Cronic Consipation HELP

SnarkyMam0610

Okay I am need of some input... my 6 year old with Aspergers has been dealing with cronic consipation since he was about 3 weeks old. The poor kid only goes 1X a week and it is HUGE! Usually clogs my toliet and looks like it would be just terribly painful to pass. I have tried Miralax and changing his diet, but the Miralax either doesn't work OR gives him the poops. He will be going into 1st grade this fall and will be in school full time, and we are still struggling with him messing his pants. I think this last week he did it 4-5 times, in one day, before he actually went on the toilet (streaks/snudges/small amout of poop) because he was trying to have this bowel movement. I think that we could handle the undie chances, IF he would actually be bothered by the smell or the feeling and want them changed, but it doesn't phase him. Anyone else have this problem with their kids? Do you think that a gluten free diet would help?

He was caught by the K teacher squating all over the class room trying to poop earlier in the year and I don't want that to happen this coming school year. Because with the last name that we have (Pugh) its gonna stick with him and he is going to probably be teased a lot.

I am tired of the peds doctor pushing Miralax, I am going to make an appointment with a gastro doc tomorrow morning.

wingednotes

could be IBS -C (constipation.) And my money is on gluten, like you said, but a doctor will be able to test for that (celiac's disease.)
My mother suffers from it, and I recently read a book about IBS written by someone who had it since early childhood, so it definitely can affect kids.
Poor little guy. Good luck!

SnarkyMam0610

I have IBS-C induced by stress. But since I have changed my diet, which is what he eats too, I don't have any problems.

Katt8665

Your son could be my 6yo son. GF got my 9yo son potty trained and I am attempting it with my 6yo, although it is harder with him. Oxy-powder worked much better than Miralax, though. Expect GI to say behavioral and push Miralax - that is what Boston Children's GI did.

gypsybug

Ohhhhh my son to a T! Constipated pretty much his entire life and BM's that put grown men to shame and clog toilets lol!!

I did have one pediatrician that really preferred the natural route if possible and he had me go to a local health food store and pick up Lactobacillus Acidophilus to help regulate him. It's just a more concentrated form of the probiotics found in yogurt. My son wasn't able to tolerate them at that concentration, but while he was taking them it made a big difference. Now I just give him regular yogurt whenever I can and it still helps, but not at the level the pure stuff did.

The form I got was powdered and could be added to foods, but you can get liquids that are flavored now and I think even in pill form.

Shrinking_Moody

My little guy has battled constipation off and on since birth. Initially we were told to put Karo Syrup in his bottles - but now that he's on solids, we give him Garden Of Life Raw Probiotics for kids - I mix it w/ his soy milk every morning. He gets 1tsp - but we had to play around with the dosage a bit. The recommended dosage gave him diarrhea. It's worked great for us and he doesn't notice it in his "milk".

SnarkyMam0610

Thanks everyone for you thoughts. We are going to the gastrologist on Thursday. I will see what he says too and catch back up with yous!

Bola17

could be IBS -C (constipation.) And my money is on gluten, like you said, but a doctor will be able to test for that (celiac's disease.)
My mother suffers from it, and I recently read a book about IBS written by someone who had it since early childhood, so it definitely can affect kids.
Poor little guy. Good luck!

I have celiacs myself and was always constipated as a child (I hated suppositories so much that I often didn´t tell my mom). As an adult it turned the other way and I went about 30 times a day until I was diagnosed. No problems now but I do get constipated if I have milk and still get running after the toilet if I get glutened My daughter had a hard time with it about a year ago and we had her off milk for 6 months. Seemed to help her.

Melanie_RS

my daughter had this problem too from age 6 to about 8....we did use miralax but we also had a set 5 minutes she had to sit on the toilet every night after meals. eventually she'd go regularly.

I definitely vote for the probiotics, healthy food choices too.

Plus, have you tried a social story or discussing that pooping (or trying to poop) must be done in the bathroom? One thing I've noticed with my daughter is that you can't take any "common knowledge" for granted. everything has to be SPELLED out! From bathroom habits to how to answer the door. And it just gathers in complexity as they get older and have to navigate the social world.

could be dairy intolerance too possibly?

There are two good things though about miralax, one it does help a person poo and two it gives LOTS of trials of noticing poo in the underwear, no punishment,, just practicing what to do with it and noticing it or practicing toileting habits regardless of where you are. use it as a teaching time - repetitive trials!!

Booksandbeaches

We had this problem too. The thing that helped us was digestive enzyme capsules. You can get those at health food stores, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods (if you're in the US). They cost like less than $20 for a bottle for a month and they work so well. You give about 1-2 capsules with food. When we started doing the enzymes, the constipation went away.
The other thing that helped was healthy food choices with food heavy in fiber and lots of water throughout the day.