If you have been a parent at all, you likely have realized that the topic of pooping comes up regularly all of a sudden. For some reason, this is even more true for children with tubes. For our family, it is because low muscle tone means slower moving food, means higher incidents of constipation. Some families are dealing with slow motility, and a myriad of other things that can affect a child's bowel habits.
We weren't interested in the normal regimen of miralax. I felt like it was offered the moment she set foot in the clinic for Down syndrome, because it was assumed she would have trouble. While we aren't opposed to medicine at our house, and believe there are instances where it is necessary we like to try for natural before we jump into a prescription. And, there are lots of things that can be given in a blenderized diet to help with constipation.
First of all, a great helper is P fruits. Think of fruits that start with P's, and go with them. Plums, peaches, pears, and pineapple are all great. We really love prunes in our blends as well. Some other fruits that work well for us are grapes, raisins, avocado and apricots have also worked well for us. Most fruits contain natural fiber, and therefore are helpful in easing constipation. Green veggies are also helpful. We use apples and bananas sparingly because we have found them to cause more issues with constipation.
Grains are also a great helper to keep things moving. Whole grains of any sort tend to help. We are personally big fans of flax seed (you can buy flax meal, or grind the seeds into meal before adding to a blend), quinoa, and buckwheat (breads made with buckwheat, or cream of buckwheat both work for us). We are a gluten free family, so I don't have experience with this, but I also have heart that oats are helpful as well.
Making certain that a lot of water is being added is important as well. We do a water bolus before a meal, a flush after meals, and large bolus first thing in the morning, and at bedtime. Water should not affect the amounts that can be given at meal times. Water is absorbed instead of digested. It takes the body between 10-30 minutes to absorb water. So if you are still nervous about the water affecting how much you might be able to feed, make certain it is given at least thirty minutes before mealtime. We have found, though, that the closer to mealtimes it is, the more it help prevent constipation.
Some people add oils to the blend, or give them directly through a g-tube as well. We have done this in the past, and I'm not opposed to it. It did not make a huge difference for us. So you may have to play around with things to see what works best. Also, things that are warm digest better. So if you are giving free fluids of any sort, warm them up a bit, make certain the blends are warmed as well.
And lastly, my personal favorites, breast milk (if you have any available to you) keeps things regular for our Beauty all the time. When we don't have any available to us, coconut water for the win. If you have ever seen the movie 'Cast Away' you may remember Tom Hanks making a reference to the coconuts being a laxative. While it doesn't quite have that extreme of an affect here, We do like to give her a couple of ounces each day, warmed up a bit, and it keeps things moving quickly. You can get different flavors, brands, so on and so forth. We don't have any particular favorites. My only requirement, is that, when reading the label, it not have added sugar of any sort. There are a few we like that have fruit purees in with them. One brand has one that is coconut water with coconut and pineapple puree. If there's anything not moving through, this particular one will clear things out in no time.
What about you? Do you have anything you have found, when added to blends, helps keep bowels moving well?
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