So my 5year old daughter is doing great only having 3-4 BMs total but the issue is all of them are at night after 7pm it starts and continues until 6am. I don't quite understand why this is this way but we are so very sleep deprived over here. I won't give her Loperimide at night, she never does well with this med and recently had an exploratory laparotomy for an obstruction (lysis of adhesions) and an omentumectomy. Is there a way to get her schedule flipped? She doesn't eat much after 6pm and goes to bed at 9pm. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
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Well that's VERY good news that she's doing so much better! Rowan is a little bit different than some of us, but I wonder if giving her something bulking to eat later at night and maybe each time she wakes up would be helpful. Maybe soda crackers? Some people find that stopping food a considerable time before bed actually causes more bathroom trips. (And of course, stopping works for others.)
With all her 'adventures' before, I would imagine that you're rather leary of giving her bulking food. But maybe crackers wouldn't be as bad.
I'm so glad she's doing better. I was wondering how you all were doing.
kathy
With all her 'adventures' before, I would imagine that you're rather leary of giving her bulking food. But maybe crackers wouldn't be as bad.
I'm so glad she's doing better. I was wondering how you all were doing.
kathy
I use Imodium and sleep thru the night. It's called Imodium plus and it works well for me.
Loperamide and Imodium are the same drug. I can't give her slower downers she in known for constipation and obstructions. Thanks for the crackers suggestion. Ys I kinda would like to feed her at night... lol
I think diet is key. I can reduce my nightly trips just by altering my diet. Most of the time I don't care but on those nights where I want uninterrupted sleep, I have popcorn for dinner. I realize popcorn is not the food for your daughter but if you can measure her transit times after each meal you might find some foods move more slowly through her.
Sue
Sue
This may be one of those things that you need to do the opposite of what seems right. It may be that her gut is slower than most of us, so then what she eats throughout the day, is coming through at night.
So perhaps she should be eating only small amounts during the day, enough to not be hungry, but have most of her intake late in the day and close to bedtime. If her gut is slow, then that will put her bowel activity in the daytime.
That may cause problems at school though, so it may not be a good solution.
The other option is to evenly space her meals, and make sure there is ample fat and protein in each meal, as this will slow digestion, and make sure she eats before bed and soon after rising.
I have never found fasting (like no eating after a certain time in the evening) to help reduce total bowel movements.
Jan
So perhaps she should be eating only small amounts during the day, enough to not be hungry, but have most of her intake late in the day and close to bedtime. If her gut is slow, then that will put her bowel activity in the daytime.
That may cause problems at school though, so it may not be a good solution.
The other option is to evenly space her meals, and make sure there is ample fat and protein in each meal, as this will slow digestion, and make sure she eats before bed and soon after rising.
I have never found fasting (like no eating after a certain time in the evening) to help reduce total bowel movements.
Jan
Well I stopped her intake at 3pm and have been giving her nutritional shakes. Tomorrow I will try to reset and maybe try the smaller meals during the day and a big dinner to see if this helps. Thanks for all the responses. Ill let you know if anything helps.
Yay for improvement!
I think 3-4 BM's is wonderful and would not use any slowers at that point. I don't think she needs them. The timing of the BM's is due to the speed of her gut. The food she eats during the day just happens to be digested and ready to come out by the time she's asleep. Since she's not eating at night, there's nothing to come out during the day.
Mine works very much the same way. Most of my bowel activity is in the wee hours of the morning (midnight to five AM).
Frustrating as it is, I don't know if there is much you can do about it aside from what Jan already suggested.
Let us know if you find anything that helps, since many of us have the same or similar problems.
I think 3-4 BM's is wonderful and would not use any slowers at that point. I don't think she needs them. The timing of the BM's is due to the speed of her gut. The food she eats during the day just happens to be digested and ready to come out by the time she's asleep. Since she's not eating at night, there's nothing to come out during the day.
Mine works very much the same way. Most of my bowel activity is in the wee hours of the morning (midnight to five AM).
Frustrating as it is, I don't know if there is much you can do about it aside from what Jan already suggested.
Let us know if you find anything that helps, since many of us have the same or similar problems.