Son Having Irregular Bowel Movements

Updated on May 03, 2011
R.R. asks from Thomasville, GA
8 answers

My son is 4 years old. He has had trouble with bowel movements since about 8 months old. It started out they would just hurt really bad for him and he would scream everytime he had one but now he will go weeks without going. He has been trying for about 2 weeks to go he strains to go but he can't get anything out. The dr put him on miralax but even that has stopped working. Has anyone ever had this problem and if so what advice can you give? Thanks

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone for the helpful answers. He had is 5 yr old checkup last wednesday and I told the dr we are still having the problem. She did x rays to see how backed up he was (about halfway up his intestines) and told me to give him a pediatric enema and do the miralax everyday. She wants to see him again in a couple of weeks if it doesn't help. She said it could be something called mega colon where the nerves in his colon don't squeeze the bowel out. So far I have been giving him the miralax everyday since wednesday and he still hasn't gone to the bathroom so we'll see what she says when we go back.

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B.R.

answers from Tampa on

OOF! Sounds like the poor guy is constipated. He could probably use more liquids & a lot more fruit & veggies in his diet (which can be difficult with a 4yo, if he's the picky type). Not especially dense foods like apples & bananas, but juicy things - watermelon, mandarin oranges, grapes (cut in 1/2). Good luck!

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S.S.

answers from Miami on

Take him off ALL dairy products for 2-3 weeks. You will see a huge change!

1 mom found this helpful
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G.S.

answers from New York on

I would try raisins, grapes, prunes, anything but we were told not to let her eat bananas as they were very gassy and would bind her. My daughter who is now 13 has been under the care of a pediatric GI since she was a toddler for constipation & one thing that has worked well was kondrimul (spelling?) but I would speak w/your dr first. We would give it to her every night before bed and sure enough she would go every morning. It's not a prescription but you have to get it from the pharmacy. Miralax did nothing for her and they really try not to get children to rely on any form of laxatives. We actually had to retrain my daughter at the age of about 8 or 9 to go to the bathroom. She would have to sit on the toilet each night for about 10-15 mins whether or not she had to go just to get her body to feel like it had to. All it takes is one bad bm for them to get that fear in them & to hold it. Another thing that works well is a warm bath - we even had a few accidents in the tub when she was younger, but i'd rather deal w/that then a screaming child in the e/r packed all the way up w/dried up you know what. Best of luck to you.

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S.H.

answers from Orlando on

Have you tried a stool softener?

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K.M.

answers from Tampa on

It is his diet- chech out WestonPrice.com, and I love Nourshing Traditions cookbook.
We also use probiotics and like Simplexity=800-###-###-####.
Best, k

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A.P.

answers from Gainesville on

Has your doctor diagnosed encopresis? Did he offer any advice besided miralax? My son had issue right around the age 4 he withheld his poop voluntarily b/c he was afraid it would hurt. he held it in for 10 days pediatrician sent him to mergency room. They gave him an adult enema - which he held in for 20 minutes. he was put on stool softeners for a full year and we had to do behavior management excercises to get him used to pooping on the toilet. I highly recommend that you google encopresis! And read about it. So we made sure my son had lots of fiber in his diet, but he was scared to poop so that wasn't the real issue. If you would like to message me I would love to give you more info if you need! Most likely just changing diet it not gonna do it...
I was just reading other answers and we did the same as gerri we had to retrain my son by toilet sitting also!

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C.P.

answers from Provo on

I think that I would get probiotics for him. They are great for the digestive system. I would try bananas to get him to go.

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S.S.

answers from Miami on

R.,

My son is right there with yours. He has been going through it since he was 8 months old and now he is almost 9. We are trying to weane him off the miralax. However that is a slow process in our case due to he fact that our son is an extremely picky eater. But you do need to stop the dairy, that is a big culprit. You do need to get fiber into his diet and get him into see a gastroenterologist right away. When my son gets to bad I have to give him pediatric enemas at home to help relieve the constipation. I don't recommend this unless it is a last ditch effort.

I wish you all the best, however I do recommend having him looked at by a specialist they will be able to give you a better idea of what is happening with your little guy!

Good luck from another mother in the same boat!

S.

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