Remedies/preventative care for child's constipation and UTI

[LittleSweetPeas]

My DD is almost 3 and has had ongoing problems with constipation from about 6 months of age. It has recently become much more serious and has affected her having her first UTI. We are on antibiotics for the UTI and are on Miralax for the constipation. After I get her going again I would like some ideas for how to prevent this in the future. Suggestions?

[cobluegirl]

I would seriously have her allergy tested....
Acidophilus is really good for stomach issues...constipation or diarhea

[righteous mama]

I agree. Check for allergies. In the meantime, toss her veggies with a bit of olive oil. I do this with my youngest when she is having constipation. I toss some in with her peas.

For the UTI have her drink Cranberry juice...not mixed with any other juice and sugar free. If she won't drink it, cut it with a bit of water.

But make an appointment and have her tested as soon as you can.

[bostonsmama]

yeah, i too would have her tested asap. also try to keep a high fiber diet. i second the cranberry juice and the acidophilus, definitely the acidophilus. you could see if she'd drink kefir too? its another probiotic. keep us posted! :hug

[cobluegirl]

Blueberry juice is good too I think for UTI's.

[bluedotsmom]

I'm going to copy and paste from another post of mine about this issue. One very important thing to remember is that you can't just increase fiber without increasing water intake. Water is very good drink. Also, my post mentions that dairy was a huge culprit for constipation & behavioral issues with my dd1, you can find dairy-free acidophilus supplements if needed. Here you go, hope this helps a little (some of it may not apply):

Try stopping dairy. That really helped with my dd (horrific constipation from around 18 months to 3 years.) ETA we didn't try stopping the dairy until she was almost 3. Our ped didn't push milk on kids & was never concerned that dd2 wouldn't drink milk. I'm not sure where I even found the info that milk can cause constipation, it apparently is not the 'normal' problem that cows milk causes.

And you may need to go to something stronger to soften the stools so she can't hold them in. When the stool is retained, the colon actually stretches and the stool becomes a ball. When the colon stretches, she can also lose the sensation that she needs to poop. The damage can also become permanent.

Also, if there is an impaction, she can have runny stool leak around it that she cannot control.

We had to use milk of magnesia with my daughter, starting with 3 teaspoons everyday for probably a year to get the stool so soft that she couldn't hold it (the consistency of pudding.) Still horrible for her because she probably had rectal fissures from the hard stools passing, so even the soft poop hurt. Our doctor had tried something called Maltsupex (a malted barley extract laxative) but we quickly found out dd was allergic to it.

We didn't really have success until we stopped dairy. My dd loved to drink milk! I don't think it has anything to do with it really being whole or lowfat for my daughter. We only used 2%. I also made sure if she had apples that she had the peel.

I cried everytime my daughter pooped and so did she, even when it was soft and really didn't hurt anymore. We slowly weaned her off the milk of magnesia. She still doesn't drink milk and we have to limit dairy (causes emotional issues as well.)

I am not a huge fan of doctors, but I trusted our pediatrician and he was very up front with the dangers of chronic constipation and her retaining stools. He was also very up front that we would have to go very slowly to wean her off the MOM.

Don't know if this helps it is very hard, sad to deal with...keep us posted

[LittleSweetPeas]

Thank you for all the help. I will call a pediatric allergist on Monday and see what we can do. DD #2 who is 6 months old has a milk protein allergy so maybe this isnt so far fetched. I just would've hoped that the ped would've caught this by now. I mean, 3 years? She just chocked it up to children having strong memories and DD remembering a difficult poop at one point and now witholds to the point of constipation. I even mentioned DD#2s allergy at our appt and she still didnt really think there was an association.

DD has had the leakage over the last couple of months. She LOVES water so that wont be a problem. I just need to get her to eat more fiber at this point.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions.

[Irene]

I also agree with the allergies, especially regarding your other posts about your dd. And, IME (I know that others have had different experiences ;) ) our doctors kept telling us to give dairy, even when I mentioned we might be allergic, they pretty much brushed it off, even the allergist :/ and I will say, if you do a skin test, it may not show up for dairy for constipation, but try removing it anyway if you suspect it. My ds was severly constipated and we were already dairy free, but for him it was soy as well. it didnt show up in a mainstream allergy test though, but when we took it out, the difference was *amazing* and he was a much happier, regular, little guy!

[bluedotsmom]

Good luck and keep us posted, it can be heartbreaking to deal with this for our little ones.

And I ditto what Irene said about the allergist. Most of the testing an allergist does is for anaphalactic(sp) reactions - like hives. You dd may not show any reaction to a normal allergy test. btw, my pedi wasn't big on pushing dairy, actually when dd2 turned about 15 months and I just thought I'd see if she liked milk (you would have thought I gave her vinegar) and I asked him what to do if she wouldn't drink milk, he said don't worry about it. Kids don't have to have dairy, but he never mentioned it regards to dd1, but when stoppping milk improved the constipation (and some emotional issues) he was like, "oh, yeah, that could help." But he had never mentioned it.

I suggest you just try stopping dairy for a week and see if it helps.

The doctor is correct about memory. When it hurts to poop, toddlers will hold there bm's for an incredible amount of time. Even when you get the poop soft enough, it can still hurt and they will be scared.

My prayers for you!

[LittleSweetPeas]

Bluedotsmoon, did you see a significant improvement in your DC's emotional/behavioral issues? We have been having some problems with DD that I have been concerned about and I had wondered if perhaps these could all be linked together. I know from talking to others that there can be a very real association between behavior and food sensitivites/allergies but I'm curious to hear more.

[Irene]

Im not blue, but we did :) I wrote about it in your other post :) they absolutely can be linked.

[bluedotsmom]

Ditto what Irene said!

The improvement in behavior was drastic and immediate and all we did was stop letting her drink milk! I learned to be better watching for other dairy as well. What's sad is that we didn't realize how unhappy and tantrum-y she had been until after we stopped milk.

Is This Your Child? is a wonderful book that talks about food issues. I actually need to get it again, I think we have some other problems and need to do an elimination diet.

One more constipation thought, when we could see dd1 holding a bowel movement (laying down, whimpering, etc...you've probably seen these signs as well) we would sometimes use a glycerin suppositorie. It got the muscles working & provided a little lubricant to make it easier. Also, TMI, our doctor told us the goal with the milk of magnesia was to get her bowel movements to the consistency of pudding and once she finally got over the emotional part, we slowly weaned her of the m.o.m.