Well...we are back to constipation again after only 4 days of decent poops. This has been ongoing for about 3 months now! The pediatrician has recommended that he be seen by a gastroenterologist specialist before she prescribes him something. He is drinking loads of water and it's not helping...here was the ped's email to my concern about his constipation for the "umteenth" time.

"Dear Mrs. Gomez:

I think Zac has a very efficient intestine prepared to live in the dessert, that absorbs all the liquids that we give him. I would like Zac to see a gastroenterologist to see if they can give us an advice regarding what to do with his poop. There is a very good stool softener called miralax that I've used in babies as young as 1 year of age but I don't want to prescribe it in Zac before the specialist sees him, as it might be too strong for him. The gastroenterologists that I would recommend are:
Dr. Munios: (305)6616110 at Miami Children's Hospital
Dr. Gonzalez-Vallina: (305) 2717330 at Sunset
Dr. Loret de Mola: (305) 2748243 at Baptist

The three of them are excellent, choose the one that is more convenient for you (location, time to schedule appointment).

If the appointments will take long let me know and I will call the one that you choose to get him in soon.

Victoria Fierro, MD"

Anyone's little one ever been seen by one of these? Amanda? Where did you go for Emma's constipation issue? How are her meds workign? Isnt' in enulose? or something?

Anyone's little one ever been seen by one of these? Amanda? Where did you go for Emma's constipation issue? How are her meds workign? Isnt' in enulose? or something?

Yep...Em goes in November. She was on Enulose for about 2 weeks to unclog her. However, even on Alimentum...which is supposed to make runny poops...oatmeal = runny poops, pears = runny poops...she still is having firm stools every now and then. Our ped is baffled.

I did give her some Enulose last week to get things moving after she had that staining...little hard poops...for 4 days. It worked, but I think it gives her stomach cramps....so I try to use natural methods, but to no avail.

I can't wait until November so that doctor can help Emma....this constipation issue is horrible....when she's backed up she won't eat...and she doesn't eat much to begin with!

Agh! :?

I hope you get in sooner than November. *Crossing my fingers for you*

I still think, at least according to my Mommy instinct, that it's the Prevacid. We'll see what our doctors say...

Good luck and keep us posted! :D

Sara,
I would book in and if in the end you don't need the appt, then you can cancel. Poor Zac!! It's hard when babies are so young to get the right sort of meds that aren't going to cause long-term problems.

Sara,
I would book in and if in the end you don't need the appt, then you can cancel. Poor Zac!! It's hard when babies are so young to get the right sort of meds that aren't going to cause long-term problems.

Well unfortunately Sarahh, I know we'll need the appt. because I don't see this clearing up w/out help. He's really never NOT been constipated. I can count the number of times he's had "normal poops" on one/maybe both hands since he's started the solids. And that is with assistance of some kind

Amanda, I was thinking about the prevacid last night...who knows. I'm calling the office this a.m. to see about an appt. ...shoudl be quick, hopefully.

I have done plenty of research for bowel issues and find that increasing fluids does NOT help since so very much of it is absorbed quickley. Very little of it makes it all the way through and the longer the stool sits in the intestines the less hydration there is as the liquid is still being absorbed. There is a lot of controversy on using the laxatives on a regular basis. Curran is still getting mineral oil and we see the GI on Novemeber 3 where I will voice my concerns of having him on it for so very long. It is not making a great difference for him.

I would ask for a timeline for getting Zac to move his bowels with help and what they will do if that does not work afterwards. It can literally stretch into years, Sarah. In a few weeks it will be 2 years since Curran started with his Chernobyl diapers and blowouts and we are still having them. Make sure you have a GI you like and trust, otherwise it is not good. Maybe your GI will tell you he is a stool holder, too. Our GI for Curran maintains that babies do it all the time and become toddlers who do. It starts as constipation then you get the blowouts and diahrrea.

Why don't you just call the offices and get a "feel" for the office? Ask some questions and go with your gut. I did this for finding a dentist recently and I will let you know how it goes in December for this selection process! :wink:

thanks for that info, leigh.
I really do think Zac has some kind of bowel issues going on. I've come to notice that when he's turning red in the face and pointing out his toes and stiffening up his legs, he's actually trying to HOLD OFF the poop, rather than trying to get it out which i origionally thought. Yesterday he was lieing down and stiffening out and grunting so I rushed him on to his changing table, took off his diaper and pushed his knees up into his belly...this is graphic but I need to mention this:
His little rectum started opening I could SEE the poop up there!! However, he kept clinching his butt tight and not wanting to get it out. FINALLY he had no choice as I continued to hold his knees up into his belly it all came out. Unfortunately, it was very hard and I witnessed his little rectum TEAR while more was still coming out. It was horrible, he got so much out. Once the poop was finished he was bleeding and mom was crying. <sigh> Anyhow he had MORE again later last night. We did the same thing this afternoon and it's amazing to me that he even has any poop left up there, but he obviously does. His poop is always VERY DARK. The ped. said that the color is not as important if it's soft, as long as it's not hard. I'm not sure about that, but it is hard AND dark dark dark. Seems like it is dark, but if you "break it in half" it is orange on the inside....wierd. :? Anyhow...I do have his appt. set at Miami Children's Hospital where this GI is highly recommended. I'm going to call them on Tuesday (tomorrow is hurricane so they will be closed) to see if there are any cancellations or what have you becasue his appt. is set for Nov. 4th, which normally would be good, considering I JUST made it. However, I really want him to be seen ASAP.
Oh yes, LEIGH, I am starting to agree about the fluid intake. He's drinking SOO MUCH and it doesn't really seem to makea diff either way. I've also read somewhere that drinking extra fluids does not neccessarily help consitpation. BUT WHAT DOES?!@ :roll:

