High Fiber? Fruit?....Can you guess where this is going?

[cruisnfamily]

My DD10 is having a problem with constipation....She is a very picky eater and it is difficult to modify her diet. We are making sure she drinks plenty of water and eats fruit at least twice a day but I need some other high fiber ideas...or anything to get you to go if you know what I mean.

She is pretty picky. The only fruits we can think of that she will eat that will help are: apples, applesauce, peaches and grapes. Do banannas do any good?

She won't eat raisins or prunes either.

Does cereal in the mornings help? She's not a cereal fan so it would have to be froot loops or something along those lines.

Anybody got any good ideas?

Oh, also, has anyone ever tried mineral oil and does that work? We've gone the Senokot route in the past and are trying to do it as "naturally" as possibly this time.

Thanks for any input!

 

[amid chaos]

Flax seed oil will do the trick but it is kinda nasty...might be worth a try though.

Also, get some bulk fiber at the health food store and add it to everything...pancakes, muffins, cookies, cereal, applesauce, roll chicken breasts and bake...absolutly everything.

 

[RNMOM]

Try a bowl of popcorn each evening. It does not have to be huge. It is pure fiber and most kids will eat it. It usually does the trick for our patients.

 

[cruisnfamily]

She loves popcorn....I never heard of that being a source of fiber...

She's been eating more popcorn lately than usual but I haven't seen any improvement in this area...It's something she wouldn't mind doing though so we will push it a little more.

 

[SonjaB]

apple juice, apple juice, apple juice. Trust me on this, LOL.

 

[Kermit]

Don't worry about trying to get her to eat cereal if she'll only eat ones with refined flours. It needs to have at least 5 grams of fiber to really do any good. Oatmeal is good if she'll eat it, and you can stir in some unprocessed wheat bran to boost the fiber content. Bran muffins can also be good, if you choose a recipe with a lot of bran. Try to find one with as little white flour as possible.

Bananas are constipating to many people. Apples can be, too. Juicy fruits, like peaches, are really good. Pears are good. Cherries have a natural stool softener in them. All berries have lots of fiber, especially ones where you eat the seeds, like blackberries.

Juice served hot can also help. Pear and white grape are very good, and some people like orange.

I agree that you should stir some type of fiber into everything you can. You can buy wheat bran and a few other types of bran in bulk at most health food stores, or you can buy it by the box in the healthy section of your grocery store. You can get a high fiber sandwich if you serve peanut butter on whole wheat and stir a tablespoon of bran into the peanut butter.

It can also help to drink 2 glasses of water, take a walk, and then drink 2 more glasses of water. Exercise is very important, so make sure she gets enough.

I hope one of these things help. I'm pregnant, so I have lots of experience.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Have you talked to her pediatrician yet? You might send Deb in IA a PM, she is a pedia. Hope she feels better.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by SonjaH
apple juice, apple juice, apple juice. Trust me on this, LOL.

Oh boy, don't I know it. We went on a long trip when DD was a yr old, and kept giving her apple juice to keep her happy in the car. She finally "exploded" at a lovely restaurant.

Try grinding flax seed and sprinkling on cereal.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Vitamins make me go. Magnesium to be exact. (I know, T.M.I.)

Maybe it will help. Ask the Dr.

 

[Michelle]

We had this EXACT problem with DD when she was about 4.

MINERAL OIL definitely works, just put it in apple juice if she doesn't want to take it alone. This was on the advice of our pediatrician. You may want to check with yours too on the best solution.

Good luck, this too shall pass!

 

[mivvers]

If all else fails, try Senokot. As far as I know, it's natural. Our GP advised us to give this to our daughter, and it worked for her.

 

[catsrule]

They make high fiber bread now too.

