Ex-lax/senna | Imamother

FranticFrummie

Mon, Dec 21 2020, 2:27 pm

Senna will give your child excruciating stomach cramps! Surprised

Give a few tablespoons of prune juice in with apple juice or something else they like. Keep increasing the prune juice until you get results. Eating foods with a high water content like grapes, cherries, apples, and watermelon help a lot (yeah, I know they're out of season right now.)

Get rid of processed carbs like pasta, and increase good carbs and fiber. Cut back on dairy, but increase healthy oils like coconut and olive oil.

You can get vegetarian digestive enzymes that are made with papaya and pineapple. The main ingredient on the bottle should be "bromelain".

Make sure they're getting enough probiotics. If you give yogurt, make sure that it's labeled "bio". Goat yogurt with some fruit mixed in is much better than the cow's yogurt with tons of sugar and artificial flavors.

Google "IBS-C" for more dietary advice. I'm not saying your child has IBS, it's just that there's lots of science based healthy information out there.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Dec 21 2020, 3:40 pm

Redbird wrote:

Senna causes dependency

It can also strip out all of your good gut bacteria, cause dehydration, and create an electrolyte imbalance.

Puppies

Mon, Dec 21 2020, 4:53 pm

Thanks for the responses- this is all new to me. My sons urologist suggested ex lax or senna twice weekly as part of a bed wetting protocol. They do this at the beginning of the program for every child, even those who don’t think they have a constipation issue.

amother

Floralwhite

Mon, Dec 21 2020, 7:44 pm

op hugs.

my 6 year old takes exlax. She was getting bladder infections so the urologist said she is probably constipated.

At first I resisted because she seemed fine but x-ray showed otherwise. We tried miralax, we tried magnesium... no luck.

She already eats a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, whole grains..

I ended up giving her daily enemas under doctor supervision. Finally we were able to transition to exlax. My daughter hated doing the enemas. It's a whole procedure and not particularly comfortable. taking the laxatives are much easier to handle

She takes a pretty high dose but xrays were showing that a lower dose wasn't sufficient and she never complains of cramping or anything.

I never thought I would be giving my kid daily laxatives. That one of my toddlers first words would be
laxative" but at the end of the day I need to do what works to keep my child healthy even if it's less then ideal.

play doe

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 4:17 am

For those who need laxatives, give a medjool date or two with warm water/tea before (or instead of) breakfast.
We found it more effective than prune juice.

For bed wetting issues, as mentioned in another thread, have an OT evaluate for a prominent spinal galant and show you how to do RTN exercises, which should be done every night at bedtime for a few minutes. They're relaxing and shouldn't rev the child up.