Is your child constipated? What works...naturally

Constipation is not a new subject for parents. Whether it’s from medication, or from a kid like mine who just won’t eat anything that looks like a fruit or a vegetable. We actually called our youngest a tiny T-Rex, she’s really only interested if it involves meat. Cheese is a close second.  Is your kiddo constipated?  Here are some suggestions that helped us relieve it naturally. This post contains affiliate links, and here is a link to privacy and information storage policies.  I am not a medical professional.  If your child is in severe pain, or vomiting with constipation, please consult your pediatrician.

Hello tiny T-Rex that hates "green food"

We struggled with constipation with two of our children for years before finally figuring out a system that worked without using medication.  Did you know constipation can cause lots of issues in kids, including bed-wetting?  We also didn't know the amount of fiber and water our kids should be getting daily.  The basic metric for fiber is that they should be getting their age plus five.  So, our nine year old gets 14 grams of fiber every day.  And 70 ounces of water.  I know.  That is an absolute ton of water for a kiddo.  We had to buy a special water bottle (that she takes to school) to help.

The first thing, and every Pediatrician will say: fruit. 

Fruit is the number one resource, but not all of it. Some fruits can actually make constipation worse!  For us the number one is prunes number two is pears.  We bought the big bag on Amazon, and I was shocked that my kids liked the flavor!

The next thing is juice preferably with the pulp in it. 

We tried a few different juices and purées. It’s kind of a fun experiment (insert eye roll) trying to find a variety your kid will like but I finally did.

I would stay away from apple juice and apple products, because apples are one of the binding things that they recommend when you have diarrhea.  Not necessarily going to help kids go poop. 

Smoothies! My kids go wild for smoothies. 

Stay away from the dairy, make them all fruit, throw in a sneaky leafy vegetable and they will never know. Costco has these great organic smoothie kits in the freezer section kale, and my kids love them.  Our pediatrician says that yogurt is ok, but dairy can often have the opposite effect.

The next thing is probiotics.

After we had such issues with my youngest, I became aware that there are lots of products with probiotics in them, that kids will actually enjoy. My youngest also was on antibiotics a whole bunch because of ear infections, which I’m sure contributed to her constipation.   Lifeway Kefir is one of my favorite kids friendly with probiotics but if you go into your refrigerated section where the yogurts are you will see lots of options for probiotics.

If you’re looking for something shelf stable my kids love pro bugs by lifeway kefir. They taste like grape, and  raspberry, they're chewable (so clearly your kid needs to have teeth), they’re delicious,and they can live in your cabinet for a long time. Here is a link, and here is a link to other ones that my kids think are candy...

Let's mention prebiotics, shall we?

I am just starting to learn about this, but probiotics need prebiotics in order to work properly.  Here is a list of some of them...

Within hours of starting this protocol with my youngest, she poops. Every time. I hope it works for you let me know!

Lastly, and most importantly: water!

As I mentioned above, we were shocked that the GI doctor recommended 70 ounces of water every day for her.  That is a LOT.  That also means that most issues of constipation are caused by not getting enough water. If you have kids like mine, the best way to get them to drink a ton of water is to throw them in the pool.  They always drink the stuff they shouldn't! HA!

Edited to add:  recently we had a scary situation with my oldest, that thankfully turned out to be constipation.  She had an intestinal reaction to antibiotics, that are requiring her to be on Miralax for a while. After finishing that protocol, and in conjunction with my pediatrician, we are working on getting her back to normal.  I will keep you posted!  

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