 

[shortbun]

I have become an expert in fibre the last few years.
Blueberries have an amazing amount of fibre. Ripe
bananas have fibre-firm ones very little. Juice has
NO fibre and with her condition won't help unless it
has something added. Kids should have their age
plus 5 in grams of fibre per day so 15 grams for your
DD, build up to it don't go crazy! Fruit fibre is where
you want to be-it's water soluable and non soluable
fibre could constipate her if there's not a balance
of fruit fibre. There's a candy you can get at Target-
at least where I live, it's little squares wrapped in paper
in a plastic bag...Body Smarts. They are great and have
lots of fiber and nutrition. Can't find them-do a search
on Google and it will pull up lots of resources for you.
The bars aren't that great but the candy is good!
Fresh veggies also have good fiber-some nuts have
lots of fiber-peanut butter-peas-kidney beans-brown
rice instead of white. The water is a MUST from now
on with the increased fiber intake. Pop, especially with
caffeine, acts as a diuretic-so no more caffeinated soda-
soda sucks the vitamins out of you with carbonation anyway
so limit it. Get rid of the
Fruit Loops and any other white flour food with food
dye you might have in the house or save them for
a snak AFTER all the necessary fiber has been consumed.
DS had to learn that healthy food came first and that
food was fuel-not fun. It will be hard, I've been through
it, really hard. The alternative to making this change is
not good-possible surgery, distended stomach. My friend's
18 year old daughter spent 3 months in the hospital with
a horrible infection because her intestines/colon broke
open from chronic constipation. They thought they were going
to lose her. Hey-the good news-french fries have fiber!
Brownberry makes a good 3 gram slice of bread-look for
the American Heart Association Green labeling. Oatmeal
is an excellent source of fiber. Water, water, water!
Hey, you asked! It can be done!
mimi

 

[cruisnfamily]

Wow, thanks everybody this is great.

So.....junk cereals have no fiber, darn. But, she does like oatmeal so we'll go with that. Hey, would toast help? Obviously wheat over white but would that do any good?

Juices....got conflicting reports, do juices help or not?

Fiber....whole wheat bread, certain fruits and veggies.

So, give me the short list of easy "snacks" that can be packed into the lunchbox or eaten after school to increase the fiber/go factor that is.

Peaches, grapes, lots of water,

Thanks for the assistance....keep it coming

 

[Lanshark]

Had the problem with DS and apple juice did the trick. He drinks a lot of milk which is constipating.

Oatmeal is also a good source of fiber that can be made into cookies. She may even eat raisins that way. DS did.

 

[Baboo]

I always make bran muffins when my son has this problem. I use the natural bran instead if the cereal type. He likes them with bananas, or chocolate chips, or dates.

 

[Lucky4me]

Metamucil is a form of Psyllium. Stir a teaspoon into her juice without her knowing, she'll never know the difference. that will add about 5 grams of fiber.

Wow, if you give her everything listed here, she'll have the opposite problem next week!

 

[pajamommy]

My DS, age 4, has this problem, and the thing we found that works for him is mineral oil and Metamucil. I give him at least one drink a day with mineral oil in it, and then another drink with Metamucil in it. I mix the oil in any kind of juice, the Metamucil I usually put in orange juice. Our dr. said that I can give him his age in tablespoons of the oil a day, i.e. 4 tablespoons per day, but I usually don't have to give him that much, usually half of that, and then a tablespoon of Metamucil in the juice later in the day. Good luck!!

 

[suzannen]

We've been going through this with our 8 year old DD also. Our pediatrician and a pediatric gastroenterologist suggested:
1 Tbsp Mineral Oil Daily (2 if its really, really bad) to get things moving, try not to give longer than 2-3 weeks
Frosted Mini-Shredded Wheats
Triscuits (topped with whatever they will eat)
Unprocessed bran sprinkled on ice cream
Pepperidge Farm has a specific white bread (Family Lifestyle or something like that which has fiber and calcium
Popcorn
Grapes and raisins
And, Health Valley has some chocolate chip cookies that taste like brownies that my DD adores
Plus, remember the water, water & water
Good luck!!!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Unfortunately, most of what has been listed here will not work with DD, picky, picky, picky.....I've been explaining how serious it is and how it would be better to eat a few handfuls of raisins than end up at the doctors office but at this point she's not buying into it.

I have found quite a few things here that will work however and we'll try those and push the water and see how it goes over the next few days.

Hey, does Granola work? What about those "kudos" bars that are basically chocolate bars with a miniscule amount of granola?

Thanks again!