3 yo constipated.

**alexandra** · 13-07-2006 15:47

Hi Ladies,
I have a worry, my three and a half year old has become a very fussy eater. The only fruits he likes are apples and bananas. The only vegies corn and carrot sometimes

He used to drink water heaps when he was smaller now he only wants juices and not much of it either. So as a result he becomes very constipated and had a spot of blood yesterday when I wiped his bottom. Sorry TMI

Has anyone had similar problems? How did you go about it? How did you sneak more vegies and fruit into their diet? Do you have any recipes which hide a lot of vegies and your kids love it? Any help would be great.

**the_queen** · 13-07-2006 16:11

Will he eat spaghetti bolognaise? Or Lasagne? Or meatballs? Anything with mince in it is perfect, you hide grated carrot, grated zucchini, grated sweet potato, grated ANYTHING.

I sometimes put parsnip in the mashed potato, she doesn't notice it. Mashed potato is the only vege she'll willingly eat.

Does he eat weetbix for breakfast? You could try the hi-bran variety, or even just buy a bag of bran and sprinkle it on the weetbix. Maybe sultana bran? Even if he picks the sultana's out, he'll still get the goodness from the flakes.

Hope this helps a little, it seems this "fussy eating" stage is perfectly normal, judging by the number of bubhub kids who go through it! So you'll get lots of advice here

**FourAngelKisses** · 13-07-2006 17:55

Will he eat sultanas? They are high in fibre.
What about rissoles? Grate some veggies and put them in the mince before cooking.

If everything else fails, try mixing brown sugar in water and having him drink it.

**the_queen** · 13-07-2006 17:57

ooh great tip Jeanette!! Brown sugar and water works a treat

**FourAngelKisses** · 13-07-2006 18:02

Actually, I should suggest it to my inlaws for my SIL. She's autistic and has Down Syndrome so is always constipated. Don't know why I didn't think of mentioning it to them earlier.

**alexandra** · 14-07-2006 10:07

Thanks for the tips girls. Keer them coming! It seems so far mince meat is the way to go. And I do cook with mince meat often so i'll be easy.
Wish me luck

**jkate** · 14-07-2006 10:20

When DS1 wasnt eating vegetables, I used to dilate a bit of V8 Juice for him to have with dinner. Wish I had thought about the grated vegetables in the mince.

To help with constipation you could try, prune juice or see if he would take a prune - dont blame him if he didnt I cant stand them. Of course he needs to still have lots of water, but I know thats hard at this age when they can be sooooooooo stubborn.

Hope its getting better

**alexandra** · 14-07-2006 10:26

Yeah its hard, a year ago he would have eaten prunes or drank the juice. Now, no way. Hes so fussy it drives me nuts sometimes.

**jkate** · 14-07-2006 10:45

When he does have juice, could you put in a bit of prune juice ?? Will he touch pears, maybe bribe him with some ice cream and stew pears???

**Yummy Mummy** · 14-07-2006 11:37

My niece had constipation for most of her first three years. My sister was told about unprocessed bran (no name brand in Wollies) - this saved Kristina's sore bottom as she was too scared to go to the toilet after quite a few bad experiences. My sister sprinkled a tablespoon of bran in Kristina's cereal each morning, then slowly decreased the amount when she started going to the toilet normally. My sister also said banana's are not good for constipation, stick to prune juice or stewed fruits and of course plenty of water. Hope this helps.

Karen.