Fiber One Chewy Bars Saved My Son's Colon!
I've written about Kieran's struggles to learn how to poop on the toilet regularly and our efforts to help him.
Inspired by the very cool site Parent Hacks, we began Operation Poops For Cars where we rewarded Kieran with a Matchbox truck (and a couple of vehicle related dvds) for successfully pooping on the toilet without accidents of any kinds. The program was wildly successful and we didn't have another accident (except for the other night, very weirdly, but I'll bring that up later) since it's inception a few months ago.
One of Kieran's previous problems began when we first started toilet/potty training: Kieran day trained for peeing in a couple of days but would withhold his poops until he had a diaper or pullup on at night. He went from pooping every morning like clockwork to going every third day.
At first this was OK. I didn't want to push the poor kid and felt he'd be more successful if left to come to toilet pooping on his own. Except instead of getting better, his withholding got worse. Some weeks he would poop every third day. Other weeks he might go as long as the entire week.
This wasn't good.
I have experience with Encopresis, a condition that can start by severe withholding that ends up distending the colon so badly the child cannot control their bowel movements and soils themselves daily. My little sister had that problem and it was very hard on her and my mother's inept handling of the situation (blaming, confrontation and lots of negativity) not only made the Encopresis worse but scarred my sister emotionally.
I didn't want any of that. I didn't want any problems Kieran might be having to ever get out of control.
So, we tried upping Kieran's fibre intake. I didn't want to do this with supplements or use stool softeners to encourage more frequent pooping, so we made sure Kieran's breakfast always consisted of whole grain toast and some fruit. More fruit snacks showed up in the house and I encouraged Kieran to start eating more vegetables, particularly raw ones in the form of crudite.
All of these efforts had some success. We got back to the third day poop regularly and, combined with Operation Poops For Cars, Kieran became almost totally toilet trained (nights are a different phase for us and I'll post about that another day).
Yay!
But still, that three day cycle was bugging me. If only I could get that down to every second day if not every day. How was I going to break that three day cycle without resorting to medications or pseudo-food additives?
Enter Fiber One Chewy Bars.
Each Fiber One bar boasts 35% of an adult's recommended daily fibre intake. They are about 100-120 calories per bar and have 9 grams of fibre. They taste like a chocolate bar (and the one drawback is that they are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup - the new black death). Afterinhaling eating half a bar shortly after ripping the box open, I devised a plan.
Kids are recommended to consume fibre using the following rule of thumb: the number of their age + 5 = the number of grams of fibre recommended for daily intake.
I would chop the bar in half (16.5% recommended adult daily fibre, 50% recommended Kieran daily intake) and eat one half daily as a morning snack. I would eat it in addition to my regular already decent moderately high fibre diet. The other half of the bar would be chopped into half (8% recommended daily fibre, 25% recommended Kieran daily intake) and give one to Kieran as a morning snack, in addition to all of the other fibre conscious things we were doing with his diet (apples, grapes, broccoli, high-fibre breads and cracked wheat crackers, amongst other things).
A wonderful thing began to happen. More times than not, Kieran had a poop every day. On a few occasions he even pooped twice a day!
It was a miracle!
And, before anyone worries unduly, each of these poops was a good sized, firm sucker. It wasn't like I was giving the kid uncontrollable butt explosions!
For myself, I noticed an uptick in my own regularity. I wasn't really having any troubles, so the changes in my bowel health weren't very dramatic, though when I get to the end of this pregnancy, I may be thankful for the subtle enhancements the Fiber One bars offer.
Even more interesting, when the supply ran dry (I haven't yet seen this General Mills product on Canadian shelves and mydealer supplier is American. Those of you gentle readers from the US should have no trouble maintaining a regular supply) Kieran's bowel regularity didn't change much.
I fully credit the Fiber One Chewy Bars with saving my son's colon. And they taste like a chocolate bar, which for a pregnant woman with lots of stored energy is a wise alternative treat. (If only we could get them to sweeten the things with something other than high fructose corn syrup!)
