Help Please: 16 month old chronic constipation/lactose intolerant diet advise

[Rachie81]

Just been to childrens hospy for advise on my chronically constipated 16 month old(large painful poos, very bloated abdomen, behavioural issues at least for the last 8 months).

His diagnosis - lactose intolerance (which is no surprise due to lactose overload/intolerance issues in the past and too much bulking fibre?

So the advise was
water down all dairy 50:50 (minimise yoghurt and cheese)
Increase greens (esp spinach and silver beet, and carrots)
Increase fruits esp stone fruits and dried fruits
Decrease potato, rice, pasta, pumpkin
Increase actilax (a softener) double her existing dose

Can you please add to my list of do's and don'ts. - give me recipes

Where do lentils and chick peas, weetbix, oats, bananas fit


TIA

[Rachie81]

bumpity bump

[Rachie81]

bumpity bumpity bump

also curious about where legumes sit consti or non constipating

[TripleTime]

DD1 is also 16 months & clinically constipated.

We avoid hard block cheeses, water down all milk if having more than 1 bottle per day. Only yogurt she has is 100gr of esi-yo per day. Has sweet potato over potato, loads of corn on the cob, broccoli & cauliflower.
Drinks heaps of make up cordial, blackcurrant juice.
I dont limit rice but do pasta.

Medication wise, we've tried movacol-half & now has loctoluse & coloxyal.

DD1 inherited her bowel problems from me, our diet are very much the same,

[gizmoduckus]

I am just curious but if they think she is lactose intolerant wouldn't it be better if you cut out all dairy from her diet and just introduce lactose free things? Watered down milk still has lactose in it.

I know that weetbix and bananas are usually constipating but it does depend on the individual child. The best thing to do is eliminate most things from her diet and then reintroduce things one at a time. You will soon learn what works and what doesn't.

Did they give you any medications for the constipation?

[Mahjong]

I am just curious but if they think she is lactose intolerant wouldn't it be better if you cut out all dairy from her diet and just introduce lactose free things? Watered down milk still has lactose in it.

I know that weetbix and bananas are usually constipating but it does depend on the individual child. The best thing to do is eliminate most things from her diet and then reintroduce things one at a time. You will soon learn what works and what doesn't.

Did they give you any medications for the constipation?

Im of the same thinking. I would give the lactose free products a try. We had DS2 on Lidells Lactose Free milk from Woolies and Coles and it helped with his stomach issues. He wasnt constipated, but the total opposite on normal milk.

[Rachie81]

i think she is just sensitive to too much lactose at this stage and not a true intolerance - though i guess we'll soon find out.

She's on actilax which is the lactilose stuff. Paed seemed to think that coloxyl wasn't that helpful

[TripleTime]

She's on actilax which is the lactilose stuff. Paed seemed to think that coloxyl wasn't that helpful


Depends what the dose is, DD1 has 2ml of coloxyl a day & 15ml of lactilose.

[JabberJaw]

Is it definitly lactose not a cows milk protein intolerance?

DD had CMPI and almost had to have a section of her bowel removed.

Her body coped with formula (as proteins change in drying) but not on cows milk.

I would by pass all dairy, get her poo'ing properly and then slowly 'test' dairy.

DD is 7 and can still handle a tiny amount of dairy each day and still has watered down milk on cereal.

The other food you mention should be ok but steer clear of bananas for a bit as they block bubs up :o

[reAllytee]

To me I would be looking into Cows Milk Protien Intolerance ( and also Soy because they have a similar protien so usually when a bubs reacts to one they do the other too ).

I don't understand why you are being kept on dairy :confused:

They should be completely taken out of her diet to at least allow her gut to heal enough so that you can then trial it to see whether it is truly an intolerance or whether her gut was irritated say by a bug or tummy upset.

My DS2 has major constpation issues due to a bowel problem & intolerances that mean a strict diet.

We use rice milk & then his diet is dairy free, soy & gluten reduced. I also have to be careful with fruit as to not overload his system & he only has potato, apples maybe one a month.

To even keept his system running he has Movicol at least daily if not a few times otherwise I have to use suppositories to help him move his bowel. And he is also on GORD meds.

Are you actually seeing Paed GI ? If not then I would be asking for a referral to one because they are better trained in this area as it is their speciality & I would be wondering why they aren't looking at even a food diary as to see whether something makes it worse because sometimes it can be a few things causing the problem.

[Nowhere]

I would be going for a second opinion to be honest, It doesnt sound like the Dr knows much about lactose intolerance, If one is lactose intopelrant then watering the milk down wouldnt usualy be recomened as all that will do is make the calories less and dilute it its still got lactose in it.

The other thing is actalax has lactose in it, So they may need to look at a stool softner that hasnt got lactose in it.

[Aussiemummy]

I would be cutting out dairy aside from lactose free milk and yoghurt.

I would also be offering lots of pears, prunes, saltanas, flaxseed and other fibre rich foods... Lots of water also.

I wouldn't cut out bananas, pasta, rice, bread etc completely but certainly cutting down if these are a large part of her daily diet...

[beebs]

The first thing I would be doing is asking for a Coeliac blood panel. All those things you describe are symptoms of Coeliac disease - its an Auto immune disease where your body attacks your intestines when you eat gluten. It is more common than Autism but far less known of. Around 80% of Coeliac's in Australia will never be diagnosed. Lactose intolerance, constipation, behavioural changes - all signs. You'll need to find a specialist who is well read on the subject - most medical professionals in Australia have no idea about it.

[Emi]

dd used to get really bad constipation as a baby...

potato, rice, pasta, banana were the top offenders... along with cow milk... but yoghurt was ok (dalna is what we gave her)

we tried giving her a good mix of green veg... beans were her fav!

the other foods we gave to her in moderation... milk she didnt start having straight until this year... and she is 2.5 year old now...

she had milk in half half amounts.... but only once a day or it would back her up!

its worth looking into the coeliac disease way of things too... paeds should be able to refer you to a spec...

[Rachie81]

Well now i'm really confused... Actilax does have lactose... so why on earth did he up the dose of that and cut out her dairy. I need a dr who knows what they are talking about

[TripleTime]

Actilax is the generic Lacatose.

[Rachie81]

i know, looking at the ingredients... i just dont understand... is he hoping the laxative effect outweights the additional lactose

[gizmoduckus]

Honestly, it all sounds totally wrong what he told you. It just doesn't seem to make much sense at all.

Are you able to go and see a paediatrician instead to get a second opinion?

[JabberJaw]

Honestly, it all sounds totally wrong what he told you. It just doesn't seem to make much sense at all.

Are you able to go and see a paediatrician instead to get a second opinion?

:iagree: ASAP

[mummy2babyj&j]

My dd is 10 months old and she had constipatiom lactalose wouldnt even help so i stew pears and prunes with a tablespoon of orange juice and blend and believe me it works wonders within 2hs she was TOTALLY unblocked now i give it to her every day and she loves it and it freezes well :)