Seeking Advice on "Natural Laxitives"

Hi A. -

I have a friend with a 4 year old boy. He has had trouble with constipation since he was an infant. The doctor had him on Milk of Magnesia. My friend didn't want him to always be dependant on medicine so she starting giving him prune juice. It took awhile for him to become accustomed to the flavor. But now, he drinks a couple ounces every night to help keep him regular. It seems to be working for them. Hope this helps.

My father-in-law is a doctor and he would give his kids a small spoonful of mineral oil or olive oil in their juice. He said the oil helps to lubericate the intestines and bowels and help everything pass more smoothly.

My daughters doctor suggests carro syrup when she was younger.
It worked - but I have no idea how

I find some decaf coffee (mixed in with chocolate milk) works well with the others

I mix prune and apple juice 50/50 everyday. She is 15 months old and if we miss a day, she is in touble. I started her with more apple juice until she could tolerate the taste of the prune juice and now mix 50/50.

Hi A. -
There are two options that I can suggest. One is to find a way to give your prunes or prune juice daily. The other is DrNatura Junior, which you can order online. It is very gentle on the system yet very effective. I've used the adult version of it and it eliminated (no pun intended) all of my digestive problems. Just look up Dr Natura on the internet for more info.

Good luck to you...L.

have you tried giving him some apple-prune juice? one serving a day should help soften his stools without giving him diarreah....

Dear A.,

Fresh fruit is a natural laxative, and more water helps too. Also, if you could get him to eat about 3 or 4 prunes. They are really a good laxative. Raisins are too. Get him a box of chocolate covered raisins. They are gooood and goood for constipation too. C. N.

Hey A.-
Sorry to hear of your problem.........I know how tough it can be!
My husband and I eat a yummy fiber bar and no longer suffer from constipation..........and my little one LOVES them. They are really yummy!
Let me know if you want to hear more about them....i shop at a wellness store to get them and it's a members only store!
:)
I'd love to help you have the same great results that we have!
:)
S.
____@____.com

Hi A., I am so glad to read about the result your son has had with Kern's Apricot Nectar. "Nature" is where we should all be looking for help with our lifestyle issues. Many of my "mom" friends and I have felt an increase in our energy wtih Xango whole fruit mangosteen nutrition in juice form, as well as 3SIXTY5 vitamin and nutritional supplements (includes phytonutrients from 24 fruit and vegetables). Check site for lots of information.
visit: www.referralco-op.com

My son is 3 and a half and we had the problem with him not going for 7 days. So when I called the doc. they told me to put him on benefiber everyday to keep him regular it's natural and really seems to help.
Hope this helps.... Just mix it in a drink it has no taste.

Plenty of water juices that do not contain red dye and high in fiber. lots of greens and maybe try fruit smoothies

jenesa

any question contact me at ____@____.com

I have childern that out latose so i know about poop problems!!

My 5 year old daughter has had this problem since she was around 18 months. We started using a tablespoon of mineral oil everyday and that worked for a while. When she turned four the doctor gave us a prescription for Mycolax and that helped her so much.

There's this stuff called Miralax, it was recommended for both my daughters one is 13yrs and the other is 15mos. Its for constipation. It used to be prescription, but is now over the counter. I would ask your doc about it.

I'd have to agree that a prescription for Miralax would probably help. My daughter has had problems with severe constipation since she was 5; she is now 12. I watch her diet very carefully and make sure that she is getting plenty of fiber. But that didn't seem to be the issue in her case. She has seen specialists from UCLA and still have yet to diagnose her problem. They did however give her a prescription for Miralax which helped her out tremendously. Good luck!

My son at the age of 4 months started this very problem. My peds doctor recommended that I give him a spoon full of orange juice from a freshly cut orange (no pulp). With a four month old, he was clean in about 10 to 20 minutes. Now I just give him a tangerine or mandarine orange in his lunch every day. He also gets fresh juice every morning with breakfast. He is almost 8 now and he is pretty regular if not every other day. Hope this helps ya!!!

OLIVE OIL does wonders

Hi, My name is K.. I have a 6 yr old htat had similar problems with his bowels in the past. I have used prunes and prune juice with success. But what worked the best for my son was a prescription of Miralax. It is not a laxative or stimulant it is a prescription dietary supplement that softens the stool. It is a powder that is mixed in a drink once per day and has no taste. I used that for a couple of years with my sone and know others that have used it with their children. It is not a stimulant and you do not become dependent on it. I would talk to your doctor about this if prunes or high fiber diet do not work.

I have a (almost) 2 year old who has battled with constipation since he was born. which is weird since he's been breastfeed and still is. anyways, i've tried doing as much research as possible on this and i found there isn't much out there. but here's what has helped me.....

- make sure he gets plenty of run around/ excersise time
- make sure he gets plenty of fluids
- prunes, peaches, pears are very helpful. you can do the juice thing. my son loves prune apple juice.
- i put ground flax seed in everything i possibly can... this is the most helpful thing i've tried
- i talked to an herbalist once, an india trained lady, and she advised to try cardamum seed pods. the seeds are good for diarriha (misspelled) but the pods are good for constipation. she would mix it with fennel seeds and lemon and a touch of sugar. or you can go to a health food store and get this tea called smooth move from traditional medicines and that works good too.
- use only whole grains whenever possible.
- milk of magnesia is good because there is no stimulant
- adding more stuff like beans, veggies, and fruits are good too.
okay well that is pretty much all i know. i can totally understand what you are going through. it's so hard because next to eating right you need to poop right too and i haven't come across anybody that has had this problem so there wasn't much help for me out there. doctors weren't as helpful as i would have liked either. good luck and if you get a chance let me know how it goes.

