he had a BM!

My main question is, with a toddler who is super finicky about supplements, what

things should I feed him/not feed him? I have EVERY brand of fiber/probiotic

gummy on the planet in my cupboard and he won't consistently take any other of

them. He is not a good drinker so smoothies are not very effective (though if I

freeze them in't popsicles it works better).

I am open to acupuncture or Naturopathic options if anyone has any suggestions.

Also, i have heard about the GAPS diet and was wondering if anyone has had

experience with it. I am not sure how to modify it for a toddler either...

Thanks so much for your help.

~Peace

[Guest guest]

Summer, welcome, three things come to mind here:

1) Was he vaccinated at Birth? Hep B?

2) Is the probiotic of high CFU's?

3) could it be a learned behavior pattern due to the belly button (not being able to push due to belly button pain?)

Kirkman labs makes a probiotic chewable that contains xylitol that works like a laxative, while replenishing the good gut flora

Have you tried any other laxative?

Jeanie

To: miralax Sent: Sun, August 5, 2012 1:30:35 AMSubject: Help for Toddler...

I have a 2.5 year old who has been constipated from day one. His longest no go was 9 days. I actually still breast feed him as he has severe allergies to eggs, walnuts, dairy and soy. Because of these allergies he is on an almost pure veg/fruit diet. He doesn't really prefer grains or meat, so those are pretty limited. His favorite foods are broccoli and carrots and watermelon. The one meat he does eat willingly is bacon, and since he is under weight, we encourage this but it is uncured mostly turkey bacon. At two weeks old he started only having a BM every 4-8 days (he did have a round of antibiotics after his belly button became infected), he just kind of plugged up from that point on. At 6 months I was feeding him 4 jars of prunes a day mixed with fish oil, probiotics and flax seed and nothing else beside breast milk. He did actually get referred to a specialist at OHSU and they did a barium enema and all they could see that could possibly

be causing a problem was that he may have an extra loop of colon. The Dr's suggestion was, of course, an adult dose of Miralax. My pediatrician had suggested we do 1/4 the adult dose and I had tried that for some time with out great results so I had stopped. The Dr assured me that an adult dose was what he needed. I tried it off and on but was never comfortable with it. He would go back and forth between being impacted and having diarrhea. So, fortunately, I haven't exposed my son to it too much or too often. I read on here about Epsom salts helping and I tried that this morning and that DID seem to help as he had a BM! My main question is, with a toddler who is super finicky about supplements, what things should I feed him/not feed him? I have EVERY brand of fiber/probiotic gummy on the planet in my cupboard and he won't consistently take any other of them. He is not a good drinker so smoothies are not very effective (though if I freeze them

in't popsicles it works better). I am open to acupuncture or Naturopathic options if anyone has any suggestions. Also, i have heard about the GAPS diet and was wondering if anyone has had experience with it. I am not sure how to modify it for a toddler either...Thanks so much for your help. ~Peace

[Guest guest]

Hi!

Thanks for your response!

He has never been vaccinated.

I can get him to drink Good Belly juice pretty consistently but he is super

finicky about vitamins of all sorts. One day he will eat them like candy and

then won't touch them for weeks or months. Then candy again. He does this with

every brand I've tried. And I've tried well over 10. He will lick them sometimes

but won't eat them. He just carries them around in his little hand getting

everything sticky. (-; I will try Kirkman too I guess, why not?

I suppose it could have been painful when it was infected, but it was all

cleared up by about 4 weeks.

It seems to me that he just doesn't have the urge to go until his bowel has 4-5

days of poop in it. Then, he will sometimes just go of if it has been painful he

will go thru stages of withholding. If I give him a laxative at this point he

vacates EVERYTHING and has an enormous BM. (Then repeats no BM for 4-8 days.) If

I don't give anything he will have a series of little walnut size turds for

several days and then stop for several days. Then repeat.

I could attach pictures of his enormous poops when given a sennocide but think

that is a bit much. (-;

Any specific foods I should try? Any GAPS info?

Thanks so much!

~ Summer Sheldon

www.SummerSheldonPhotography.com