Inspired by the very cool site Parent Hacks, we began Operation Poops For Cars where we rewarded Kieran with a Matchbox truck (and a couple of vehicle related dvds) for successfully pooping on the toilet without accidents of any kinds. The program was wildly successful and we didn't have another accident (except for the other night, very weirdly, but I'll bring that up later) since it's inception a few months ago.
One of Kieran's previous problems began when we first started toilet/potty training: Kieran day trained for peeing in a couple of days but would withhold his poops until he had a diaper or pullup on at night. He went from pooping every morning like clockwork to going every third day.
At first this was OK. I didn't want to push the poor kid and felt he'd be more successful if left to come to toilet pooping on his own. Except instead of getting better, his withholding got worse. Some weeks he would poop every third day. Other weeks he might go as long as the entire week.
This wasn't good.
I have experience with Encopresis, a condition that can start by severe withholding that ends up distending the colon so badly the child cannot control their bowel movements and soils themselves daily. My little sister had that problem and it was very hard on her and my mother's inept handling of the situation (blaming, confrontation and lots of negativity) not only made the Encopresis worse but scarred my sister emotionally.
I didn't want any of that. I didn't want any problems Kieran might be having to ever get out of control.
So, we tried upping Kieran's fibre intake. I didn't want to do this with supplements or use stool softeners to encourage more frequent pooping, so we made sure Kieran's breakfast always consisted of whole grain toast and some fruit. More fruit snacks showed up in the house and I encouraged Kieran to start eating more vegetables, particularly raw ones in the form of crudite.
All of these efforts had some success. We got back to the third day poop regularly and, combined with Operation Poops For Cars, Kieran became almost totally toilet trained (nights are a different phase for us and I'll post about that another day).
Yay!
But still, that three day cycle was bugging me. If only I could get that down to every second day if not every day. How was I going to break that three day cycle without resorting to medications or pseudo-food additives?
Enter Fiber One Chewy Bars.
Each Fiber One bar boasts 35% of an adult's recommended daily fibre intake. They are about 100-120 calories per bar and have 9 grams of fibre. They taste like a chocolate bar (and the one drawback is that they are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup - the new black death). After
Kids are recommended to consume fibre using the following rule of thumb: the number of their age + 5 = the number of grams of fibre recommended for daily intake.
I would chop the bar in half (16.5% recommended adult daily fibre, 50% recommended Kieran daily intake) and eat one half daily as a morning snack. I would eat it in addition to my regular already decent moderately high fibre diet. The other half of the bar would be chopped into half (8% recommended daily fibre, 25% recommended Kieran daily intake) and give one to Kieran as a morning snack, in addition to all of the other fibre conscious things we were doing with his diet (apples, grapes, broccoli, high-fibre breads and cracked wheat crackers, amongst other things).
A wonderful thing began to happen. More times than not, Kieran had a poop every day. On a few occasions he even pooped twice a day!
It was a miracle!
And, before anyone worries unduly, each of these poops was a good sized, firm sucker. It wasn't like I was giving the kid uncontrollable butt explosions!
For myself, I noticed an uptick in my own regularity. I wasn't really having any troubles, so the changes in my bowel health weren't very dramatic, though when I get to the end of this pregnancy, I may be thankful for the subtle enhancements the Fiber One bars offer.
Even more interesting, when the supply ran dry (I haven't yet seen this General Mills product on Canadian shelves and my
I fully credit the Fiber One Chewy Bars with saving my son's colon. And they taste like a chocolate bar, which for a pregnant woman with lots of stored energy is a wise alternative treat. (If only we could get them to sweeten the things with something other than high fructose corn syrup!)
posted by mamaloo at 11:50 AM
1 Comments:
Congratulations on your poo success! I'm sure you're relieved. As far as pregnant mama, whew- I wish my midwife would have told me increase my fiber by a ton before the constipation that left me shaking and in tears:)
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