Constipation Success!

Well, it is indeed a happy New Year's day. After two weeks off from school, Caroline will be returning tomorrow with a proven constipation elimination regimen (no pun intended): a daily prune cooked with her morning hot cereal. Since prunes, like raisins, can easily stick to teeth and cause cavities, we have been cooking it with her hot cereal to plump it up and soften it so that it resembles bits and pieces of fruit rather than a wrinkled, sticky, hard mass. Caroline won't touch pureed prunes (which resemble hot, sticky tar) but she happily eats the prunes in her cereal. Best of all, she hasn't been as uncomfortable as she has been for the past several months!

Caroline's Lunchbox Menu, January 1: Breakfast - 10 grain hot cereal (Bob's Red Mill), prune; Lunch - mac n' cheese with spinach, mushrooms, and locally grown savoy cabbage (Cinzori Farm), green peas; Snacks - peaches (canned last summer), 100% whole grain toast

A Bit Constipated

Well, we got another call from Caroline's teacher today letting us know that Caroline was feeling constipated, straining, and uncomfortable. She actually isn't technically constipated since she has been having at least one small, hard bowel movement every day but I know she is not comfortable. So, tomorrow, I am going to forget about mimicking the childcare center menu and focus on foods that are less likely to be "binding" -- that's the med-talk that I got from Caroline's pediatrician today. They said to avoid carrots, applesauce, yogurt, and cheese and to try to include whole grains, peas, pears, peaches, prunes, and juice. Since she is already getting a lot of fiber, I actually think that she needs more liquids. But I'll give these foods a try tomorrow.

Caroline's Lunchbox Menu, November 20: Breakfast - Bartlett pear, oatmeal; Lunch - whole wheat elbow macaroni, tomato and meat sauce, peas, peaches (canned this summer); Snacks - apple juice, graham crackers

Childcare Center Menu, November 20: Breakfast - cream of wheat, bananas, raisins; Lunch - turkey sloppy joes, cucmbers, honeydew; Snacks - celery sticks, cream cheese, graham crackers