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Constipation, although very common in children, it can also be a very frustration problem. It is defined as the passage of hard and painful stools or going four or more days without a bowel movement.
It is most commonly caused by a diet that is low in fiber, but it can also be caused by drinking too much milk (more than 12-16oz/d) or not drinking enough water.
Our Little Edison has been struggling with constipation problem for the last 2-3 weeks. Whenever he is constipated and has hard painful stools, he will hold his bowel movements to prevent it from hurting again. This creates another cycle of constipation and it will become worse.
Constipation is not only painful for Little Edison but it is also a heart-wrenching experience for me. I feel so sad whenever I see him in pain. There is no major change in his diet, thus I’m really clueless on what is the root cause of his constipation.
The only change that I can think of now is his formula milk – Pediasure. He started taking the “new formula” Pediasure about a month ago. When he was drinking the “old formula”, he had regular bowel movement and he wasn’t constipated. Could this be the root cause?
I’m wondering if anyone of you faces the similar problem like me. Care to share?
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- Published by Emily in: Food & Health
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21 Responses to “Constipated”
Hi
I can understand your concern ..
My gers have been having constipation problem since they turn 6 months old .. it was so bad that one of us have to hold them (when they were still a toddler) and the other person have to ‘squeeze’ the exit hole to force the very very hard like rock poo out .. and my ger would be crying until the whole face turn red and ended with a very sore and bleeding exit hole after the whole drama ended ..
Things did not get any better when they were fully toilet trained .. they had to sit on the toilet bowl for ages, pushing with all their might but the poo just refuse to come .. it became a very bad habit for them to withhold their poo all coz they know the pain that become so closely associated with it .. they would only go when they could no longer bear the pain in their tummy but the poo still was very very hard and we had to resort to those pumps which we pump liquid into the exit hole to soften the poo ..
Things got to a stage when I decided .. this was not the right way and I increase their fluid (water), fruits and veggies intake and suprisingly .. they had no more problem with their poo ..
So to cut the long story short, maybe you could try to increase Edison intake of fruits and see if that helps
Hi Flower Mummy,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’ll increase his fluid, fruits and veggies intake. Hopefully, it gets better next week.
Emily… Agree, pediasure seems to be more ‘heaty’ considering the added minerals/vitamins. But increasing fruits n water intake should help. Missy generally don’t hv issue of being constipated. But if she does… Out comes our ‘trustworthy’ prune juice/purée. Rem the Gerber ones SY recommended. On her fussy days, I’ll freeze them into ice Popsicles. She will take it readily. Hope it helps.
Hi Sam,
Yo! Back from your holidays? I’m sure you had a great trip…
I bought prune juice for Edison last weekend. He took a sip and said “not nice”. Then, he refused to drink again. Sigh. He is a real fussy eater. I’ll give him more fruits, hopefully it will get better next week.
Emily,
Maybe Pediasure is heaty. try to get Edison to drink more water. I let my girl (who is drinking Gain IQ, no constipation) drink apple juice daily ( ownself grind the juice from fresh apple) and get her to drink soup (you may need to boil it la) daily, she never has problem with passing motion. only once awhile heaty then have harder stool (like marbles).
i think their diet play important role le.. and i always judge her health by her motion.. if too soft then don;t give her too much fruits, if too hard, give her more water and fruits.. haa and i always squeeze in vegetables into her rice (cut into small chunks) she din even know it.
at this age, they might not want prune juice or anything with stronger taste or smell.
we parents just have to put in more effort lor.. not easy bringing up children hor. im still learning haaa..
Emily… Back for a few days liao. Tiring but fruitful! The kids had fun… A good break!
U try freeze it and serve as ice lolly if that is not an issue for u. The smell will be lesser when the temp is low.
I read in Cleo mag July issue… Lemon juice help ease constipation and promote healthy liver function as well as cleansing bloodstream. Mix fresh lemon juice with water… Then again, not sure hw little edison will react to acidic taste.
Hi Sam,
Freezing it is a good idea. I’m sure he will love the ice lolly. Thanks for your recommendation.