Oh, Sara. I got teary reading your post. :cry: I know exactly what you're going through. No mom should have to help their kid poop. Yet, you and I do. :(

I can't wait to see what these doctor's do to help our kids.

I feel for you, and again, Zac is blessed to have a mom like you.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Oh, poor Zac! It does sound like he is holding. The tears are awful for them as they refuse to poop once they get them. What really helps with that is desitin creme and to put epsom salts in his bath. Ask the pharmacist about usuing the salts for Zac as he is young, but it really helps to increase blood flow in the anal area and is very relaxing. Do not be surprised if he poops in the tub. Curran never has, but it apparently does happen as the warm water and salts can make them relax enough to do it.

The increased fluids is ALWAYS what they tell you to do, but it does not work. I think that these kids have a problem with motility and thus the stool naturally stays in their system longer and thus has less hydration when it passes. This created huge pockets for Curran in his intestines, a "megacolon" if you will. When his system can no longer hold the poop it leaks or explodes out of him. We see raging, smelly, and horrid diahrrea. This is the run off stuff and there is still plenty more in him. His belly swells up and he literally writhes in pain with it. We are giving him mineral oil as he refused the lactulose. I am supposed to empty out Curran with 4 days of enemas and then use a smaller dose of mineral oil every day to help him stay regular. A poop a day is the goal, but it does not happen.

What you need to do is to stop the pain. I would try the epsom salts and creme his little butthole big time to help with the tears. Imagine what it might be like inside for tears if you can see it on the outside. Then, you need to give enough of a laxative to make the stool so soft that it will start to slide out of him. Over time he will realize that it does not hurt to poop and will not fight it. THat is the plan, anyway. It has not worked with Curran yet, but I am trying.

My DH got the call on Friday to go and pick him up at school as he had a blowout. It was not nice as it was HUGE. He exploded again at home and has had enough poops in his drawers this weekend that I swear he has lost about 3 pounds. I am going to weigh him today to see. He always feels better once he explodes and based on bad behaviour I usually know when it is going to happen, but can be taken by surprise, too. It could be why Zac is so cranky at times as he is holding it in and getting wicked cramps. The laxatives cause cramps, too. It becomes a vicious circle.

I hope that you get a great GI to deal with this. Our GI for Curran is not great as he does not see the human side of it and how Curran suffers. He also will not test him for anything as he says his weight and height are great, so what more do I want? He was 34.5 pounds for a year and a half with plenty of ups and downs in between. Now, he is about 2 pounds heavier. Yippee. He is still so thin that I have a hard time keeping pants up on him. :roll:

The dark stool on the outside would likely be where the stool is drying out and the inside being a different colour would be where it has not lost as much hydration, I should think. I would not worry about it as really you already know he needs help to poop. We have seen everything produced by Curran. My favourite is the grains of "rice" and sticky stuff that comes from the old stools. Icky.

Poor Zac. I really hope there's a cancellation and he can be seen even sooner.

Oh Sara... (((HUGS))) to you and Zac. The poor wee baby.. and poor mummy too.
4th Nov isn't too far away but if you can get in earlier, all the better. Yeah, the whole "drink more fluid" doesn't mean anything.
SO sorry that Zac's holding his poop.. maybe he knows it's going to hurt and that is why he's holding. I do remember Matthew tearing when he was a wee babe as he was so very contipated and it made me feel like such a failure as a mum. :cry:
SO hoping that he gets the hlep soon...

well...unfortunately, I doubt we'll get in any sooner seeing as how we had to skip town anyhow due to "wilma". We should be getting back on h alloween so just in time. I'm going to call ped right now anyhow to see waht she says about the tearing. He also pooped out a big "glob" of mucous...????

Big yuckers. The mucous usually means intestinal irritation. Or it could be due to the extra saliva during teething, depends on what it looked like. Glad to hear the appointment is still a go with the GI.

Oh, Sara, poor Zac, that is horrible -- but not too different from what we've experienced lately. I don't think D is a holder, but I've tried to help him go with a suppository, but I couldn't do it because the poop was RIGHT THERE!

It's crazy how there's no good solution to this problem.