Constipation is common in toddlers and can usually be corrected with some simple, healthy dietary changes. So before you take him off milk, take a look at everything your son eats and drinks.
The goal is to increase fruits, veggies, whole grains and fluids. Milk is an important part of his diet at this age, and I recommend 2 cups a day. In addition to milk, many toddlers don't drink enough water, so encourage him to drink water every day.
There are 5 fruits and 4 juices that are natural laxatives to help soften his stools. The fruits are prunes, plums, cherries, apricots, and grapes. The juices are prune, apple, apricot nectar and pear nectar
I find that prunes and prune juice work best. Many of my patients love eating a few "giant raisins" a day. If he doesn't like the taste of prune juice, mix it with milk (kids like it) or apple juice. Vegetables have natural fiber to help keep everyone regular so be sure to include a few servings a day in your family's diet.
If you make pancakes, waffles or oatmeal, add extra oat bran to the mix. Make sure that all breads, cereals and grains that you buy have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Read the labels and you'll be surprised how many good tasting options are available. If dietary changes aren't helping your son have at least 1 soft stool a day, talk to your pediatrician.
Tanya Remer Altmann
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I've had this same problim.....try the baby juice Prune Apple .....give him 2 oz plain if he will drink it which works better but if he wont then add it to a little bit of milk....also the vitamin d milk may be to harsh for him I had to give the lil guy 2 % and in the beggining I had to delute it a bit. Which he seemd to handle better than vitamin d milk and hes almost 2 now and is fine with undeluted milk now.
Our family had the same problems but verey severe. My Osteopathy grandma would buy natural and organic honey in a glass jar (not in plastic jar). She applied a generous amount of honey on the baby's anus after giving them a lower body and legs massage to relax our intestinal system. In a few short minutes, natural thing happened
V8 Fusion is a great juice to get in your baby's belly. 100% fruit and veggie juice, tastes good and 2 full servings of fruit/veggie a serving. The "Light" kind is not 100% juice, so watch the labels.
My girl is 3 years old. Since she was born I tried EVERYTHING (water, lots of prunes, fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, laxatives etc etc etc), about 2 months ago I changed to soy milk and the problem, after 3 years suffering, is gone!
Just watch out with that v8 fusion and All other juices, they have a lot of preservatives and other icky stuff and also make sure they are "No Added Sugar", our kids don't need all that extra stuff!! Just read the ingredients! And watch out for sugar listed as something other than sugar...high fructose corn syrup, ect......!!!
We had this same problem with my son. We just increased his fiber intake. I made all his baby food (it's easier than you think), and gave him beans, broccoli and bananas. We also put "sprinkles" (wheat germ) on all his food.
Now that he's eating table food, I sneak in the wheat germ as I'm cooking. It's a great binder for meatloaf, meatballs, hamburger or turkey burgers, you can sneak it into tomato sauce, chili (with beans is a bonus). It's great to roll bananas or other fruit in to make them easier to pick up with little fingers. We also let him put "sprinkles" on his veggies and pizza. He thinks its great. I also put beans in the food processor and add them to my meat loaf too. The best part is that my husband hasn't complained once about the subtle changes.
My son's 3 year old cousin was over last month and she wanted to put sprinkles on her food too.
I have a 3 yr-old boy with same problem before. AT HOME, he drinks a mix of SILK SOY MILK "FIBER" and "OMEGA-3" . I also give him lots of fruits like grapes, apples, and mango after his regular meals. His tummy seems really compatible with the MANGO. When we are outside our home running errands or playing, I usually just grab small packs of Hershey's chocolate milk & some chips for snacks and we'll eat burgers & fries...he almost never have to move his bowel all day. So I think his diet AT HOME really works.