Serious Answers Only.. problem with my daughter?

Question

My three year old gets SEVERELY constipated- it can take hours for her to have a bowl movement. I've had her to see several different doctors and they all say that her bowels are underdeveloped and she will grow out of the problem. She gets a stool softener daily and it's not helping- we are very careful with her diet- she gets lots of fiber and all of that.. I'm worried about her and I don't know what to do anymore. She also has an umbilical hernia that she has had since birth that they plan to correct in another year- are the two problems possibly related and who can I see or what can I do to help her? :(

Answer 1

Just to let you know, there is a medication out there called Lactulose. It helps ease the discomfort from chronic constipation by attracting water to the colon and allowing for more regular and less painful bowel movements. Many physicians will affectionately refer to this as "high powered fruit juice." It's tastless and ordorless, and you can hide it in any kind of food or drink. The nice thing about Lactulose is that it's not a laxative and doesn't contain stimulants. She can't form a resistant to it by using it long-term, and the only side-effect is excessive diarrhea (that's if you don't gauge your dose correctly). Talk to your doctor about it...you may be pleasantly surpised. Good luck to you, and your daughter.

Answer 2

Wow, poor thing, did you know to much fiber does the opposite and can constipate, so be careful with over doing the fiber. Try fruit nectar's like peach and pear the kids like the taste, and it will soften the stool. I don't know if the hernia is related, but I would take her to a pediatric gastroligist, you don't want her to get a impacted bowel, my bosses son has this problem and he's had a few surgeries to the bowel for the obstructions. He is 19 and just had the latest surgery 5 months ago.

Answer 3

Water is a natural laxative. Maybe it would help if she drank an extra glass a day. Soda can constipate people so maybe that is another reason she can't go. I could see how an umbilical hernia could contribute to the problem but I would assume the doctor would pick up on the connection also. If you are worried about it you can always call the doctor and see what he thinks.

Answer 4

Constipation is a common problem with young children, and it isn't related to the hernia. Although straining too much can aggravate it. Try to get her to take some time every day at the same time to go. If she will drink prune juice this may also help as well as plenty of other fluids. Sometimes little ones are too busy (too many other things to do) to take the time to go on a regular basis.

I had this problem when I was young and I hated enemas, which were the treatment of choice for this problem 40+ years ago.

Answer 5

Becareful with the excess of fiber, could over-dry the colom walls absorbing the moisture and make it worst. Since I was a kid my family always used natural medicine on me and it worked better than any type of medicine that any doctor could prescribe. The fastest remedy for constipation for me was clear Castor Oil that is not other than "beans oil". You can find it in any health food store or the pharmacy. The oil slides fast throught your digestive tract til it reaches the colom sliding the feces out easy and painless. The best part is that your body doesn't absorb the oil. Is my best and safest advice. A doctor won't tell you this because the actual medicine depends on chemicals and not on natural remedies like used to be many years ago. Good luck!

Answer 6

Have you tried using a suppository to help her with the bowel movements? It seems like you have done everything else possible.

When you say fiber.... does it include the following:

High-Fiber cereal
Whole wheat bread (no white bread)
Barley in the soup
Brown rice instead of white rice
Carrots, Celery, Broccoli, Tomatoes
Apples, Oranges, Peaches, Cherries, Grapes, Bananas


Read the fiber content on cereals and breads when you buy them, and compare. Some advertise high fiber, but they aren't as high as others. 8 grams of dietary fiber is what you want, and lots of them have less than that.

She also needs to drink TWO QUARTS of WATER every day. That sounds like a lot, but if you give her one of those portable drink bottles full of water to carry around, maybe she will drink more. The water helps more than anything else.

Answer 7

Yes, the two problems could very well be related. Remember, we have one body and what helps one part work, helps the other and so on. It sounds to me that the Dr's you are consulting with are not understanding the extent of your concern What you do is get in the phone book and find a specialist that deals with digestive problems and get your daughter into see them. Not being able to go to the bathroom regularly can lead to more severe problems.

Answer 8

A stool softener is good but she needs to get plenty of fluids so that it will work. Also walking is good to stimulate the intestines. Maybe she needs to take a walk with mommy or daddy each day. Just some ideas. I have constipation problems myself and also take stool softeners.

Answer 9

Bypass the oil
Eliminate from her diet all oil that have been remove from their sources, such as liquid vegetable,olive,or soy oil, and it may help relieve chronic constipation, It's not oil per se, but eating it in its free state that cause constipation and many other digestive problems, The problem with the oils, is that they form a film in the stomach, which makes it difficult to digest carbohydrates and proteins there and in the small intestine, Adequate digestion is delayed up to 20 hours causing putrefaction, gas, and toxins which back up in the colon an large intestine, But oils eaten in their natural form, locked up in such things as whole nuts, avocados,and corn. are released slowly into the body, so the oil slicks occur to block digestion and create constipation problems. The oils,as opposed to the separated kind, are a wholesome and nutritious element of food.

Take a walk Any form of regular exercise will rend to alleviate constipation TOILET TRAIN HER Through tout our lives, many of us condition ourselves to go to the bathroom not when nature calls but when it's convenient. IGNORING THE URGE TO DEFECATE, HOWEVER, CAN LEAD PROGRESSIVELY TO CONSTIPATION, but it is never too late to to improve her bowel habits, So pick a meal,Any meal, and every day following that meal sit on the toilet for 10 minutes, in time you will condition your colon to act as nature intended

Answer 10

I would go to see a specialist at a hospital near you....many doctors may not recognize a serious problem if there is one since they are sometimes unusual and the doctor may not havea adequate information on it. However they may be correct that she will grow out of it.....still take her to the hospital.......I will keep you and your family in my prayers.