Hello!

My 14 month old son is constipated very badly and he has been like this since about 6 months old. Nobody knows why as he eats really well (Greens, veg, meats, eggs and lots of water). He was 6 weeks premature but other than that he has had no problems with anything. We have tried everything! Laxatives, prunes, cutting out things etc. He is getting worse, he has been bleeding because he keeps tearing down there :( The doctors just keep brushing it off and giving him laxatives that don’t work. Another Appointment on Tuesday so hopefully something helpful. Has anyone been through this before?


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  • Besides fibers water intake is very important; The more fiber you take the more water you should take too.
    Personally I love to add seeds; ground flax seeds & sesame seeds in yogurt/kefir
    My youngest is also prone to constipation; I give her daily soaked prunes, I drain the prunes and add a scoop of Osmolax to the prune liquid what she drinks each morning, I give seeded bread and reduce banana intake, fruit like kiwi, soft pear, strawberry, oranges are helpful.
    When no response on Osmolax you can increase the dose no problem


  • Get a referral to a pediatrician


  • One of my twins had/has the same as your child, also born 6 week prem with many health issues. The paediatrician put her on OsmoLax twice a day. It takes a while but it did the trick. Now when she starts to get her severe tummy pains and/or gets constipated she has OsmoLax for about a week and it sorts out the problem. Hope it helps for you as well.


  • I would try different foods until you find something that works. I’ve heard that Kiwi fruit is very good for infants with constipation, and I would also give him more water to drink.


  • Do hope you get an answer soon. It is distressing when it’s happening to your child no matter what age. Have you tried letting him have very ripe pears – children like them and they have worked a treat for my daughter and my husband.


  • I hope you got a referral to a specialist pead?


  • Rocking, and clockwise tummy massage may help…. Get a second and third Dr opinion.


  • Just wondered how you are going with your son. Hope things are better


  • Stewed prunes help my daughter. But I would be asking for a referral to a pediatrician


  • Im just going to start by asking the obvious….have you spoken to the Doctor about this?
    I take it that you have. Seems odd that a Doctor wouldnt be right on the case and work to get this sorted so it might pay to see another Doctor.

    A friend of mine used to give her daughter a lot of cheese and that caused issues for her daughter.


  • I cut out every food, only to find that it was Stage 3 formula (i.e.: toddler formula) that causing my daughter to get so constipated. Too much iron. As soon as I cut the formula, the problem disappeared.


  • I’ve been in the same situation with both my children. We are lucky that we’ve got a BRILLIANT paediatrician Dr Chris Munt who listens and acts. The kids needed to be seen by a gastroenterologist who found they both had Delayed Digestion (which was causing their constipation) & our youngest also had IBS & Functional Abdominal Pain. This was all found after tests (MRI, Barium Swallows etc) but we found that the best treatment was a daily dose of OSMOLAX (it has no taste, doesn’t cause gut spasms) but each child is different so I would jump up & down & DEMAND to see a paediatric gastroenterologist. If the 1st isn’t helpful them go to a 2nd or 3rd until you are satisfied your son’s needs are met & YOURE being listened to. Try not to get stressed there WILL be an answer found.


  • OH MY GOSH I HAVE JUST BEEN THROUGH THIS!!!!! Sorry about the caps, but my gosh its been a long stressful road. It has been over 2 years the dramas before we actually got the right diagnosis. Here is my story.
    So we attempted toilet training Miss 5 after moving states and her being diagnosed with lactose intolerance. She picked up the wees fine, but we hadn’t got the poos on the toilet sorted. We left it as with all the change we thought it could affect the toileting.
    So… a year on she still wasn’t going to the toilet for poos and we attended the doctor and said that it wasn’t a “normal” poo and she first said it was something like IBS and we went on a special diet (LOW FODMAP) to try and fix it. (What a difficult diet). After several months it still wasn’t working so back to the doctor who referred up to a specialist who said she is not constipated and there she isn’t withholding and that it was a developmental thing and we needed to go to therapy. So as much as I said its not developmental, off we went to therapy. No change.
    I went back to the doctor and demanded xrays and ultrasounds which revealed a big blockage. Although we had out a referral in to the hospital previously they weren’t going to see us but getting this scans they said they would see us.
    Specialist at childrens hospital said he wouldn’t see us there and to go to a local hospital and this is where I finally stood up and put my foot down and demanded they do something! I said that she was soiling up to 8 times a day and then most of the times they were only smears. They agreed to do testing which was stool tests, blood tests and a transit test (week long scan). Results came through that she had a very slow bowel and they finally put us in hospital. 3 days they said which ended up being 10, but finally her bowels were cleaned out. After the specialist brought her out of recovery he said to me it was much worse than he thought and that I didn’t make it sounds as bad as it was. It was one of the worst cases they have seen. We now have a long road to recovery with the hospital telling us it will be up to 2 years for bowel to recover and up to 5 years under hospital care to make sure she is ok.
    Go to the doctor and make sure you voice your concerns loud and clear and make sure they listen. We have our Miss 5 on a much higher dose of adult movicol than that recommended on the pack, so see you doctor and see what they say

    I would happily offer an ear if you needed some advice or any other details.


  • Have you tried pear jucie? It work with my daughter but she was four also if you use white bread try shifting to wholemeal as white bread is like glue in their intestines!


  • A peadiatrician May be more helpful than a GP. I would read reviews online to find a good one


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