Please consult your physician before doing anything!

When my 3 year old (then 1 year old) started having trouble pooping we tried everything; from advice from our parents, the internet, and the doctor.  It seemed like our poor little girl was suffering!  She would go 10 days without having a bowel movement, and when it was time to go she would double over and cry and scream!

Our parents suggested prune juice and the good old casteroil.  "That will do the trick, a couple teaspoons a day and a glass of prune juice".  As bad tasting as it was, we got her to take it, but that didn't work!  I felt we were facing a deadline to try and find her some relief.  Something had to work before the next 10 days would go by.

We surfed the internet over and over and was finding nothing!  All we read was that it is common for toddlers to have constipation.  But this was beyond constipation, she was in agony. 

We made a doctor appt.  told him everything and he suggested buying a couple child enemas and have her drink a cocktail of magnesium citrate oral solution.  He told us to use baby oil or petroleum jelly so it wouldn't hurt as much, and to give her one when we got home and to give her another one the following day because the 1st enema will only loosen the front part of the stool and the following enema would get the rest of it out.  We decided to do it in the bathtub because of the mess and had her lay on her side in a few inches of warm water.  What a nightmare!!  She has no clue what is going on, she is in pain, it burns because it is a stimulant and besides her crying and screaming, we were both crying.  Something finally moved, but it wasn't nearly as much as we both expected.  But we kept an open mind and thought that the next day would do the trick just like the doctor said. The next day as soon as we put her in the tub she immediately knew what was going to happen again, she cried and screamed, and we cried and about puked from the smell.  This was just a horrific ordeal to put our baby girl through this!!  We made another appt. because we felt like we couldn't do this anymore.... there had to be another solution.

The doctor told us to keep using the enemas because of how much she is blocked up and told us to now alternate the magnesium citrate oral solution with docusate sodiu liquid (colace). 

We left his office so upset because we both knew that this wasn't going to solve the problem.  We started giving her the liquids per his presciptive dosage for her and the colace was just aweful tasting.  It took us a whole day to get her to drink what she was prescriebed.  We felt so helpless. 

She started to not want to take baths anymore because she associated the bath with the enemas.  At this point it had been a month and these things were not working and I didn't want to give her these oral solutions anymore!!  Especially since they were NOT WORKING!!

We went back to the doctor and told him how we felt.  He then suggested MiraLAX.  He said it is safe enough to take everyday because it isn't absorded into the blood stream.  At this point I was angry!!  I felt like our child was just a guessing game and that something could be seriously wrong!  Some type of blockage or something worse!  I wanted to stay positive and pray her through this but I was not going to let her suffer anymore!  I told him that in 1 week if this didnt work I wanted her to have a scan or whatever they do to see her insides.  It was agreed.

We went and bought  MiraLAX and I did feel better about this powder solution because it wasn't absorbed into the blood stream, it was orderless and tasteless.  I put the prescribed amount in her glass once a day and within 2 days we had a movement for the first time without any crying or screaming!!!  I started crying because she pooped on her own without an enema and I was so happy because it was such a relief for all of us!!!

Ever since we have stuck with MiraLAX and have had no problems since!!  Today I only give some if I notice her stool is really hard. 

So there it is....MiraLAX worked for us.  I only hope that if someone has the problems we had that they come across my article because I sure wish someone would have wrote about this for me!

p.s. Manderine oranges (in the can) work really well too!  They are a natural laxative and my new little baby loves them!!  Wish I would have know about those back when............

DO NOT TAKE ANY OF THESE SOLUTIONS MENTIONED AND GIVE TO YOUR CHILD OR TODDLER WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR PHYSICIAN!!!!