Pediatric Constipation
Constipation can be a seemingly common issue in children, up to 30% of kids. Kids and adults should be having between 1-3 formed, sinking bowel movements a day. It can be more common in moments of diet changes, from breastmilk/formula to solids or moments of increased stress (e.g. change in routine).
According to the World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, functional constipation is characterized by infrequent stools, painful bowel movements, fecal incontinence, stool withholding, and large-diameter stools.
There may be leakage of soft stool around a hard stool, called encopresis.
It is important to get to root cause besides slapping a Band-Aid on the problem without diving deeper. There are many ways to help functional causes of constipation which should be explored.
When tackling constipation many conventional providers will recommend using MiraLAX for treatment of constipation. “Use in children less than 17 and chronic use is not approved by the FDA, but nevertheless the laxative is used as such in clinical practice.”
“The Food and Drug Administration has received a number of reports of adverse events in children taking PEG products. The Agency has conducted a review that documented a number of reports of neurological and psychiatric events associated with chronic PEG use in children.”
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