D.

My daughter, who is now 4 & 1/2, had a similar problem, when she was a baby, she had a hard time and could not make bowel movements on her own, they did x-rays, they taped her little cheeks together and did a colon cleansing and searched for irregularities with a microcamera, last but not least, we even took her to the ONLY G.I.Specialist in all of Nevada, which happens to be here in las vegas. What did all of this drama & expense accomplish? Nada. They couldn't diagnose nor find any kind of solution to the problem. So I went to my grandmother who is pretty old skool and sticks with natural solutions. She had me go to a specialty grocery store, like Marianas, and look in the spices section where they have the plastic bagged spices, find a bag of "plantain seeds" (these are supertiny black seeds derived from plantain bananas). These were like gold to me. She had me boil like a cup & 1/2 water, once the water was to a rolling boil, toss in a couple or few tablespoons of seeds and immediately cut heat off & cover at same time, let it sit for about 5-7 mins. The seeds should have formed a gel around them, and are quite slippery, spoon feed him this (kinda taste like tea), do this daily, then gradually weekly, then monthly, until he's regular. This amazingly works, i showed the specialist and he was ecstatic. I used to have to use suppositories that would make her bowel movements explosive and painful. These"plantain seeds" were natural and harmless, she went within 24 hrs, without pressure or painful gestures, next thing you know, she was regular! If you've already tried everything else that failed, then you have nothing to lose, this could be your "gold" solution.

Have you tried kerosyrup? Not sure if I spelled that right. But when my son gets that way that's what I give him. Try only teaspoon at first. If that doesn't work go a little bit more. My doctor is the one that suggested this to me. Try it and good luck I hope it works.

A.,
Does your son eat enough roughage type foods? These are things like celery, apples....they are natural laxitives.
M. B

A.,

I realize your post is from a year ago but I wanted to see how your son was doing. My daughter had/has the same thing. We are FINALLY on the right track. It sounds like your son has Encopresis. We found a Pediatrician (by luck) that deals with this on a daily basis. Her recommendation was, two tablespoons of mineral oil in a drink for 5 days before bed (it is tasteless). For the five days we alternated between enema's and suppositories to do a good clean out. She is now on Miralax daily (a half scoop in a drink). She will be on Miralax for a while, I guess it is a non habit forming laxative that will keep her having a bm everyday to ensure she doesn't get impacted again. Since we started a month ago, she is doing great for the first time in her life! I hope your son is doing better but if you are still batteling this (it is very common I have since learned), I can give you the specialists info. if you need it. Also, just as a side note, for us, this started when my daughter was about 15 mos old and was constipated and had several painful huge bowel movements, this caused her to be afraid to poop, hold her poop and become impacted. She has always eaten very well, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, flax oil, water, you name it, nothing worked until last month. This went on for nearly 5 years! If you have any questions, you can email me directly at ____@____.com
M.

Try probiotics. You can get them at a health food store. Ask someone there which one they would reccomend for a child your son's age. They have powders that can be put in his milk or juice and some that are like gummi bears. I use Jarrow and put it in my daughter's milk. She doesn't even know it's there. She's 3 and was having a problem with constipation, now I give her probiotics everyday and there's no more problems.

i have found (accidently at first) that olive oil is a good laxitive. for a child a tablespoon at a time is good. it is not too harsh.

We first had to take my little guy into the hospital when he was 1. I understand how terrifying that can all be! After he was sent to a pediatric gastroenterologist and him being put on medication, I decided to do my own testing as well. What I have found works is aloe vera juice. Since My son is only 2 I started out with just mixing some in his juice. It was initially 50/50, every day, but that seemes to work a bit to well! So now we do 1/3, once a day every other day. He is doing so much better! You can aloe vera juice in the health food aisle or digestive health aisle of Target, Walmart, and the grocery store. It's about $5-$8 depending on the size bottle you buy. I also tried prune juice, but my kids won't drink it AT ALL, and all the doctors have told me no to apple juice. Apples are part of the BRAT diet for when your child has diarrhea, so it's surprising to me how many people here suggest it! Pear juice would be a better choice. They are a natural laxative according to the doc's. Let me know if you find anything that works really well. Good luck to you!

Pancake syrup or Karo corn syrup(in the baking aisle at the grocery store), works well in our family, my great grandma had 7 boys and she swears by it. Good luck

I KNOW THIS MAY SOUND GROSS BUT MY OLDEST DAUGHTER WAS IMPACTED QUITE ALOT AND HER GODMOTHER TOLD ME TO TAKE A SLIVER OF DOVE SOAP MOISTEN IT AND INSERT INTO HER RECTUM.. IT IS UNCOMFORTABLE BUT IT SURE WORKED.

One thing that is very common with teens is that they have a poor diet and drink hardly any water. He should be drinking at least 1/2 his body weight in ounces per day. When fecal matter gets impacted that means that the body is having to draw the water back in from the stool to survive, causing it to harden. Make sure that he's also getting his servings of fruits and veggies... I would recommend 6-9 servings of FRESH! veggies and fruits.
One other thing that you can try is increasing his Vitamin C intake. I know it sounds weird but some people will use Vitamin C as a flush. There is an amount... usually around 10,000 mgs a day that will cause diarrhea, but no need to go that high. I would recommend about 3000 a day for him. Don't worry... it's water soluble and will be flushed out if the body doesn't need it.
Cascara Segrada is a natural laxative, but the last thing you want to do is cause hte body to become dependent on laxatives. Try the food and vitamin sources first and use laxatives as a last resort.