X-Post kid food: constipation and probiotics?

[janeybwild]

Sorry for the x-post but it's getting almost no traffic over there and we really need help going into the weekend:

DS is 15 mo. He is horribly constipated which, best guess, seems to stem from his initial lactose intolerance. We have cut way back on milk. His diet is good.

Does anyone have specific recommendations on what sort of probiotic to recommend, dosage, and how to administer it? In addition, supplements to diet such as flaxseed oil? TIA

[TaChapm]

We use Baby's Jarro-Dophilus every day for Jaci. It is by Jarro Formulas (www.jarro.com). We do 1/2 tsp once daily for her. She is on a preventative daily antibiotic so we give her more than the recommended dose of 1/4 tsp. I get ours at Whole Foods. I mix it in her milk first thing in the morning but you can mix it in juice or water. All 3 of my kids were lactose intolerant and on soy formula and did great with this specific formula.
HTH!

[dcmom2b3]

Janey,

For us flaxseed oil worked wonders on DD's stubborn case of constipation. 2 capsules pierced and squeezed into 4 or 5 oz of milk got things moving. I haven't tried it as a regular supplement, tho I've heard good things about it.

HTH,

Mary-Helen

[octmom]

My DS has battled constipation, which led to holding, which is a real PITA for all of us. (Pun intended.) I may be missing something, but I haven't heard of using probiotics for constipation. I have heard about them being recommended to restore the natural flora after bouts of diarreah or when taking antibiotics.

Your DS is a lot younger than mine, but if prunes/ prune juice or pears/ pear juice aren't doing the trick, you might ask your pediatrician about trying either Miralax or milk of magnesia (both OTC) in low doses. Our ped has recommended both. I have also heard that mineral oil can work well for some people, but we have not tried it. I'm not sure how it is different than flaxseed oil recommended by the PP.

[Melanie]

I can say probiotics definitely helped in our household. We had a similiar problem when Ds was 1 1/2. We only use Natren so it was a combination of Life Start, and Bifidus... . Now we we've added some other strains, but the first two worked really well for us with that problem. In addition we cut way back on Cheese, bananas, rice & applesauce, as well as reduced a bit the white breads and potatoes. We also introduced watered-down juice.

[mudder17]

My DS has battled constipation, which led to holding, which is a real PITA for all of us. (Pun intended.) I may be missing something, but I haven't heard of using probiotics for constipation. I have heard about them being recommended to restore the natural flora after bouts of diarreah or when taking antibiotics.

Your DS is a lot younger than mine, but if prunes/ prune juice or pears/ pear juice aren't doing the trick, you might ask your pediatrician about trying either Miralax or milk of magnesia (both OTC) in low doses. Our ped has recommended both. I have also heard that mineral oil can work well for some people, but we have not tried it. I'm not sure how it is different than flaxseed oil recommended by the PP.

I've mostly heard probiotics being used for diarrhea/restoring natural flora as well, rather than for help with constipation. If your DS' digestive system is out of whack, the probiotics can help, so I guess that would be indirectly. But for the constipation, I'd try some of Jerilyn's suggestions. And I assume you're stopping the dairy temporarily until you figure out the situation?

I hope your DS is feeling unstopped soon!