Pooping Is Painful

My daughter is 12 months old and recently started to have really painful bowel movements.

From the day she was born she has had a bowel movement everyday, no issues. The problem is just recent. She will start to go and then she will scream and cry.

I have given her apple juice, increased her water intake and she still has large bms. They seem to be too big for her to pass,is that possible? When she goes the start is hard and the rest is soft.

When I give her prune juice she seems to go 3 or 4 times a day, is that ok?

Baby Help Line:

How To Help Constipated 1 Year Old

Poor girl!

If she is constipated, the stools can definitely become hard and big enough to be painful to pass.

In addition to the juice, have you considered increasing her intake of fiber as well? Get her some whole grain products, e.g soft, whole grain bread, homemade oat meal porrige, a lot of softening fruits (like you already do) and at the same time keep her away from e.g. bananas, blueberry, white bread and dairy products. That could help the stools to remain softer without relying only on prune juice.

Many young toddlers become constipated when introduced to cow's milk, so if you just did that before her problems started, take her off the cow's milk and see if it helps.

It is not a big issue if she poops 3-4 times per day, better than it being painful! But if you experiment a little bit with what foods you give her, you could probably get rid of the constipation and still have her poop once or twice per day.

Good luck,

Paula

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Pooping Is Painful

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Jun 17, 2008

Karo Syrup
by: Emma Kesner

When my son was a baby and having painful poops, I was told by his pediatrician to add a bit of Karo syrup to his bottle. Hope you can get your little one feeling better!

Jul 02, 2008

I feel your pain
by: Anonymous

I feel your pain. My children went through the same thing when they were about a year old and starting to change foods (if that's your case). I had to also supplement with prune juice. It's perfectly normal for a child to go more than once a day. If she stays constipated, she could end up having hemorrhoids and those are more painful yet! Stick with foods high in fiber and healthy and she'll be fine.

Aug 25, 2009

help!
by: Anonymous

Our 1 5 week old cries hysterically every time she tries to poo...she doesn't seem to be constipated as she goes 4-5 times a day or more...but every time is hard for her and she cries a lot. We don't know what to do. We told out doctor and all he said was to hold her legs up to help ease the strain...this doesn't seem to help. Any advice out there?

Oct 24, 2009

HELP FUL TIPS.
by: Anonymous

My advice to all parents that go through the pain of seeing your child go through tough poopin gtimes is this: Give them a warm bath where the water is high enough to cover their tummy; that helps ease the uncomfort of constipation. After the bath I put vaseline on their bum so it helps to slide the movement out a bit. You can also give lactulose, if you think lactose problem may be part of the paroblem. Put a little bit in the bottle a t night, that helps my kids.

I am going through a very constipated baby right now and it is hard. She has been ripped as it comes out and nothing seems to help. But I do know that for the most part these tips are very helpful. You can also do a tummy rub. You start at the belly button and push a little bit in a clock wise motion, following the bowel path. What is nice about this step is if you do it right you can actually feel from the outside just how full their bowels are and help push it along the bowel track.

Good luck to all that are in need!

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