20 Month Old Constipated

My little man has never been constipated until the last few weeks and on 3 different occasions he has been now.
I don't think it's anything in his diet as he eats plenty of fruit, plenty of fibre and water each day.

It breaks my heart when he is screaming trying to go. The first time he got it I got a medication from the chemist although haven't given it to him since as I don't want his body relying on it.

The chemist said it could be teething ??!? Which could be as he does have 2 teeth growing.

Any suggestions / help / tips / experiences on the topic?

Could he be holding his poos in by any chance?
My DD has had a bit of problem with constipation and we tried everything. After a while I realised that her holding them in was the reason she had trouble getting them out down the track. As soon as i see her strain i have to lay her down and hold her knees against her belly and encourage her to push it out. A nice warm bath also helps soften the poo.

My son has had this on a couple of occasions. The teething theory doesn't make much sense to me unless he has drastically changed his diet to constipating foods as a result of teething?

When my son gets it I stop all bananas and cooked apple and rice as these foods just make it worse. I add some brown sugar to his brekky (porridge) as the sugar helps loosen things. Some diluted apple juice may help also. Or diluted prune juice - but go easy on it as you don't want to cause tummy cramps. Maybe about 50mls diluted in 250mls of water.

Also, I wouldn't be afraid of giving him the medication for it. It wont do him any harm if it's just used occasionally. It's only if you start using it day in and day out for weeks at a time that their body gets reliant. If you don't get onto the constipation it will just get worse as he will start holding onto his poos because he will associate pooing with pain. So that will make it worse.

Hope that helps and the little guy feels better soon.