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

[RNMOM]

The juice comes into play with extra fluids as well. Lots of fluids.

I am concerned about using mineral oil without guidance by your doctor. FYI, mineral oil can/does block the absorption of fat soluable vitamins which are A D E and K. All very necessary vitamins. Used occassionally it is not a problem but on a daily basis could be. Consult your doctor first, please.

Metamucil, senecot and the other stool bulking agents are formulated to be safe in this area and work in a totally different way. Much safer and maybe easier to get her to use. Again, speak with your doctor's office for doses and recommendations.

How about baking some oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and maybe dried cherries in them. You said she does not like raisins (neither do I) but I love cherries and the thought of oatmeal cookies with little bits of dried cherries sound really good. A couple in her lunch with a whole wheat PBJ sandwich and an apple could be a good thing. ( sorry for the MStewart lingo there. )

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

I am 49 years old and often have this problem. I try to take to work a little can of sliced peaches in UN-sweetened pear juice.
You could easily pack one of these little cans in a lunch box.
It helps a lot !

 

[ahutton]

Although I like raisins, I have also discovered a bunch of other dried fruits, and love those even more. I get dried cranberries (regular and orange flavored) as well as cherries, dates, blueberries, mixed berries. They have a ton of stuff available, usually it is either in the bulk section of the grocery store or by the canned fruits. Some of those with a good amount of water would go a long way. Also, many recipes can be reworked with prune "paste" instead of the fat in the recipe, which is a good way to build fiber into something your daughter may eat. Bananas cause all kinds of trouble at our house, the kids love them too much. Fortunately they will eat the other dried fruits to compensate.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Just for some additional info here... I just also PM'd another poster about this problem. So, I'll add this in here.

Chronic Constipation and Holding-it, as some children do, can result in a bowel problem called incopresis... (my DS had this!) When this happens, the bowel ceases to work correctly, and removes moisture, acting as a holding-area, instead of adding moisture and eliminating!

When this is the case, yep, even all the afore mentioned fibers, fruits, etc... may not work. I STILL try to get fruits into DS every day... but, alas, doesn't always help!!! PS: One fruit that has not been mentioned is Strawberries!! They are really high in Fiber.

My son is on Miralax, which attracts and holds the moisture in his system... allowing him to go normally. This is something that he may need off and on Long-term, until his bowels can function normally on their own.

This is just such a common problem, especially with young children, that I wanted to throw this in here as well. Parents, this can indeed be a really big problem, do not hesitate to see your Dr. or Pediatric Gastroenterologist if needed!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Thank you all for you input....any more idea?

In regards to contacting the pediatrician. DD is 10 years old and isn't "holding it". She just gets bound up pretty often. She still goes to the bathroom but not daily and (as was the case last night) the stool is sometimes quite hard and painful for her. (sorry for the graphic descriptions)

We have spoken to the pediatrician before and he says she doesn't have any type of "condition". His recommendation has always been to put her on Senokot for about 2 weeks until things settle down and all is well again. He says this is all natural, similar to a vegetable oil type thing, and that it is non addictive, meaning the body won't cease to function and "need" the senokot to go normally.

This is the course of action we have used in the past when we have had problems but I was hoping to find a few foods that she actually would enjoy eating that we could put into her diet on a regular basis so this would become a good habit and we wouldn't need to keep going back to the senokot every 6-8 months. It's not a daily problem but it is a recurring one I was hoping to eliminate.

I really appreciate everybody's thoughts as well as the advice to see our pediatrician because it would indeed be a dumb thing to treat a chronic condition on our own without his input.

Isn't it cool that we have the community board to talk about this cool stuff?

by the way, I've decided I'm gonna let her shave her legs for those of you that remember my other thread about DD. I'm waiting for the next time she brings it up to give her the OK.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Do raw carrots have fiber? She loves these with ranch dressing but we haven't had any in a while. Should I run out and get some?

Thanks again!

 

[Kermit]

Yes, carrots have fiber. There's a lot of fiber in the outside, so you should probably buy organic ones and scrub them really well with a vegetable brush. You don't have to peel them (and lose so much fiber) if they're organic.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Our Ped.Gastroenterologist gave us a listing of dozens and dozens of common foods, I think it even included some fast-foods. and their fiber content. Perhaps you could ask something like this?