Just to share my experience with switching of milk. Milk does make a difference regardless what brand may it be Prediasure or others. This happen to my Alicia when she is 1 year old and a switch of milk and she was constipated like Edison. Initially we tot its was her diet and try to give her prune juice,more vege,more water yet nothing works but after many trial and errors and observation, I found that it was her milk and I switch milk to Gain IQ and the bowels went back to normal (everyday). Recently she is turning 3 years old too and I change her Gain IQ to other brands and quite true, it happen again, I kept switching whenever I see something not right (I even encounter her drinking Friso and complaining hungry even after 1 milk feed(within 1 hr) and need 3 feeds in 1 night). Thus I switch again and now she is on Dugro 3. Back to normal poopoo and milk feeds. To sum up,u may wana try other brands as it may be not suitable for him.
Hi Puppygal,
Thanks for sharing your experience. If increasing fluid and fruits intake don’t work, my last resort will be changing his formula. Perhaps the “new formula” Pediasure isn’t suitable for him.
I can understand why you would want to switch to Pediasure for Edison as you mentioned he is a fussy eater. George was also very constipated for months and I tried alot of method to stop the cycle. Btw, he is also drinking Pediasure.
Until I gave him avocado with his breakfast cereal everyday, the cycle breaks. Now he poos everyday. You can try this method if Edison eats avocado.
Hi Huey Ling,
Oh, avocado? I haven’t tried it myself. Where can I buy them? Thanks for your recommendation.
Avocado is one of the super fruit. It is very good and can be bought at supermarkets. I always get them from NTUC. I also like avocado very much!
Hi Ling,
Thanks. I will try it.
Does Edison takes yogurt or vitagen/yakult? These products are abundance in prebiotics which aids digestion and helps to regulate poo. My daughter (19mths) takes yogurt daily as an afternoon snack and she has no issue with her bowel movement. On some days, she may poo twice a day (when I give her avocado with banana/papaya for breakfast) but she definitely poos on a daily basis. % of prebiotic is indicated on the milk formula….take a look at present formula and compare to the previous formula. Low percentage of prebiotic may be the cause of constipation. Also, make sure the child drinks lots of water daily. My daughter takes a min. of 4 x 500ml water per day.
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for your advice. We do feed him with yakult, about 3 times a week. My MIL is concerned about drinking yakult everyday. Thus, we give him on alternate days. Wow, your daughter drinks a lot of water. I think the main problem is that Edison is not drinking enough water. We have to think of ways to make him drink more.
Hi Emily,
It really helps! There is another version for kids.
Why is your MIL concerned about giving Edison Yakult everyday? I give my 2 YO and 6 YO daily
Hi YeeJia,
Some people said that drinking it daily may cause phlegm cough. Some are concerned about too much sugar. For Little Edison, if we give him a certain drink everyday, he will soon get sick of it and he will refuse to drink. We have a variety of drinks for him in the fridge so that he won’t get bored.
To encourage my daughter to drink more water, I gave her her water bottle every hour. Even if she is not thirsty, she will take a sip (just to entertain her mum!). Now that she has cultivated the habit to drink water, she constantly reaches for her water bottle and it is place on the coffee table where it is easy for her to reach.
Hi Shannon,
My boy rarely asks for water. We’ve to keep giving him his water bottle and tell him to drink. Your girl is so good, she can even reach for her water bottle and drink on her own.
Hello Emily,
I accidently came across your site after doing a search for “Can Pediasure cause constipation?”….I love what you’ve done with your site. Very creative and informative.
I realize this particular archive was from 2010…has Edison’s constipation issue been resolved? I hope so. My little boys are 3 and 1.5. The 1.5 yr old is a very fussy eater as well and pediatrician recommended Pediasure. I suspect also, that it’s heaty and it’s causing constipation. Have you heard from any other mummys that says the same thing? I think I’m going to stop it for a few weeks and see if it improves.
Anyway, thanks for sharing all your knowledge. raising a child is such a learnign experience. =)
Hi Sue,
Nice to see you here. My boy often had constipation problem when he was much younger. The main reason is because he is fussy with food, and he didn’t take sufficient fruits & vegies. The situation improves a lot now after months of persuading him to eat fruits to ease his constipation.
Yeah, I do think that Pediasure is a problem especially when the kid is not having enough vegies/fruits and wafer. We had to stick to Pediasure because my boy refused to drink other brand of milk. Yes, he is stubborn as that. So, I’m glad that he is willing to take fruits and vegies now.
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