Hemorrhoids in infants/children

KYmama9286

So DS has some serious chronic constipation that we use miralax for daily. Lately it was getting better on its own so we cut back on the miralax. Well now it is worse again and he is SERIOUSLY constipated and in a ton of pain when trying to poop. He will just lay on my chest screaming and pushing (he did this for so long this morning he actually fell asleep all red and sweaty ) Needless to say its REALLY hard to watch as a parent and as a pg lady I can relate all too much.

When I've changed his diapers I have seen blood and I have a feeling he has hemorrhoids. Does anyone know of anything I can do to help him feel better in between bowel movements or right after? I've been refrigerating some tucks pads I had left over from post partum and have been using them to wipe him with figuring the witch hazel and coolness will help. Any other ideas? We are cutting him off of milk for a day or two and upping his fluids as much as possible as well as loading up on the miralax but I know that it will take a few days to get back on track and I dont want him to suffer in the meantime. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA!

Superchicy

Have you tried prunes or prune juice?  I used to have to mix prune juice in DD"s milk all the time or she would get horribly constipated, only recently has she been able to go without it.  I hope he starts feeling better soon, that is no fun at all!

hannah&ben

If he's actively constipated (sorry, but, as in there's a poo stuck in there now) get him some suppositories or a baby enema to get it out of there today.  Then you can start with more mirilax, prune juice, cut off milk, etc.  None of those things will help a BM that's already in the colon and trying to come down - and, the longer it stays the harder it gets b/c the colon absorbs water from it.

About hemorroids - can you see any? I suppose there's a chance they're internal but they're not terribly common in kiddos.  But, if he does have them it's most likely a direct result of his constipation and should go away when the constipation goes away.  The blood could also be from minor tears from the hard poo (scary sounding but not really a big deal).

Poor little guy... if you can't get this under control quickly I'd talk to your pedi or GI or someone about other options.

((hugs))

Hannah

KYmama9286

We try prune juice and often do that in addition to the miralax. I've done the suppositories before and maybe we should do one tonight. Should I just assume he is impacted until he has a softer poop? I can see a little bit of a hemorrhoid on his anus (sorry if this is TMI but I suppose the topic is TMI in general haha).

His GI doesnt really have any other suggestions other than the miralax and we are already doing an adult dose (an entire capful a day). He had testing done to make sure there wasnt other reasons for the constipation (like delayed gastric emptying, etc.) and his gut motility seems normal. I dont know if maybe his new growth hormone could be affecting this or if his diet just hasnt been great lately. It's really hard to balance getting him to eat a lot of calories and also get fiber since most fiberous fruits and veggies arent high calorie and I dont want him to fill up on low calorie/water filled things. 

gandcnky

Ditto what Hannah said about there maybe being a little tear that has caused the blood.  A has had this issue the last couple of weeks and it scared me at first, but her pedi told me the other day that she just had a little tear.  She told me to apply Aquaphor or Desitin to her rear end when changing her, and that should help it to heal and be less painful.  Poor guy.  I hope he gets some relief soon!